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Rajendra Apte, M.D., Ph.D.
Washington University, School of Medicine
Saint Louis, MO
Title:
The importance of macrophage senescence in regulating angiogenesis in macular degeneration
Non-Technical Title:
Effect of cholesterol on the aged immune system in macular degeneration
Duration:
April 1, 2010 - March 31, 2012
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Summary: How does cholesterol within drusen influence macrophage function in age-related macular degeneration? Does it promote the conversion of macrophages to pro-angiogenic cells that, in turn, cause progression to neovascular disease?
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Program: Macular Degeneration
Award Type: Standard
$100,000
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Judit Baffi, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY
Title:
CCR3 biology and imaging applied to CNV in AMD
Non-Technical Title:
A New Molecular Target for Diagnosing the Wet Form of AMD
Duration:
April 1, 2010 - March 31, 2012
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Summary: We are pursuing the combined goals of understanding the role and impact of CCR3 function during blood vessel development in the eye. Further, we are exploiting CCR3 to create images of the earliest stages of neovascular, ‘wet’, age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We are achieving this by using multiple molecular, biological, and genetic approaches. The potential impact of this proposal is very high as it will further define the functional relevance of the CCR3/eotaxin “axis” to the clinical development and progression of AMD. This will lead to the development of novel CCR3-targeting diagnostic and therapeutic strategies that can be used in the clinic to detect the subclinical stages of neovascular AMD, thus preventing this disease from progressing into a vision threatening state.
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Program: Macular Degeneration
Award Type: Standard
$100,000
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Nicolas Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center -- N.O.
New Orleans, LA
Title:
NPD1 promotes survival signaling in the Ccl2-/-/Cx3cr1-/- mouse AMD model
Non-Technical Title:
Neuroprotectin D1 promotes survival signaling in retinal cells of a mouse model
Duration:
April 1, 2010 - March 31, 2012
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Summary: The proposed experiments will define changes in the survival messenger neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1) and will assess its bioactivity in a model of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). These “proof of principle” studies will facilitate the initiation of clinical studies in AMD patients.
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Program: Macular Degeneration
Award Type: Standard
$100,000
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Michael E. Boulton, Ph.D.
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL, United States
Title:
Preprogrammed Bone Marrow Cells as a Systemic Therapy for Dry AMD
Non-Technical Title:
Programming Circulating Cells as a Therapy for Age-related Macular Degeneration
Duration:
July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2013
Co-Investigator(s):
Maria Grant, M.D.
University of Florida
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Summary: Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the elderly. Dry AMD, which represents 85% of AMD, is associated with retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) dysfunction and death for which there is currently no treatment. The development of a minimally invasive cellular therapy that can be given systemically will a) overcome the need for invasive ocular surgery and b) offer the potential for prevention rather than intervention since this therapy can be given much earlier in the disease. Successful development of this approach will offer an important treatment for the 1.7 million plus Americans who are threatened with visual loss from dry AMD, improve quality of life and reduce social and healthcare costs. We predict that the AHAF funding for this proposed preclinical study will provide the necessary data to confirm the efficacy of this cellular therapy and allow this pioneering research to translate into phase 1 and 2 clinical trials.
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Program: Macular Degeneration
Award Type: Standard
$100,000
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Sina Farsiu, Ph.D.
Duke University
Durham, NC
Title:
Automatic Measurement of Wet AMD's Imaging Biomarkers
Non-Technical Title:
Automatic Detection and Measurement of neovascular AMD's Imaging Biomarkers
Duration:
April 1, 2010 - March 31, 2012
Co-Investigator(s):
Glenn Jaffe,
Duke University
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Summary: We are developing an open source fully-automated software program with demonstrated high accuracy that is able to detect, segment, and analyze Neovascular AMD (NVAMD) pathology seen on optical coherence tomography and compare these data to corresponding features on other imaging modalities. We anticipate that the software tools developed in this proposal will be readily adopted by clinicians, clinical study sites, and image Reading Centers to better identify NVAMD at the earliest stages, to quantify disease progression, and to measure response to therapy.
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Program: Macular Degeneration
Award Type: Standard
$100,000
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Thomas A. Ferguson, Ph.D.
Washington University
St. Louis, MO, United States
Title:
The Role of Autophagy in Age-related Eye Disease
Non-Technical Title:
The Role of the Cell's Recycling System in the Development of Blinding Eye Diseases
Duration:
July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2013
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Summary: Autophagy (self-eating) is a recycling process for our cells that continuously clears damaged structures and recycles the ingredients to maintain proper cellular function. As we get older this recycling system does not work very well and this can leads to diseases of aging such as Alzheimer's and Age-related Macular Degeneration. Our studies will determine how important this process is for vision and if we can use this information to develop a new therapy to treat blinding eye disorders.
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Program: Macular Degeneration
Award Type: Standard
$100,000
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Erica Fletcher, O.D., Ph.D.
The University of Melbourne
Melbourne, Australia
Title:
Reducing photoreceptor death in dry AMD using anti-purinergic agents
Non-Technical Title:
Ways of reducing vision loss in an animal model of Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Duration:
April 1, 2010 - March 31, 2012
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Summary: We think that a molecule called ATP is released from dying photoreceptors early in the course of age-related macular degeneration that causes and accelerates the death of neighboring cells. In addition, we predict that drugs that block the actions of ATP will slow photoreceptor death and ultimately preserve vision. This project will examine this question in an animal model of age-related macular degeneration.
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Program: Macular Degeneration
Award Type: Standard
$99,196
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Jonathan L. Haines, Ph.D.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, TN, United States
Title:
The Genetics of AMD in African-Americans
Non-Technical Title:
The Genetics of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in African-Americans
Duration:
July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2013
Co-Investigator(s):
Anita Agarwal, M.D.
Vanderbilt University
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Summary: The primary goal of this project is ascertain at least 100 African-American individuals with age-related macular degeneration and 100 African-American unrelated controls. We will use multiple modalities to identify and enroll these individuals. We will then test this dataset for known genetic risk factors to determine if these effects generalize in the African-American population.
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Program: Macular Degeneration
Award Type: Standard
$100,000
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Peter Humphries, Ph.D.
Trinity College Dublin
Dublin, Ireland
Title:
The Inflammasome and Novel Therapeutic Targets in AMD
Non-Technical Title:
Inflammation and AMD
Duration:
July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2013
Co-Investigator(s):
Matthew Campbell, B.Sc. (Hons), Ph.D.
Trinity College Dublin
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Summary: Our proposed research will aim to identify and implicate a novel inflammatory pathway in the progression of AMD. This pathway is termed the "inflammasome" and the identification of novel therapeutic targets for AMD could pave the way for more robust and reliable therapies for both dry and wet AMD. Indeed, if the inflammasome were to be implicated in the development of AMD, the targets for potential therapies would be greatly improved. Moreover, low molecular weight inhibitors or indeed augmenters of inflammasome component activation could also be investigated for therapeutic use.
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Program: Macular Degeneration
Award Type: Standard
$100,000
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David R. Hyde, Ph.D.
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN, United States
Title:
Generating a Zebrafish Model to Study AMD
Non-Technical Title:
New Model of Macular Degeneration
Duration:
July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2013
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Summary: This project will address if the loss of retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells is the primary or secondary cause of cone cell loss in macular degeneration. Using zebrafish, which possesses the ability to regenerate photoreceptor cells in the eye, we will also examine if the damaged RPE cells can be regenerated and the subsequent consequences on cone photoreceptor cell regeneration.
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Program: Macular Degeneration
Award Type: Standard
$100,000
