The Massachusetts Lions Eye Research Fund awarded 2017-18 grants to several Harvard Ophthalmology affiliates and Boston-area research institutions. Each institution received $160,000, which supported the following projects:
Mass. Eye and Ear:
Kip Connor, PhD: “Targeting the immune system in retinal degeneration”
Baojian Fan, MD, PhD: “Gene discovery for pigmentary glaucoma”
Tatjana Jakobs, MD: “The effects of aging and intraocular pressure on optic nerve head blood supply”
Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass. Eye and Ear:
Reza Dana, MD, MSc, MPH, Ula Jurkunas, MD, and Ahmad Kheirkhah, MD: "Molecular Mechanisms of Interactions between Corneal Nerves and Endothelial Cells"
Bruce Ksander, PhD: "Understanding and Targeting ZIKA Virus Retinal Birth Defects"
Magali Saint-Geniez, PhD: "Role of PGC-1b in AMD Progression"
Joslin Diabetes Centers/Beetham Eye Institute:
Lloyd Paul Aiello, MD, PhD (PI), Allen Clermont, MS, Paolo Silva, MD, and Jennifer K. Sun, MD, MPH (lead researchers): “Diabetic retinopathy: pathogenesis, prediction and prevention”
Boston Children’s Hospital:
Bharti N. Gangwani, MD, Anna Maria Baglieri, OD, and David G. Hunter, MD, PhD: "Evaluation of a noninvasive eye scanner for monitoring progression of Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and biological aging”
Gabriel Kreiman, PhD: “Understanding the neural basis for rapid learning of object recognition”
Ronald Hansen, MD, James Akula, PhD, Anne B. Fulton, MD: "Retinal structure and function in retinopathy of prematurity”
Jing Chen, PhD: “The role of amino acid metabolism in FEVR and Norrie disease”
New England Eye Center/Tufts Medical Center:
Vicki Chen, MD: “Development of a novel therapy for the treatment of ocular surface blisters in a painful and disfiguring genetic disease, dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa”
Pedram Hamrah, MD: “Characterization of the mechanism of a new disease entity, corneal neuropathic disease, that is associated with debilitating eye pain"
Johanna Seddon, MD, ScM: “Identification of ocular biomarkers to determine progression from early to advanced macular degeneration”