Elizabeth Rossin, MD, PhD Receives Iraty Award for Research in Retinal Diseases

This year's Iraty Award for Research in Retinal Diseases honors Elizabeth Rossin, MD, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. The award, which includes a $100,000 prize, was established thanks to the generous support of Francois Delori, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology, Emeritus, and his wife, Rosamond Castle Putnam, to pay tribute to the life and work of Dr. Charles Schepens.

This award will support Dr. Rossin's research on central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR). Her team's genetic studies suggest that choroidal endothelial cell hyperpermeability is likely the underlying cause of the disease. They have identified a genetic variant (Ile1272Leu) in the VE-PTP gene that is strongly linked to CSCR. VE-PTP regulates the Tie-2 receptor and stabilizes the surface protein VE-Cadherin; together, these proteins are part of a pathway that regulates angiogenesis and vessel wall permeability. Dr. Rossin's team has shown that the drug faricimab, which upregulates Tie-2 signaling, improves or resolves subretinal fluid in eyes with chronic CSCR. They now plan to study how the genetic variant affects the Tie-2 pathway and test existing therapeutics that target it in affected cells.