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3 0 C T I N N O V A T O R S , 2 0 2 2 Nicole Wagner CEO LambdaVision Education: Ph.D., Molecular and Cell Biology, UConn Age: 37 Wagner's journey to develop an artificial retina takes her to space, and beyond N ICOL E Clear Vision >> BY NORMAN BELL It's a classic late summer day in Connecticut's Quiet Corner and Nicole Wagner is tending to her flock — three young chil- dren, nine chickens, three cats, two dogs, 40 tomato plants and a husband who just bought a tractor to till their new 6-acre plot. So far, he's not sold on her idea of adding a few alpaca. It's about the only deal Wagner hasn't been able to close lately. Her day job is as CEO of LambdaVision, a UConn spinoff that's developing an artificial retina. e goal is to restore vi- sion to a share of 11 million Americans afflicted with a variety of degenerative eye diseases including retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. Her experimental manufacturing facility is about 250 miles from her Farmington research lab — overhead. It circles the globe about every 90 minutes aboard the International Space Station, making product samples in zero gravity. It's an innovative product that offers an alternative to less- than-ideal gene therapy or device-based approaches. It's also be- ing made in an innovative way. And leading the effort is not at all what Wagner expected to be doing. Growing up just across the Massachusetts line in Oxford, she was a self-described "science nerd" who wanted to go to medical school. "I never had a doubt I could go the extra mile, do the hard work," she says. Good fortune e first step took her to Florida State University where a combination of homesickness and culture shock convinced her to transfer to UConn. Her grades were good but getting into med school meant checking some extra resume boxes, she explains. One of those involved getting research experience and that led her to a work-study opportunity in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Birge, UConn's Harold S. Schwenk Sr. Distinguished Chair of the Departments of Chemistry and Mo- lecular and Cell Biology, and founder of LambdaVision. Aer a slow start, it turned out to be a life-changing encounter for both parties. Wagner recalls that first year as a lot of scutwork cleaning lab equipment. Birge re- calls she was slow to get into the swing of research. But somewhere in her junior year, Wagner "blossomed" and what followed was "absolutely amazing," Birge says. e professor is a noted innovator in light-sensitive protein and envisioned an artificial retina but was facing some tough hurdles in moving from the lab to product. He credits Wagner with introducing the concept of "directed evolution" — a protein engineering technique — and helping to refine the use of bacteriorhodopsin in the experimental manufacturing process. Bacteriorhodopsin is a highly stable, light-sensitive protein and is the key to LambdaVision's artificial retina. With age or disease, the retina — the innermost layer of tissue in the eye — loses its ability to take in light and communicate information through the optic nerve to the brain. LambdaVision's concept is to use layers of bacteriorhodopsin to replace the retina and communicate light signals to the brain. Birge says he's confident the artificial retina will work. And the scientific community seems to agree. As early as 2014, the National Institutes of Health approved a grant to fund proof-of- concept testing on mice. Still, there were hurdles. Plenty of them, both practical and regulatory. e artificial retina uses 200 layers of bacteriorhodopsin built on a mesh scaffold. But in early experiments as each layer was added, gravity was working against a smooth, bubble-free result. A zero-gravity environment could help, but how would cash- strapped LambdaVision accomplish that? As Wagner tells it, good fortune intervened. She was commut- ing to Boston daily to represent LambdaVision in the 2016 Mass Continued on next page PHOTOS | STEVE LASCHEVER