Sandra Wagner
Postdoc
Researcher
About me
I am a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Global Postdoctoral Fellow at the Royal Institute of Technology / KTH - AlbaNova and UC Berkeley School of Optometry & Vision Science. My main research interests are myopia, reasons for its development, and methods to prevent its onset or further progression.
Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher and Deputy Group Leader at the Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of Tuebingen, Germany.
While completing my PhD in Neuroscience (Dr. rer. nat.) at the Institute for Ophthalmic Research/ International Max Planck Research School, University of Tuebingen, I was a Fulbright Visiting Researcher at the State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York, USA.
Regarding my background, I studied Optometry & Audiology (B.Sc.) and Optometry & Psychophysics (M.Sc.) at Aalen University, Germany.
| Professional Experience | |
|---|---|
| Since 10/2024 | Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Global Postdoctoral Fellow at the Royal Institute of Technology / KTH - AlbaNova and UC Berkeley School of Optometry & Vision Science |
| 01/2021 – 09/2024 | Postdoc Fellow/ Deputy Group Leader of Applied Vision Research Group, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, Tuebingen, Germany |
| 03/2017 – 12/2020 | Research Assistant/ PhD student Institute for Ophthalmic Research, Tuebingen, Germany |
| 10/2019 – 03/2020 | Fulbright Visiting Research Fellowship at State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York City, New York, USA |
| 09/2016 – 01/2017 | Research Assistant ZEISS Vision Science Lab, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, Tuebingen, Germany |
| 09/2015 – 05/2016 | Master student ZEISS Vision Science Lab, Institute for Ophthalmic Research, Tuebingen, Germany |
| 08/2012 – 11/2012 | Research Intern Brien Holden Vision Institute, Sydney, Australia |
| Academic Education | |
|---|---|
| 2020 | Dr. rer. nat., Neuroscience, International Max Planck Research School for Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience, University of Tuebingen, Germany |
| 2016 | Master of Science, Optometry and Psychophysics, Aalen University, Germany |
| 2014 | Bachelor of Science, Optometry and Audiology, Aalen University, Germany |
| Further Education | |
|---|---|
| 06/2023 | Participation in the 72nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting dedicated to Physiology/Medicine as one of 635 Young Scientists worldwide, Lindau, Germany |
| 09/2022 | Course “Essentials of Medical Education”, Didactic Qualification Programme for Medical Teachers in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Competence Centre for University Teaching in Medicine Baden-Wuerttemberg, Tuebingen, Germany |
| 07/2022 | Research Academy (by The American Academy of Optometry), Training in NIH/NEI Grant Writing, The Ohio State University College of Optometry, Columbus, Ohio, USA |
| 05/2022 | Certificate Program “Leadership in Academia, Industry & Society”, Graduate Academy, University of Tuebingen, Germany |
| 11/2021 | Good Scientific Practice for Supervisors, Medical Faculty/ Graduate Academy, University of Tuebingen, Germany |
| 09/2019 | CITI Program Good Clinical Practice Course, GCP Course for Clinical Trials, CITI Conflicts of Interest, State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York City, New York, USA |
| 01/2019 – 06/2019 | ARVO Global Mentorship Program |
| 03/2017 – 12/2020 | MBA Fundamentals Program for Researchers, HECTOR School, Technology Business School of the KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany |
| Past & Current Funding | |
|---|---|
| Since 01/2025 | Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Global Postdoctoral Fellowship, HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01-01 |
| 12/2023 | Meta Technologies LLC Unrestricted Research Grant |
| 03/2023 – 09/2024 | Meta Technologies LLC Myopia Grant by the American Academy of Optometry Foundation (AAOF) and Reality Labs Research (RLR) |
| 02/2021 – 09/2024 | Carl Zeiss Foundation "Breakthroughs at Universities 2020: Intelligent Solutions for an Aging Society" (PI: Dr. Torsten Strasser) |
| 03/2017 – 11/2020 | Hector Fellow Academy gGmbH |
| Awards and Scholarships | |
|---|---|
| 10/2023 | International Myopia Travel Award by the International Myopia Institute, American Academy of Optometry (AAO) Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA |
| 10/2020 | Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry (FAAO) |
| 05/2020 | 2020 Outstanding Poster Award Finalist of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), USA |
| 05/2020 | 2020 Josh Wallman Memorial Travel Grant Recipient of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), USA |
| 10/2019 | AAO Student Travel Fellowship of the American Academy of Optometry, Orlando, Florida, USA |
| 10/2019 – 03/2020 | Fulbright Visiting Researcher Fellowship |
| 08/2018 | Best Student Paper Award, Optical Society of America Technical Group Applications of Visual Science |
