Dr. Joseph Mertz from Wilmer Eye Institute, awarded $70,000 Knights Templar Eye Foundation Grant to Research New Targets for Pediatric Glaucoma Intervention

The various forms of pediatric glaucoma, which include primary congenital glaucoma, infantile glaucoma, and juvenile open-angle glaucoma, together comprise one of the most common causes of irreversible childhood blindness. Rather than directly protecting the cells that are lost in these diseases, retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), prevailing treatments target the major risk factor, intra-ocular pressure. These are often but, unfortunately, not always successful at preventing further vision loss. Thus, neuroprotective treatment strategies to target and protect RGCs specifically could prevent vision loss for many children around the world. Years of research by numerous groups have revealed that signaling within the MAPK protein network is a major component of RGC death after various injuries and stressors.

The proposed research seeks to understand the critical signaling events with the MAPK network that bring about RGC death and thus reveal new targets for pediatric glaucoma intervention. It is our hope that these new insights will contribute to new treatment strategies to prevent vision loss.