Lucia Sobrin, MD, MPH, Receives RPB Stein Innovation Award

Lucia Sobrin, MD, MPH, the Charles Edward Whitten Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, received this Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) award, which will provide $300,000 of support over three years for her research on birdshot chorioretinopathy (BSCR), a rare and chronic form of posterior uveitis.

Most patients require long-term immunomodulatory therapy to successfully control BSCR. However, the lack of targeted, BSCR-specific treatments is still a major unmet need in the management of the disease. BSCR is strongly linked to human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A29, and, based on the role of HLA-A29 in antigen presentation and evidence of T cell infiltration in BSCR patient choroidal lesions, Lucia and her team hypothesize that there may exist a T cell receptor clonotype shared across patients with BSCR. Dr. Sobrin has amassed a biorepository of samples from her patients with BSCR, from which she proposes to conduct T cell receptor sequencing to identify a shared T cell receptor clonotype. If such a clonotype is identified, it could serve as a target for directed, precision therapy for BSCR. This research strategy is an entirely novel application of ocular genetics to clinical disease management with the potential to lead to breakthrough targeted therapies for BSCR.