HOME >> BIOLOGY >> NEWS
Schepens Eye Research Institute receives 'Roadmap' grant to develop center for curing eye diseases

Boston, Mass The Schepens Eye Research Institute has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health to form teams of basic and clinical researchers from many disciplines to find cures for blinding eye diseases such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. The Institute competed with hundreds of organizations for the award. It is the only eye research institute to receive this type of award. The grant is part of a larger initiative known as the "NIH Roadmap," which seeks to find new ways to solve problems that have not yielded to traditional research. NIH is announcing the recipients of these special awards today in Bethesda.

"This is an exciting opportunity to bring enormous energy and new brain power to solve some of the most complex puzzles in eye research," says Darlene Dartt, PhD, the Director of Scientific Affairs at Schepens who is heading up the project. The Institute plans to combine forces with Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School and other Harvard teaching hospitals by enlisting top investigators exploring diseases as diverse as Alzheimer's, rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease to be part of a "think tank" to cure blindness.

As the population ages, the need for new treatments for vision-robbing diseases is becoming critical. Age-related macular degeneration affects more than 1.75 million individuals in the United States. This number is expected to increase to almost 3 million by 2020.Each year 1.3 million Americans over age 20 are diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy. The financial impact and effect on quality of life for people diagnosed with one of these disorders is devastating, says Dartt.

Eye diseases share many of the same underlying mechanisms at work in diseases in other parts of the body, like the heart and the brain. "While experts from these areas often collaborate informally on vision disease, ophthalmology has remained somewhat specialized and in some ways isola
'"/>

Contact: Patti Jacobs
pjacobs12@comcast.net
617-872-0364
Schepens Eye Research Institute
30-Sep-2004


Page: 1 2 3

Related biology news :

1. Schepens Eye Research Institute scientists at ARVO
2. Obesity gene causes cancer of fat tissue, Schepens scientists find
3. Researchers determine genetic cause of Timothy syndrome
4. Researchers find color sensitive atomic switch in bacteria
5. Researchers identify protein promoting vascular tumor growth
6. Researchers devise potent new tools to curb ivory poaching
7. Researchers create nanotubes that change colors, form nanocarpet and kill bacteria
8. Researchers ID chlorophyll-regulating gene
9. Environmental issues center of Inland Northwest Research Alliance 4th Annual Symposium
10. Research suggests new avenue for stopping, preventing colon cancer
11. Researchers develop fast track way to discover how cells are regulated

Post Your Comments:
(Date:5/23/2013)... fastest growing open-access publishers, announces the launch of ... Biotechnology . , A broad scope journal ... Biotechnology will provide a single open-access platform ... to be disseminated and discussed. , ... an open-science and interactive web platform for the ...
(Date:5/22/2013)... cell powered buses, including a team from Simon ... processes and bus membrane durability. , The team ... in the operating cycle of the bus on ... study, led by SFU graduate student Natalia MaCauley, ... Burnaby-based Ballard Power Systems and funded by Automotive ...
(Date:5/22/2013)... The discovery of potential environmental and human health ... batteries each year has led scientists to recommend ... reuse of lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery materials. That,s the ... journal Environmental Science & Technology . , ... Li-ion batteries have become mainstays for powering everything ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Frontiers launches new open-access journal in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 2Tests lead to doubling of fuel cell life 2
(Date:5/23/2013)... , May 23, 2013 Pusan National ... a private biotherapeutics and contract research company focused ... for cancer, announced today a publication reporting the ... with the oncolytic and immunotherapeutic vaccinia JX-594 (pexastimogene ... was published in the May 15 th , ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... (PRWEB) May 23, 2013 ... ancestry tracing for people of African descent, today ... product offering. For people of all races, myDNAmix ... from five distinct populations: Indigenous Americas (Native American), ... India Subcontinent. , Originally launched in ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... 2013 Bed bugs compromised Penn ... already confirmed it. Meanwhile, My Cleaning Products offered complimentary samples ... fight the pests without using harmful chemical elements. , ... 2013, the affected building was actually a dormitory , ... said made on May 13 and bed bug presence was ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... Newmarket, NH (PRWEB) May 23, 2013 Ralph ... all of their emergency management products and emergency survival ... , This announcement was made at the quarterly executive ... meeting with a moment of silence for the Oklahoma tornado ... executives that the quality of their emergency kits is paramount. ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Pusan National University Announces Science Translational Medicine Publication Highlighting Landmark Demonstration of Functional Anti-Cancer Antibody Induction in Patients Following JX-594 Treatment 2Pusan National University Announces Science Translational Medicine Publication Highlighting Landmark Demonstration of Functional Anti-Cancer Antibody Induction in Patients Following JX-594 Treatment 3AfricanAncestry.com Rolls Out Improved MyDNAMix Admixture Test for People of all Races; Enhancements Increase Accuracy in Estimation of Ancestral Makeup 2AfricanAncestry.com Rolls Out Improved MyDNAMix Admixture Test for People of all Races; Enhancements Increase Accuracy in Estimation of Ancestral Makeup 3Penn State Dorm Infested with Bed Bugs, My Cleaning Products Offers Complimentary Sample of Bed Bug Spray to Help Bed Bug Victims 2PHI Emergency Management on Announces Father's Day Specials All Emergency Survival Kits 2
Cached News: