Dr. Tasneem Sharma from Indiana University's Glick Eye Institute awarded $70,000 Knights Templar Foundation Grant for Childhood Glaucoma Research

Dr. Tasneem Sharma from Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine was awarded a $70,000 grant for her research entitled: Neuritin 1 protects against pressure-induced retinal ganglion cell degeneration.

Childhood glaucoma is a pediatric condition leading to significant visual impairment. Juvenile-onset primary open angle glaucoma (JOAG) is a subtype of primary glaucoma, and the disease presents from four years to early adulthood. The disease is identified by increased pressure within the eye and progressive death of neurons in the back of the eye, which can eventually lead to blindness in children. The etiology of JOAG is quite complex and to date treatment options for the disease only include reducing the elevated pressure in the eye.

However, these patients are resistant to conventional drug therapies, so surgical intervention is the most common option. It is thus crucial to identify therapeutic targets and develop new treatments for JOAG that can save the visual neurons from dying. Dr. Sharma will utilize a unique Translaminar Autonomous System model to recreate the human optic nerve head environment of elevated pressure in patients with JOAG and test a new neuroprotective and regenerative gene therapy.

Using this approach, she hopes to identify human Neuritin 1 as a new therapeutic gene to save the visual neurons and develop a new treatment for JOAG. Completion of our proposed research will provide substantial progress toward validation and development of clinical trials in JOAG patients.