2021 Faculty Grants

Dr. Andrew Williams received the Research to Prevent Blindness and American Academy of Ophthalmology Award for IRIS® Registry Research in 2021. The grant supports selected investigators to use the IRIS Registry database and its analytic capabilities to further populationbased research in ophthalmology and blindness prevention. Clinical researchers are selected based on the potential of their original research to improve patient’s lives through research and innovation. Dr. Williams will use the IRIS Registry database to examine the clinical implications of loss of follow up in glaucoma. He hopes that understanding the extent of the problem of loss to follow up will help to inform future interventions to ensure glaucoma patients continue to receive needed care.

Dr. Ian Conner received a grant from the NIH for the Departments participation a trial to identify the optimal application of SLT therapy beginning at the time of diagnosis. Specifically, the goal of this study is to understand if SLT performed at low energy is as effective as SLT performed at standard energy, and also to see if repeating SLT at low energy once a year will prevent or delay the need for daily eye drop medications better than waiting for SLT to wear off before repeating it.

Dr. Robert Shanks received NIH funding to study the emergence of a subgroup of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria that cause more pathogenic ocular infections. The funding will allow Dr. Shanks along with the Charles T. Campbell Laboratory of Ophthalmic Microbiology and Anthony St. Leger to evaluate the microbiological and immunological mechanisms driving the pathogenic process caused by these bacteria. These studies may lead to improved clinical diagnosis and personalized medicine approach to improve patient outcomes. within the rabbit optic nerve head.

Dr. Takaaki Kuwajima received the Alcon Research Institute Young Investigator Award for his research on optic nerve regeneration. The funded project is focused on the investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying RGC protection and axon regeneration by a novel combination therapy of FDA-approved drug, statins and an ECM-based reagent, MBV in the rodent optic nerve injury model. When completed, his results could help to give us a better understanding of how regenerative outcomes are enhanced, leading to development of a practical and effective regenerative approach for treatments of ocular trauma in humans.

2021 Faculty Grants (continued)

Dr. Kun-Che Chang received Hillman Challenge Grants-Young Investigator from Hillman Foundation to study the regulatory mechanism of retinal ganglion cell development and develop stem cell therapies for retinal ganglion cell loss. This work will result in a new strategy of cell replacement therapy for glaucoma and optic neuropathy.

Dr. Boris Rosin received the Career Development Award from the Foundation Fighting Blindness. The project will explore strategies for improving the outcomes of gene therapy for Inherited Retinal Disease (IRD) by means of activation of Central Nervous System visual pathways in a naturally occurring murine IRD model.

Dr. Eric Romanowski received a grant from Alcon Research LLC. to study the antiviral efficacy of topical formulations of povidone-iodine against adenovirus eye infections. Adenoviruses are the most common cause of epidemic viral conjunctivitis (“pink eye”) worldwide. As there is no FDA approved antiviral treatment for these infections, the development an effective topical antiviral would reduce patient suffering and vision altering corneal opacities as well as reducing the potential spread of the infections within families and the community.

Dr. Romanowski also received a grant from Oyster Point Pharma to investigate the antibacterial activity of bacteriophages (viruses that infect and kill bacteria) on bacteria isolated from patients with blepharitis (infections of the eyelids). Bacteria isolated from blepharitis patients are frequently resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat these infections. Bacteriophages represent a potential novel treatment for patients with blepharitis.

Dr. Romanowski received an additional grant from American Genomics, LLC to study the antibacterial potential of a new ocular anesthetic to be used in eye surgeries and injections. Currently, patients undergoing eye injections receive several eye drops including an antiseptic, which is irritating, and an anesthetic afterward. Should this novel anesthetic demonstrate antibacterial activity, it could serve a dual purpose as an anesthetic and antiseptic and therefore potentially eliminate the need for the irritating antiseptic drop.

2021 Faculty Grants (continued)

Dr. Ian Sigal received a grant from the NIH to study the blood vessels of the back of the optic nerve head and how they are affected by intraocular pressure. The project is a collaboration with Drs. Jakobs and Rizzo of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear. Dr. Sigal was also awarded a prestigious Stein Innovation Award by Research to Prevent Blindness. The award supports high-risk projects with the potential to transform treatment of a disease. The project goal is to develop a novel therapeutic approach to glaucoma through modulating the mechanical properties of the tissues. Dr. Sigal was awarded a Hillman foundation grant to develop Super-resolution ultrasound techniques to measure blood flow in the optic nerve head. This project is a collaboration with Drs. Kang Kim from Bioengineering and Ian Conner a glaucoma clinician in Ophthalmology.

