Progress In Search For A Cure Detailed At Glaucoma Research Foundation Anniversary Benefit

Main Category: Eye Health / Blindness
Article Date: 30 Jan 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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Details on the progress of research into unravelling the mystery of glaucoma were provided today as part of the Glaucoma Research Foundation's 31st Anniversary Benefit and Celebration held here at the legendary Palace Hotel. The annual report by the four principal investigators of the GRF-funded Catalyst For a Cure (CFC) research consortium was among the highlights of this year's event.

Catalyst For a Cure

Now in its 7th year of funding by the Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF), the project involves scientists from the world of neuroscience and genetics who work in a real-time, collaborative approach. This process has led to a better understanding of glaucoma as a neurodegenerative disease and could open the door to treatments that actually treat the disease rather than current treatments that lower intraocular pressure as a means of reducing disease progression.

The latest results that were presented focused on two fronts - prevention of vision loss in glaucoma and the potential for therapeutic treatment to stop glaucoma progression.

- Catalyst For a Cure researchers conducted 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 in 2008 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.

"As the conventional understanding of glaucoma evolves from being described as an eye disease to a neurodegenerative disease," said Thomas M. Brunner, CEO and President of the Foundation. "There is an emerging sense that glaucoma could actually be the first neurodegenerative disease we can cure. And that extraordinary possibility was the dominant theme of the presentations tonight."

Catalyst For a Cure 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 Catalyst For a Cure is provided by a grant from the Melza M. and Frank Theodore Barr Foundation through the Glaucoma Research Foundation.

Honorees

In addition to the research update presented, the Foundation's anniversary benefit was also an opportunity to honor those who have made a significant contribution to glaucoma research.

- The President's Award was presented to Dr. Rohit Varma, MD, from the Doheny Eye Institute at the University of Southern California. Dr. Varma has undertaken groundbreaking research that shows the Latino community to be among those at highest risk for development of glaucoma.

- The Catalyst Award, the Glaucoma Research Foundation's highest honor, was presented to Dr. H. Dunbar Hoskins, Jr., MD, Executive Vice President of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Hoskins was recognized for his lifetime commitment and service to the field of ophthalmology. "Dr. Hoskins has earned The Catalyst Award several times over," said Mr. Brunner. "While in private practice, there was his visionary leadership as co-founder of GRF and the thoughtful guidance he provided during those all-important formative early years, along with co-founders Robert Shaffer, MD (1912-2007), and John Hetherington, MD. Certainly he is the personification of 'catalyst'."

About the Glaucoma Research Foundation

Located in San Francisco, the Glaucoma Research Foundation 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.

Glaucoma Research Foundation

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