| 10/2017 | Rupp + Hubrach Award for Ophthalmic Optics for master’s thesis |
| 12/2015 | Award of Binder Optik GmbH for bachelor’s thesis |
| 11/2014 | Carl Zeiss TopJob Award (Best of class) |
| 10/2012 – 02/2014 | Scholarship Deutschlandstipendium |
| 08/2012 – 11/2012 | Scholarship Baden-Württemberg-Stipendium |
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Reviewer in Scientific Journals |
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Vision Research; Current Eye Research; Scientific Reports; Biomedical Optics Express; PLOS ONE; Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics; Eye and Vision; Frontiers |
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Memberships |
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Since 2019: |
American Academy of Optometry (AAO) |
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Since 2017: |
The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) |
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Papers |
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07/2023: |
Wagner S, Strasser T. Impact of text contrast polarity on the retinal activity in myopes and emmetropes using modified pattern ERG. Scientific Reports. 2023;13. 11101. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-38192-9. |
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04/2023: |
Wagner S, Süer E, Sigdel B, Zrenner E, Strasser T. Monocular transcorneal electrical stimulation induces ciliary muscle thickening in contralateral eye. Experimental Eye Research. 2023;231.109475. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2023.109475 |
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12/2022: |
Strasser T,Wagner S. Performance of the Deep Neural Network Ciloctunet, Integrated with Open-Source Software for Ciliary Muscle Segmentation in Anterior Segment OCT Images, Is on Par with Experienced Examiners. Diagnostics 2022;12(12).3055. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics12123055 |
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06/2020: |
Strasser T§,Wagner S§, Zrenner E. Review of the application of the open-source software CilOCT for semi-automatic segmentation and analysis of the ciliary muscle in OCT images. PLOS ONE. 2020;15(6).e0234330. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234330 §Contributed equally to the work |
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03/2020: |
Wagner S, Schaeffel F, Troilo D. Changing accommodation behaviour during multifocal soft contact lens wear using auditory biofeedback training. Scientific Reports. 2020;10(1):1-10. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-61904-4 |
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10/2019: |
Wagner S, Zrenner E, Strasser T. Emmetropes and myopes differ little in their accommodation dynamics but strongly in their ciliary muscle morphology. Vision Research. 2019;163:42-51. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2019.08.002 |
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07/2019: |
Wagner S, Schaeffel F, Zrenner E, Strasser T. Prolonged nearwork affects the ciliary muscle morphology. Experimental Eye Research. 2019;186.107741. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2019.107741 |
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10/2018: |
Wagner S, Zrenner E, Strasser T. Ciliary muscle thickness profiles derived from optical coherence tomography images. Biomedical Optics Express 2018;9(10):5100-5114. doi: 10.1364/BOE.9.005100 |
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06/2018: |
Wagner S, Ohlendorf A, Schaeffel F, Wahl S. Reduktion der Unterakkommodation durch auditorisches Biofeedback: eine Pilotstudie. Optometrie - Fachpublikation für Augenoptik. 2018;2:9-20. |
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10/2016: |
Wagner S, Ohlendorf A, Schaeffel F, Wahl S. Reducing the lag of accommodation by auditory biofeedback: A pilot study. Vision Research. 2016;129:50-60. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2016.10.002 |
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08/2014: |
Wagner S, Conrad F, Bakaraju RC, Fedtke C, Ehrmann K, Holden BA. Power profiles of single vision and multifocal soft contact lenses. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye. 2015;38(1):2-14. doi: 10.1016/j.clae.2014.07.008 |
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Invited Talks |
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| 04/2024: | Oxyopia Seminar Series, UC Berkeley, Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, Berkeley, California, USA |
| 03/2024: | 61stFielmann Academy Colloquium, Webinar “Current research on accommodation”, Scientific meeting of ophthalmic opticians, industry, ophthalmologists, and eye care specialists |
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10/2023: |
The University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Optometry (Host: Prof. Safal Khanal), Birmingham, Alabama, USA |