Dr. Shivalingappa (Shiva) Swamynathan received an NIH RO1 grant to study the ocular surface functions of SLURP1, which they previously identified as an immunomodulatory peptide that is abundantly expressed by the cornea and secreted into the tear film. In this project, they will test if SLURP1 suppresses corneal angiogenic inflammation and neutrophil recruitment by regulating the TGF-beta and urokinase activities that promote NF-kappaB-mediated production of pro-inflammatory molecules. By elucidating promising new information related to the immunomodulatory functions of SLURP1, anticipated outcomes of this project offer the potential for validating a novel therapeutic target for inflammatory disorders of the ocular surface that account for a significant burden on our healthcare system.

Dr. Gary Yam received a grant from the Hillman Breakthrough Research on the Funderburgh Corneal Regeneration Project to develop stromal cell-based therapy for corneal scarring. With the seminal discovery of corneal stromal stem cells, Yam and Funderburgh’s group has demonstrated the therapeutic success to repair scarred corneas and restore vision in preclinical models. This funding enables them to establish GMP protocols in manufacturing clinical-grade cells, develop quality control models to assure the safety and efficacy of cell products, and launch clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh. This innovative therapy will have a broad impact on patients with corneal scarring who are inaccessible to viable treatment options due to the global shortage of transplantable donor corneal tissues.

Dr. Susana da Silva received a grant from the Hillman Foundation Challenge Grants in the Young Investigator category. Leveraging the chick as a unique model for studying basic mechanisms underlying fovea development, this study aims at profiling the developing chick high acuity area at both transcriptomic and epigenomic levels with single-cell resolution. Given the molecular conservation of early retinoic acid signaling in both chick and human fovea, datasets obtained in this project can provide insights into understanding why the fovea is so prone to neurodegenerative diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, and aid in the development of cell-based or gene-based regenerative therapies of the human fovea.

2021 Faculty Grants (continued)

Dr. Anthony St. Leger received a Hillman Challenge Grant for his study that aims to genetically engineer an ocular bacterium to deliver naturally derived therapeutics to the ocular surface. For this work, the lab is focusing on delivering interleukin (IL)-10--a factor that suppresses excessive inflammation and promotes wound healing--to the ocular surface. When completed, this project will be a proof-of-concept that ocular bacteria can be genetically engineered to promote ocular surface health and homeostasis. Dr. St. Leger also received R01 funding from the NIH for his study that aims to understand how ocular surface commensal bacteria colonize the eye and induce protective immune responses. Our focus is on Corynebacterium mastitidis (C. mast), which is known to colonize the eye and induce an immune response. We have created a C. mast mutant library, so that we will be able to identify specific genes that are responsible for colonization and stimulating the immune system. We will be able to use the data from this grant to better understand what makes an ocular bacterium an eye colonizer or a transient passenger.

Dr. Yiqin Du received a grant from the PSF/MTF Biologics Allograft Tissue Research Grant for her research to differentiate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into functional cells for wound healing. This research is in collaboration with Dr. Mario Solari at Plastic Surgery who is the principal investigator to combine our unique stem cell biology and tissue engineering techniques and to make specific allograft tissues to promote scarless wound healing.

Dr. Debasish Sinha received a grant from UPMC Enterprises for his project titled “Cryba1 Gene Therapy for Nonexudative Age Related Macular Degeneration”. The main goal of this project is to is to develop Cryba1 (encodes for bA3/A1-crystallin), into a novel gene therapy for dry AMD. Previous data clearly show that bA3/A1-crystallin can rejuvenate the impaired lysosomal function observed in our AMD-like animal models and is a viable strategy for treating dry AMD.

Dr. Sinha also received funding from the Wiegand Entrepreneurial Research Award for is project titled “Targeting Lipocalin-2 (LCN-2) as a therapy for age-related macular degeneration (AMD)”. Previous publications and unpublished results indicate an importance of LCN-2 in retinal degeneration and inflammation activation as seen in atrophic AMD. LCN-2 is highly upregulated in RPE samples from human AMD donors at the early stages of the disease, therefore in this project, Dr. Sinha and his team will target LCN-2 for the treatment of AMD.

Dr. Sinha also received R01 funding from the NIH for his project titled “Targeting lysosome/ RPE heterogeneity in AMD pathology as a novel therapy”. The major goal of this project is to establish the novel concept of lysosome/autophagy dysfunction as a key driver of RPE heterogeneity in atrophic AMD.

Dr. Sinha also received a grant from Generian Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the project titled “Testing GT300 in an AMD-like animal model”. Dr. Sinha and his team utilized their Cryba1 cKO mouse model for this project. They tested the efficacy of GT300, a novel therapy from Generian, in reducing or delaying the progression of the early AMD-like phenotype that develops in the Cryba1 cKO.