RPB News

Eye Divergence in Children Linked to Risk of Mental Illness

Children whose eyes are misaligned and point outward are at significantly increased risk of developing mental illness by early adulthood, according to findings of an RPB-supported, Mayo Clinic study published in...

Strabismus

Stem Cells Generate New Retinal Cells Necessary for Vision

Pluripotent stem cells — those, like embryonic stem cells, that give rise to almost every type of cell in the body — can be converted into the different classes of retinal cells necessary for vision, according...

Macular Degeneration

Thyroid Problems May Increase Glaucoma Risk

According to an RPB-supported study, people who have had a thyroid condition at some point in their life are at an increased risk of developing glaucoma. The link between glaucoma and thyroid disorders may be due to...

Glaucoma

How Cells Die Determines Whether Immune System Mounts Response

An RPB vision researcher's finding could have important implications in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer. Read story.Thomas A. Ferguson, Ph.D., Washington University School of Medicine,...

Ocular Oncology

New Vision Screening Device Provides Early Warning of Diabetic Eye Disease

RPB-supported research yields test that could give doctors and patients a head start on treating diabetes and...

Diabetic Retinopathy

Gene Therapy Proven Effective for Patients with Inherited Retinal Disease

Researchers have used gene therapy to safely restore vision in three young adults with a form of retinitis pigmentosa known as Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA), an inherited retinal disorder that reduces...

Retinitis Pigmentosa

RPB-Supported Scientist Revolutionizes Gene Research

A dramatic new study, supported by Research to Prevent Blindness, questions some of the mechanisms underlying a new class of drugs based on Nobel Prize-winning work designed to fight diseases ranging from...

Macular Degeneration

Discovery Opens Path for Drugs to Treat, Prevent Devastating Eye Diseases

SALT LAKE CITY –Two major eye diseases and leading causes of blindness—age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy—can be reversed or even prevented by drugs that activate a protein found in...

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy Reversed

Two leading causes of blindness can be reversed or even prevented by drugs that activate a protein found in blood vessel cells. The discovery is an example of basic science research yielding a discovery with direct...

Diabetic Retinopathy

New Hope for Regenerating the Human Retina

In a radical breakthrough, RPB scientists have demonstrated the possibility of chemically signaling the eye's own resources to regenerate retina cells, without transplanting retinal tissue or stem cells. ...

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

RPB Supports World Glaucoma Day 2009

As a major contributor to the comprehensive effort to treat, prevent and cure glaucoma, Research to Prevent Blindness is joining with institutions and organizations worldwide to...

Glaucoma

RPB Supports Development of Device for Early Warning of Eye Disease

Ann Arbor, MI – Scientists at the University of Michigan have shown that their new metabolic imaging instrument can accurately detect eye disease at a very early stage. Such a device would be vision-saving...

RPB Supports Breakthrough Finding In Eye Development, Eye Cancer

Dr. Michael Dyer, RPB Career Development Awardee

On the heels of identifying the specific type of cell that gives rise to retinoblastoma, RPB-funded researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are solving a long-standing mystery about how the eyes...

RPB Gave $10.24 Million In Grants In 2008

New York, NY, December 19, 2008 -- Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB), the leading voluntary health organization supporting eye research, awarded 100 grants totaling $10.24 million in 2008. Departments of...