PROJECT TITLE: Homeostatic Mechanisms Promoting Retinal Output and Vision During Photoreceptor Degenerative Disease
- Frans J. Vinberg, PhD
- Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
- The Vinberg Laboratory, John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah
- $99,750 a year for two years
Dr. Vinberg works to understand mechanisms in the retina that enable vision over a wide range of light intensities and colors, and how these mechanisms are affected in major blinding diseases including age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy. The Vinberg Laboratory uses state-of-the-art electrophysiology and molecular/cell biology tools to study fundamental molecular/cellular and disease mechanisms, mainly in the photoreceptor and retinal pigment epithelium cells from mice, primates and donor human eyes.
Dr. Vinberg’s IRRF-supported study outlines a plan to explore the mechanisms of compensatory changes that occur in the inner retina following outer retinal degenerations by using in-vitro as well as in-vivo models of outer retinal degenerations.
TERMS:
- IN-VITRO: A process performed or taking place in a test tube, culture dish, or elsewhere outside a living organism.
- IN-VIVO: A process performed or taking place in a living organism. 12
