RESEARCH PROJECT TITLE: Mechanobiology of Choroidal Vascular Loss in Early Age-related Macular Degeneration
Kaustabh Ghosh, PhD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA Doheny Eye Institute
Dr. Ghosh will study how the blood vessels in the outer retina (choroidal vessels) degenerate early on in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Dr. Ghosh recently discovered that choroidal vessels from early AMD eyes are significantly stiffer and, therefore, more susceptible to inflammation-mediated degeneration than their younger counterparts. This research will explore why stiffer vessels cannot be replaced by the neighboring healthy ones and whether a “common” signaling mechanism governs both choroidal vascular degeneration and reparative responses in early AMD. Dr. Ghosh’s work is ongoing.