Irina De La Huerta, M.D., Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University receives $65,000 grant to prevent childhood diabetes retinal diseases

Irina De La Huerta, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt Eye Institute has received a grant in the amount of $65,000 which will support her research which will pave the way toward developing future treatments to prevent retinal diseases of childhood that are associated with high blood sugar levels.

Presenting the check to Dr. De La Huerta from the Grand Commandery of Tennessee were Sir Knights Clarence Crump, Grand Commander; Roy Sutton, III, Grand Senior Warden; Burks Taylor, Past Grand Commander; and accompanying Dr. De La Huerta at the presentation was Dr. John Penn, Ph.D., Snyder Professor and Vice Chairman Department of Ophthalmology and member of the Knights Templar Eye Foundation Scientific Advisory Committee

Increasing numbers of children are born prematurely, and are diagnosed with diabetes. Retinopathy of prematurity develops in premature infants whose retinal blood vessels are not fully grown. Most premature infants who are very small at birth have abnormally high blood sugar levels, and this is associated with delayed retinal blood vessel growth. In children with diabetes, high blood sugar levels are associated with the development of retinal blood vessel abnormalities typical of diabetic retinopathy. Photoreceptors are the most numerous cells in the retina, and the cells that use the most energy.

Photoreceptors are affected by high blood sugar levels and may contribute to the delay in retinal blood vessel growth in premature infants and to the development of retinopathy in patients with diabetes. However, the mechanisms by which photoreceptors under high sugar conditions impact the retinal blood vessels are not well understood.

This project aims to investigate the response of photoreceptors to high sugar conditions by testing the effect of photoreceptors exposed to high sugar on the retinal cells that are responsible for blood vessel growth and for maintaining blood vessel integrity and the goal is to help develop future treatments to prevent childhood retinal diseases.