Will Glaucoma Be The First Neurodegenerative Disease To Be Cured?

Main Category: Eye Health / Blindness
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience
Article Date: 19 Nov 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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"More than in any preceding year," says Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF) President and CEO Thomas M. Brunner, "there is a heightened sense of anticipation around the annual Research Overview by the four principal investigators of the GRF-funded Catalyst For a Cure (CFC) research consortium that opens GRF's 31st Anniversary Benefit and Celebration at 5 pm, Wednesday, January 28, 2009, in San Francisco's legendary Palace Hotel.

"As the conventional understanding of glaucoma evolves from being described as an eye disease to a neurodegenerative disease," Brunner reports, "there is an emerging sense that glaucoma could actually be the first neurodegenerative disease we can cure. And that extraordinary possibility will be an overriding theme of all the presentations, I'm sure."

The Research Overview is co-chaired by noted Silicon Valley philanthropists and entrepreneurs, Nobuko Saito Cleary and Gary Cleary PharmD, PhD. The Overview is followed at 6 pm by The President's Reception and presentation of The President's Award to Rohit Varma, MD, (Doheny Eye Center, University of Southern California), for his definitive studies revealing Latino community at highest risk for glaucoma.

GRF's highest honor, The Catalyst Award, will be presented to American Academy of Ophthalmology Executive Vice President H. Dunbar Hoskins Jr, MD, at the dinner following at 7 pm. Presenting The Catalyst Award will be the 31st Anniversary Celebration national chair, William Tasman, MD (Wilmer Eye Institute, University of Pennsylvania).

Catalyst For A Cure: A New Model For Scientific Research

Established by GRF in 2000, the CFC was first proposed as a partnership by the Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation on the premise that the search for a cure should be a priority, and that the pace of discovery could be accelerated with important innovations: instead of the traditional academic approach of sole scientists working in isolation, the project would bring together investigators with complementary skills working together in a genuine, real time collaboration, and recognizing that traditional ophthalmic approaches to glaucoma research were well served, we would recruit for the research team, instead, from the burgeoning world of neuroscience and genetics.

CFC Principal investigators include: David Calkins PhD, Vanderbilt University; Philip Horner PhD, University of Washington; Nicholas Marsh-Armstrong PhD, Johns Hopkins University; and Monica Vetter PhD, University of Utah. Now in its third and final three-year cycle, major funding for CFC is provided by a grant to GRF from the (insert Barr language here).

"Our CFC's research breakthroughs from the year just ending continue to make strides both in understanding what causes glaucoma, and in conducting studies that translate the basic science into potential glaucoma treatments," Brunner said. He cited:

- Two interventional studies that firmly establish that oxidative stress is a factor in the rate of loss of cellular function from glaucoma - effectively preventing vision loss in a relevant model of glaucoma. Results of these studies were published this year in the scientific journal Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science and reported at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

- In another important pair of studies, the CFC discovered that the cell death that causes vision loss in glaucoma has two distinct phases, and that axonal degeneration precedes neuronal loss. These facts point to a therapeutic window for interventions. Importantly, the studies have determined that vision loss from glaucoma can be predicted by observing changes specific to genes and proteins. The CFC published both of these findings in the highly regarded Journal of Neuroscience.

Glaucoma Research In Broader National Context

"This year we also benefited from two major activities that give us a much broader national context in which to evaluate recent findings as well as set CFC goals for the year ahead."

The first event was a major summit meeting of internationally renowned scientists and physicians recently convened with GRF funding by David Calkins PhD at Vanderbilt University. "Unlike the current indirect glaucoma treatments that work to lower the pressure within the eye," Dr. Calkins said, "the goal of this meeting was to discover ways to cure the disease by stopping and possibly reversing damage to the optic nerve itself. Of particular interest are the similarities between glaucoma and other chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's and Lou Gehrig's disease. The hope is that by studying the mechanisms of neurodegeneration, new targets for novel therapeutic interventions before the critical point of irreversible damage occurs."

Second, GRF's new Director of Scientific Programs and Licensing, Allen Poirson PhD, completed GRF's first Glaucoma Research Status (GRS) survey, evaluating current research areas of interest, as well as funding priorities from national pace setters. "Finding a cure or therapies that can avert this threat," reports Dr. Poirson, "is simply not an urgent national imperative. We looked at several basic indicators and documented in the government sector the low priority standing for funding new glaucoma research at the National Eye Institute and the resulting small amount of new research this low standing makes possible. In the corporate sector, there are no new 'Mechanisms of Action' medications in Phase 3 trials." In fact, said Poirson, the handful of foundations like GRF in the non-profit sector funding glaucoma research provided approximately the same amount of funding for new research programs utilizing molecular and cellular biology techniques that emphasize neurodegeneration and neuroprotection pathways as did the NEI in the last two years: just $4 million!

About The Glaucoma Research Foundation

Located in San Francisco and now celebrating its 31st Anniversary year, GRF is the nation's most experienced foundation dedicated solely to glaucoma research and education. In addition to funding innovative research like the Catalyst For a Cure research consortium and its Shaffer Grants for Innovative Glaucoma Research, GRF also is the "go to" agency for education materials, including the definitive reference for newly diagnosed, Understanding and Living with Glaucoma (available in both English and Spanish editions); a special brochure serving those at highest risk, including African-Americans, Latinos, and children; and a toll free phone line, 800-826-6693, staffed during office hours with an information specialist to handle a variety of inquiries.

For more information about GRF, call 800.826.6693. For information about tickets for the 31st Anniversary Benefit and Celebration, contact Carmen Torres (ctorres@glaucoma.org, 415.986.3162).

Glaucoma Research Foundation