Poonam Naik, PhD, a researcher in the Apte Lab within the WashU Medicine John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, has received a research grant from the VitreoRetinal Surgery Foundation to study new immune-based approaches for treating neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), a leading cause of vision loss.
The project focuses on macrophages, immune cells that play an important role in inflammation and tissue repair, to better understand how they influence abnormal blood vessel growth in the retina. “The goal of this work is to explore whether macrophages can be guided toward a therapeutic state that suppresses harmful blood vessel growth and supports healthier repair responses in the eye to help prevent vision loss,” said Naik.
This research supports growing efforts to develop longer-lasting, next-generation treatments for nAMD. The work will be conducted in collaboration with Carl DeSelm, MD, PhD, in the Department of Radiation Oncology, and Phillip Ruzycki, PhD, in Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences.
About WashU Medicine
WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with 2,900 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the second largest among U.S. medical schools and has grown 56% in the last seven years. Together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently within the top five in the country, with more than 1,900 faculty physicians practicing at 130 locations and who are also the medical staffs of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals of BJC HealthCare. WashU Medicine has a storied history in MD/PhD training, recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.