custom illustration for professors shefali s. verma ph.d., marylyn d. ritchie ph.d., and joan m. o’brien m.d. of the university of pennsylvania (philadelphia, pa), 2024
submitted to be considered for the cover of the journal cell, to accompany the client’s research paper:
a multi-cohort genome-wide association study in african ancestry individuals reveals novel risk loci for primary open-angle glaucoma
in their paper, verma et al. addresses the striking lack of diversity in genetics research by elucidating the genetics of glaucoma in individuals of african ancestry. this submitted cover illustration includes a mosaic of fundus photos of the optic nerve from subjects enrolled in the primary open-angle african american glaucoma genetics (poaagg) study at the center for genetics of complex disease at the university of pennsylvania. these photos form a larger image of an eye and a double-helix dna strand, representing key components of this study. the mosaic shows how individual contributions by thousands of subjects can reveal an entirely new image—or in this case, a deeper understanding of this blinding disease in the most affected population.