Glial cell expert to give Futterman Lecture for Ophthalmology Department

Newman

Dr. Eric Newman, professor of physiology and neuroscience at the University of Minnesota, will present the next Sidney Futterman Memorial Lecture for the School of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology.

Newman will speak on “Glial Cell Modulation of Neuronal Activity: Calcium Waves in the Retina,” at 11:30 a.m., Thursday, May 20, in room T-739 of the Health Sciences Center.

His research focuses on interactions between nerve cells and the glial cells which surround them in central nervous system tissues. Glial cells have been viewed in the past as simply framework, or supporting, cells, but are now being investigated for their interactions with nerve cells and their role in maintaining nervous system function.

Newman’s own research uses tissue from the retina of the eye, where cells are arrayed in clear layers. In the retina, there are large, extended glial cells called Muller cells, which perform many of the functions shared by three other types of glial cells in other central nervous system regions. These Muller cells communicate with neurons in the retina through voltage-gated channels and receptors for neurotransmitters. As these signals reach Muller cells, calcium waves are sometimes released.

The Muller cells also affect activity of the nerve cells by altering the chemical composition around them. For example, the Muller cells have been shown to absorb, or “mop up,” extra potassium after neuronal cell firing in the retina.

Newman’s recent work has focused on showing that a signaling pathway outside the nerve cells depends on the propagation of calcium waves by Muller cells and other glial cells.

In addition to his active research program and administrative duties, Newman has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including Glia, and has been a member of numerous review panels, study sections and advisory boards. He is committed to teaching and is active in outreach programs for secondary school students in the Twin Cities area.

Newman received undergraduate and graduate training in biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After three years of postdoctoral training in neurobiology at the Eye Research Institute, Boston, he joined the faculty there. In 1990 he moved to the University of Minnesota. He is also a member of the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory.

The lectureship honors Dr. Sidney Futterman, a member of the School of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology from 1966 until his death at age 49 in 1979. His research on the metabolism of vitamin A in the retina was widely recognized and he received the Friedenwald Medal, the most prestigious honor of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the year before his death. ¶