New fund honors Bhorade’s legacy by supporting innovative glaucoma research at WashU Medicine
The WashU Medicine John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences is pleased to announce that Qian Wang, PhD has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Anjali Bhorade Glaucoma Innovation Fund Award.
Established through a generous gift from the family of Dr. Anjali Bhorade, the newly endowed fund will provide annual competitive grants to support innovative glaucoma research conducted by trainees and junior faculty. The fund honors Bhorade’s legacy as an exceptional clinician, educator and clinical researcher whose contributions helped advance glaucoma care and research throughout her 20-year career at WashU Medicine.
The inaugural award will support Wang’s pilot project, “Cellular Composition Atlas of Human Trabecular Meshwork in Health, Aging, and Glaucoma: A Pilot Study.” As the first recipient of this newly established endowed fund, Wang’s selection reflects both the impact of the Bhorade family’s generosity and the fund’s commitment to fostering innovative glaucoma research at WashU Medicine.
The project seeks to better understand the cellular composition of the human trabecular meshwork, a specialized tissue responsible for regulating intraocular pressure. Dysfunction of the trabecular meshwork is a major contributor to glaucoma, one of the leading causes of irreversible vision loss worldwide. By examining changes associated with aging and glaucoma and comparing trabecular meshwork tissue with lens epithelial tissue, Wang hopes to uncover new insights into the biological mechanisms that influence disease development and progression.
“The trabecular meshwork, which regulates intraocular pressure and plays a central role in glaucoma, shares the aqueous humor environment with the lens,” she said. “This relationship has inspired my interest in understanding the impact of aging and disease on these tissues.”
Previous single-cell RNA sequencing studies in humans and mice have identified distinct trabecular meshwork cell subtypes, leading Wang to hypothesize that intraocular pressure dysregulation may arise through different mechanisms affecting specific cell populations. Through this pilot study, his team aims to define the cellular composition and distribution of the human trabecular meshwork and identify changes associated with aging and glaucoma.
“We also plan to compare trabecular meshwork tissue with lens epithelial tissue to better understand potential biological connections between these structures,” Wang said. “Although my previous research has focused primarily on lens biology, I have a strong foundation in ocular disease mechanisms and am fortunate to collaborate with outstanding glaucoma researchers and clinical teams within WashU Medicine Ophthalmology.”
The project reflects the spirit of Bhorade’s career-long dedication to improving the understanding and treatment of glaucoma through patient-centered research. By exploring the cellular mechanisms that contribute to intraocular pressure regulation and glaucoma development, Wang’s work seeks to advance the same pursuit of scientific discovery and clinical impact that defined Bhorade’s legacy.
“Support from the Dr. Anjali Bhorade Glaucoma Innovation Fund will allow us to launch an innovative and clinically relevant research program that may provide new insights into intraocular pressure regulation, trabecular meshwork-lens communication and future patient-specific therapies for glaucoma,” Wang said.
Through the Dr. Anjali Bhorade Glaucoma Innovation Fund, Bhorade’s commitment to advancing glaucoma care will continue to shape future discoveries. By supporting early-career investigators pursuing bold new research directions, the fund ensures that her passion for mentorship, scientific excellence and improving outcomes for patients with glaucoma will have a lasting impact for generations to come.
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.