PROJECT TITLE: Investigating VEGF:VEGFR2 and CXCL8/Interleukin- 8:CXCR1/2 Interactions in Diabetic Retinopathy
- Dolly Ann Padovani-Claudio, MD, PhD
- Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
- and Visual Sciences
- Vanderbilt Eye Institute
- Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- $100,000 a year for two years
Dr. Padovani-Claudio’s laboratory focuses on finding new treatments for diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of vision loss and blindness. Due to the growing incidence of obesity and diabetes in the pediatric population an increase in the prevalence of complications associated with diabetic retinopathy is expected. Her research centers on understanding processes that promote inflammation and vascular growth in the retina, and on repurposing existing drugs developed to target these processes in non-ocular systems to prevent, abort or revert them in diabetic retinopathy. She hopes that repurposing such drugs will bypass the costly, lengthy, and risky drug development process and accelerate the translation of her research to effective therapies for patients with blinding conditions.
Dr. Padovani-Claudio’s 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.
