WVU scientists magnify vision studies with Research to Prevent Blindness Grant

WVU scientists magnify vision studies with Research to Prevent Blindness Grant

A $300,000 Research to Prevent Blindness Challenge grant will help West Virginia University scientists further their studies and enhance collaborative efforts in finding innovative solutions to treat vision threatening diseases common in rural areas.   

“There's a tremendous visual disparity in this state and grants like this are going to help us form teams and tackle some of these problems that are prevalent in rural America,” said Dr. Visvanathan Ramamurthy, chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in the WVU School of Medicine.

Among top interests for researchers is diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes that effects the retina causing visual loss or blindness. Treatment can slow or stop the progression of the disease, but there is no cure since diabetes is a lifelong condition.

According to the American Diabetes Association, West Virginia has one of the highest rates of diabetes with 15.9% of adults diagnosed.

“We'll use the funds from the Challenge Grant to continue to foster our basic research and look for ways to collaborate in our clinical care of patients,” said  Dr. Thomas Mauger, professor and Jane McDermott Shott Chair in the WVU School of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. “It will be at the level of trying to come up with more effective new treatments for eye disease and use our basic research to help make that happen for people here in West Virginia.”

The WVU School of Medicine holds one of seven RPB Challenge Grants nationwide.

The Challenge Grant is designed to enhance a department's environment and capability to conduct vision research, to facilitate collaborative studies of the visual system, and to attract researchers to the department. Ramamurthy said distribution of funding is classified as unrestricted, and can support vision research across WVU. In some ongoing studies, researchers in ophthalmology collaborate with those in other disciplines such as computer science, public health and biochemistry.

Earning the RPB Challenge Grant also makes WVU faculty eligible to apply for additional monies from the organization to further research in visual sciences.

Funding from the Challenge Grant can continue for up to four years based on approval of a two-year substantive progress report. After four years, recipients can apply for an RPB Unrestricted Grant, which provides additional flexibility in developing and expanding eye research programs.

“The RPB funding serves as a catalyst, driving us to address real-world problems, particularly in vision,” Ramamurthy said. “If we continue to maintain this upward trajectory, it bodes well for our research efforts and helps sustain the impact of the Visual Sciences Center of Biomedical Research Excellence.”