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10/2023: |
Emory University, School of Medicine (Host: Prof. Machelle Pardue), Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
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05/2022: |
Experts Days, Degree Program B Sc Optometry,Aalen University, Germany. “Myopia – Results from Research” |
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04/2021: |
Research Seminar Series, School of Optometry and Vision Science,University of Bradford (Host: Prof. Neema Ghorbani Mojarrad), Bradford, UK |
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11/2020: |
Webinar “Myopia Management WebiNights”, Weiterbildung für gutes Sehen, Online seminars for further education of eye care specialists |
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01/2020: |
Schnurmacher Institute for Vision Research Colloquium,State University of New York, College of Optometry (Host: Prof. David Troilo), New York City, New York, USA |
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04/2018: |
69th Annual Congress of the Scientific Association for Ophthalmic Optics and Optometry, Mainz, Germany |
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01/2016: |
Panel discussion opti-Forum, “Will the entire world soon be nearsighted? Myopia research between science and reality”, OPTI,International Trade Show for Optics and Design, Munich, Germany |
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10/2015: |
Guild meeting of theFederal Trade Guild Association for Opticians and Optometrists (ZVA), Starnberg, Germany |
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Conference Talks |
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| 11/2024: | American Academy of Optometry (AAO) Meeting, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA:Wagner S, Doez I, Settele A, Strasser T. Adaptation Effects to Selective ON/OFF Stimulation During Nearwork Differ Between Emmetropes and Myopes. |
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10/2023: |
American Academy of Optometry (AAO) Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA:Wagner S, Settele A, Strasser T. ERG Responses of Emmetropes vs. Myopes to Selective ON/OFF Pathway Activation Using a Novel Stimulus. |
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10/2023: |
American Academy of Optometry (AAO) Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA:Wagner S, Wichmann T, Strasser T. Are Effects of Retinal ON/OFF Pathway Stimulation Influenced by Accommodation and Pupil Responses during Reading Task? |
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10/2020: |
American Academy of Optometry (AAO) Meeting (virtual):Wagner S, Strasser T, Schaeffel F, Troilo D, Zrenner E. How does the accommodation system of emmetropes and myopes differ? |
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10/2019: |
American Academy of Optometry (AAO) Meeting, Orlando, Florida, USA:Wagner S, Schaeffel F, Strasser T, Zrenner E, Troilo D. Accommodation Training in Emmetropic and Myopic Students using Auditory Biofeedback. |
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09/2019: |
International Myopia Conference, Tokyo, Japan:Wagner S, Zrenner E, Strasser T. Emmetropes and myopes differ little in their accommodation dynamics but strongly in their ciliary muscle morphology. |
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04/2019: |
The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting, Vancouver, Canada:Wagner S, Schaeffel F, Zrenner E, Strasser T. Does close work affect the ciliary muscle morphology? |
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08/2018: |
Conference paper 9th European Meeting on Visual and Physiological Optics, Athens, Greece:Wagner S, Schaeffel F, Zrenner E, Strasser T. Effects of nearwork on ciliary muscle morphology. |
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Moderator |
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10/2023: |
American Academy of Optometry (AAO) Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Paper Session: P-09 Papers: Mechanisms in Myopia. |
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05/2023: |
The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Poster Session: Myopia: Clinical Interventions and Diagnostics |
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09/2019: |
International Myopia Conference Tokyo, Japan. Session 5: Accommodation/Binocular Vision |
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Teaching |
| University of Tuebingen, Germany, Faculty of Medicine, Lecture in Series “System Analysis of the Retina in Health and Disease” (TüKliF Seminar), 2024 |
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Aalen University, Germany, Degree Program B Sc Optometry, Lecture “English for Optometry”, Winter Term 2023/24 |
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Aalen University, Germany, Degree Program B Sc Optometry, Lecture “Applied Optometry”, Summer Term 2022 |
Languages
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German, English, French |