Emory Eye Center scientists impacting the future of vision research
Pardue, Datta, and Feola join collaborative research efforts
The first half of 2023 has been a busy one for the Research Division of the Emory Eye Center, as individual investigators are actively involving themselves in multi-disciplinary research.
Machelle T. Pardue, PhD
The newly appointed chair of the Emory Eye Center Research Division, Machelle T. Pardue , PhD, was recently named by the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) to a cohort of academics who've been tasked with conducting a consensus study on myopia. The Focus on Myopia-Pathogenesis and Rising Incidence committee will assess the current mechanistic understanding of the disease and identify knowledge gaps that further research may explore.
The committee will issue a white paper that will help researchers map out a productive strategy for investigating the causes and possible new treatments for myopia,
said Pardue. Some studies suggest that by the year 2050, about half of the world's population will have myopia.
Pardue's appointment to the NASEM committee comes just months after she was appointed to a working group within the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative for Diabetic Retinopathy (MTM-VIDR). As a member of the Functional Endpoints committee, Pardue is working with a wide cross-section of researchers to identify new diagnostic markers for the disease, which caused severe vision loss to the late actress in her final years.
Of particular interest to MTM-VIDR is Pardue's expertise in the electroretinogram (ERG), a non-invasive procedure that allows ophthalmologists to assess retinal health.
Research shows that ERGs can detect changes in the eyes of people with diabetes before vascular changes are identified,
she said. If we can detect the disease earlier, we can possibly prevent people from losing their sight, so this is a very exciting direction.
At least one clinical trial is currently investigating the efficacy of ERG assessments of diabetic retinopathy.
Andrew Feola, PhD
Earlier this spring, Andrew J. Feola, PhD was invited to participate in the Women's Health Research Initiative meeting - a working group that is seeking to augment women's health within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Feola's research focuses on glaucoma and the potential role that sex-specific risk factors play in developing this disease for women. His work investigates how menopause and estrogen signaling play a role in those pathologies. It also focuses on how a better understanding of the pathophysiology of ocular diseases can produce better therapeutic pathways for patient treatment.
As a researcher focused on women's health for more than 15 years, I am excited to participate in an initiative that brings focus to these important issues in the VA,
he said. Feola also holds an appointment with VA as a research biologist in the Center for Visual & Neurocognitive Rehabilitation.
Sayantan Datta, PhD
And, finally, in March Sayantan Datta, PhD was one of only 50 researchers from across the world invited by the Ryan Institute for Macular Research (RIMR) to join the Regenerative Medicine Task Force for a three-day exploration of strategies for fighting age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In recent years, stem cells have been successfully used to generate new retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells in patients who have lost it due to AMD.
Datta's cutting-edge research has taken this therapy a step further by using induced pluripotent cells (iPSC) as universal donors for the regeneration of RPE cells. If successful, this process will remove a barrier that could otherwise prevent all patients from having access to RPE therapy.
What we are doing at Emory is really what a lot of companies would like to achieve,
said Datta. And there is a lot of interest in making it go forward.
-Kathleen E. Moore