William Merigan

Box 314
601 Elmwood Ave.
Rochester, NY 14642
Office: Medical Center G-4101
Telephone: (585) 275-4872
Email:
Download CV (PDF)
URMC Web Page

My research examines the role of retinal ganglion cells in visual perception in the primate (human and macaque). The primate retina contains at least 14 different types of retinal ganglion cells, and each type forms a complete network across the retina. Because the size, shape andprojections of each of the cell types is distinctive, it is thought that they may play quite different and possibly independent roles invisual function,but at present relatively little is known about this question. Some clues about possible functions of different ganglion cell classes comes from their structure (some extend across large swaths of retina, while others get input from tiny regions of retina), their physiology (some ganglion cells respond to color, while others are color blind), and their projections into the brain (some ganglion cells project to visual cortex while others reach the superchiasmatic nucleus, which is thought to be important in diurnal rhythms).

Selected Publications

• Godat T, Cottaris NP, Patterson S, Kohout K, Parkins K, Yang Q, et al (2022). In vivo chromatic and spatial tuning of foveolar retinal ganglion cells in Macaca fascicularis. PLoS ONE 17(11): e0278261. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278261
• McGregor JE, Kunala K, Xu Z, Murphy P, Godat T, Strazzeri JM, Bateman B, Fischer W, Puthussery T, Williams DR, Merigan WH (2021). Optogenetic therapy restores retinal activity in primate for at least a year following photoreceptor ablation. Molecular Therapy, 1525-0016, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymthe.2021.09.014. PDF
• McGregor JE, Godat T, Dhakal KR, Parkins K, Strazzeri JM, Bateman BA, Fischer WS, Williams DR, Merigan WH (2020). Optogenetic restoration of retinal ganglion cell activity in the living primate. Nature Communications 11(1), 1703. PDF
• Yin L, Masella B, Dalkara D, Zhang J, Flannery JG, Schaffer DV, Williams DR, Merigan WH (2014). Imaging light responses of foveal ganglion cells in the living macaque eye. J Neurosci. ;34(19):6596-605. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4438-13.2014. PDF

This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.