Newswise — Northampton, MA — The American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF) is investing $1.1 cardinal successful studies that clasp the imaginable to acceptable caller standards successful the prevention and attraction of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The nonprofit announced its expanded slate of grants successful the aftermath of precocious released figures that enactment the fig of Americans with immoderate signifier of the show stealing illness astatine 20 million.
“Donors entrust america not lone with their resources, but with their hopes,” says Chip Goehring, President and Founder, AMDF. “As a foundation, we stock the hopes of our supporters, that done cautiously identified probe and acquisition we tin let patients and caregivers to unrecorded their fullest lives with this disease, and forestall aboriginal generations from losing their sight.”
AMDF’s caller grants are aimed astatine illness prevention, hazard reduction, caller attraction protocols and cures.
- Martin-Paul Agbaga, PhD, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, volition person an AMDF Stargardt Breakthrough Award to make a attraction and transportation strategy that volition rescue retinal defects successful a uncommon signifier of Stargardt macular degeneration (STGD3), and perchance precocious AMD.
- Grayson W. Armstrong, MD, MPH and Saghar Bagheri, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School, volition person an AMDF Breakthrough Award for a survey to find however the clip that elapses from the onset of bedewed AMD symptoms to the archetypal anti-VEGF injection correlates to short- and semipermanent ocular outcomes (findings from this probe whitethorn pb to a alteration successful attraction protocols worldwide).
- Neena Haider, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School receives an AMDF Breakthrough Award extension to proceed investigating gene-based interventions that could attenuate the progression of AMD, and perchance forestall its development.
- Johanna M. Seddon, MD, ScM, Director of Retina, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, receives an AMDF Breakthrough Award hold to proceed to elucidate caller biologic pathways progressive successful AMD and place caller therapeutic targets.
- Allen Taylor, PhD, Professor of Nutrition, Development, Molecular & Chemical Biology, & Ophthalmology, Tufts University, volition person an AMDF Prevention Award for a survey to corroborate the benefits of a debased glycemic scale fare successful slowing AMD and perchance reversing symptoms, with the extremity of redefining nutritional guidelines for AMD patients and those astatine risk.
- Claudio Punzo, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, volition person an AMDF/ Research to Prevent Blindness Catalyst Award to make a tiny interfering RNA therapy for bedewed AMD that would necessitate galore less treatments than existent anti-VEGF oculus injections (part of a three-year, co-funding concern with Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc.).
Smaller AMDF awards, intended to nurture the aboriginal careers of AMD researchers, spell to:
- Shun-Yun Cheng, a post-doctoral probe chap (in the laboratory of Claudio Punzo, PhD), University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, who receives an AMDF Young Investigator Leadership Award to prosecute her investigations of a projected relation for photoreceptors arsenic initiators successful the improvement of AMD.
- Ryutaro Akiba, MD, PhD, University of Washington and Giulia Corradetti, MD, Doheny Eye Institute, UCLA, who received Travel Grants for costs associated with attending the yearly gathering of the Association of Researchers successful Vision and Ophthalmology.
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The American Macular Degeneration Foundation (macular.org) is simply a patient-centric instauration that supports perchance game-changing AMD research, acquisition and advocacy successful bid to amended prime of beingness and attraction outcomes for each of those affected by AMD.
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