Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School have received up to $46 million in funding to help develop an innovative treatment for blindness. A Health Advanced Research Projects Agency award will enable researchers to make full-eye transplants a reality.
Kuanshutz
Researchers say the goal is to restore sight to patients who are completely blind. The grant will support the work of the CU-led Innovation Advancement Task Force on Whole Human Eye Allotransplantation.
“Currently, there is no successful full human eye transplant to restore vision,” said lead researcher and surgeon Dr. Kia Washington in a statement. “We believe that the past two decades of progress in technology, transplant surgery, and regenerative medicine have Tremendous advances have now made it possible to restore sight.”
The CU Anschutz team said it will study optic nerve regeneration strategies, immunosuppression and post-operative care starting with animal models, with the goal of advancing to human trials.
Kuanshutz
“One of the most complex parts of the surgery is successfully reconnecting the optic nerve. Think of it as repairing the broken electrical connections that carry signals from the eye to the brain,” Washington said in a statement. “Monitoring and Aftercare Care is equally important to ensure that the brain continues to receive the correct signals and is receptive to the new eyes. ”
Washington said the technologies and advances developed in the research could be used to treat blindness while providing new solutions for other neurodegenerative diseases that affect the central nervous system, such as spinal cord injuries or brain injuries.
The program is a collaboration with multiple partners including Johns Hopkins University, the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University and the National Eye Institute, as well as researchers from the University of Southern California and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
