Nashville, Tennessee – Dolly Ann Padovani-Claudio, MD, PhD was selected to receive the first Larry A. Donoso, MD Award in Retinal Research, an award created to honor IRRF Director, Larry A. Donoso, MD, PhD. Dr. Padovani-Claudio received the highest ranking score in the 2019 grant review process, a criterion for the Award.
While determining the criteria for the Award, it became evident that it be given to an outstanding and high-ranking IRRF-funded applicant. In 2019, that scientist was Dolly Ann Padovani-Claudio, MD, PhD, who became the inaugural recipient of the Donoso Award for her project, Investigating VEGF:VEGFR2 and CXCL8/Interleukin-8:CXCR1/2 Interactions in Diabetic Retinopathy. Dr. Padovani-Claudio’s laboratory focuses on finding new treatments for diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of vision loss and blindness. Her IRRF-supported grant will involve investigating the CXCL8/Interleukin 98 pathway in animal models and also in human patients as an effective potential therapy for patients. She postulates that targeting this chemokine signaling may help patients who fail anti-VEGF therapy.