Ophthalmology News and Research

RSS

Ophthalmology is the specialized field of medicine that focuses on the health of the eye. It includes the anatomy, physiology and diseases that may affect the eye. Historically, the science of ophthalmology encompassed all aspects of visual function, both in health and in illness. Additionally, ophthalmology also includes animal eyes as ocular function and optic diseases are similar among humans and animals.

New startup launched to overcome the challenge of delivering next-generation therapeutics

Harvard University's Office of Technology Development (OTD) and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health today announced the launch of Vesigen Therapeutics, a startup company that aims to overcome the challenge of delivering next-generation therapeutics, such as gene-editing complexes, RNA molecules, and other large proteins, to intracellular targets in specific tissues of interest.

23 Jul 2020

Boosting metabolic resources in the brain could be a way to slow neurodegeneration

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have shown for the first time that when one optic nerve in the eye is damaged, as in glaucoma, the opposite optic nerve comes to the rescue by sharing its metabolic energy.

From Vanderbilt University 22 Jul 2020

A new approach to combat drug resistance in aggressive age-related macular degeneration

An international team of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine and Houston Methodist has discovered a strategy that can potentially address a major challenge to the current treatment for choroidal neovascularization (CNV), an aggressive form of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the elderly.

17 Jul 2020

Astrocytes may play a key role in neurodegenerative disorders

According to a new research performed in rodents, cells that usually nurture nerves may actually destroy them following a brain injury.

From New York University (NYU) 24 Jun 2020

Stem cell model sheds new light on neurodegeneration process

A new study published today in Neuron led by The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute's Valentina Fossati, Ph.D., creates astrocytes - an integral support cell in the brain - from stem cells and shows that in disease-like environments, these normally helpful cells can turn into neuron-killers.

2 Jun 2020

Newly discovered gene variants offer therapeutic possibilities for glaucoma

An international team of researchers, headed by scientists from Stanford University and the University of Helsinki, has discovered unique changes in a gene, known as ANGPTL7, that reduce intraocular pressure and considerably decrease the risk of glaucoma.

6 May 2020

Study could bolster understanding and treatment for rare, genetic eye disease

Nagano prefecture is home to a group of people effected with a rare genetic neurodegenerative disorder called familial amyloid polyneuropathies. This disease impacts the gene encoding protein transthyretin which is produced in the liver and also eyes.

6 Apr 2020