Tasneem Sharma, PhD, recently received a R01 grant for her project titled "Therapeutic Intervention to Target Human Glaucoma Pathogenesis." The grant was awarded for five years with $391,746 per year for a total of $1,958,730 in grant funding.
Glaucoma is a silent, underdiagnosed, costly and debilitating disease. Direct economic costs for the approximately two million U.S. citizens with glaucoma amount to $2.9 billion. The disease is complex and to date, treatment options for the disease only include reducing elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). However, patients are sometimes resistant to conventional drug therapies, and it is crucial to identify therapies and develop new treatments for glaucoma that can save retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) from neurodegeneration. Our relevant proposed studies will provide a foundation for developing a new glaucoma therapeutic.
Glaucoma is a disease identified by increased pressure within the eye and progressive death of neurons in the back of the eye that eventually leads to blindness. Current treatment options for disease only include reducing elevated pressure, but patients are sometimes resistant to established treatments. We will use human neurons and a regenerative therapy to rescue visual neurons from dying which will provide progress towards clinical trials in glaucoma patients with a focus on precision medicine.
“This grant will be instrumental in spearheading our research on validating an innovative therapeutic strategy for glaucoma that utilizes a combinatorial approach of neuroprotection and precision based stem cell paradigms to mitigate the progression of this complex ocular disease,” said Dr. Sharma.
Our powerful tools and valuable stem cell resources will have enormous potential for breakthrough discovery. It will offer a foundation for deciphering survival and regeneration of RGCs due to glaucomatous neurodegeneration.
Congratulations to Dr. Sharma!
