Rockville, Md. – ARVO Foundation for Eye Research (AFER) congratulates the first AFER/Genentech Age-related macular Degeneration Fellowship recipients — Balamurali K. Ambati, MD, PhD, and Stephen H. Tsang, MD, PhD. Each received $40,000 to support their age-related macular degeneration (AMD) research and will be honored at the 2012 ARVO Annual Meeting on Sunday, May 6, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
"We are thrilled to present funding to these young investigators to advance knowledge and fundamental mechanisms of AMD, particularly since this is the first time the ARVO Foundation has given awards to foster research," said AFER Chair Nicolas G. Bazan, MD, PhD, FARVO. "Thanks to the support of Genentech, we are able to assist these two scientists in their progression as innovators in this area of eye research."
Ambati, associate professor of ophthalmology and visual science and director of cornea research at the John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, will conduct translational AMD research with a focus on therapeutics. Specifically, his study involves RGD-targeted Flt23k-intraceptor nanoparticles for prevention and treatment of spontaneous choroidal neovascularization in a novel transgenic murine model of AMD.
Tsang, assistant professor of clinical ophthalmology at the Harkness Eye Institute at Columbia University Medical Center, will examine stem cells in personalized, predictive and targeted medicine for AMD.
AMD is the leading cause of blindness in Americans over the age of 60. It affects the macula, which is the part of the eye that allows us to see fine detail. AMD comes in two different forms, wet or dry. Wet AMD is more serious than dry AMD, but both can lead to central vision loss over time, leaving only peripheral vision.
The Genentech AMD fellowships are presented to investigators who are under the age of 45 at the application deadline. Fellowships are for a period of one year and will commence within six months of the award notification.
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The ARVO Foundation for Eye Research (AFER), now in its 10th year, complements ARVO's mission to cure and prevent blindness and eye disease by providing funding to promote scientific interactions and exchange; foster translational research and move forward scientific breakthroughs from the laboratory to clinical practice; and recruit and retain scientists in all fields of vision research. Learn more at www.arvofoundation.org.
The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) is the largest eye and vision research organization in the world. Members include more than 12,500 eye and vision researchers from over 80 countries. ARVO encourages and assists research, training, publication and knowledge-sharing in vision and ophthalmology.
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