RPB Grantees Contribute to Eye Transplantation Effort

What if we could cure blindness?

That is the bold question that the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H) is asking, with help from researchers around the country. ARPA-H announced its plan to restore vision to people who are blind through functional whole eye transplantation, meaning that a transplanted eye could achieve sight. 

RPB-supported departments of ophthalmology at Stanford University, the University of Colorado, and the University of Miami Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, are key locations for the ARPA-H work. 

Many RPB individual grantees are also playing critical roles in the ARPA-H work. One RPB grantee in particular, Dr. Frans Vinberg at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, will apply his skills to solving the challenge of recovering and preserving human organ donor eyes until and after transplantation.

Dr. Vinberg's earlier work in this area was supported by an RPB / Dr. H. James and Carole Free Career Development Award. RPB is so pleased to see Dr. Vinberg build upon his CDA work in this exciting new project. Many of RPB's grants provide the foundation for field-changing research and go on to positively impact countless people with vision loss. 

December 3, 2024