Collaborative Catalyst for a Cure Meeting Convenes in Boston

San Francisco, September 15, 2025: Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF), together with Richard and Carolyn Sloane, proudly sponsored the 4th annual Catalyst Meeting titled “Solving Neurodegeneration 4,” held August 26-28 in Boston. Over three days, both Catalyst for a Cure (CFC) research teams joined leading experts in neurodegeneration for inspirational conversations and bold idea-sharing aimed at accelerating breakthroughs in vision science.

“Bringing together the scientists from our two Catalyst for a Cure initiatives really highlighted the impact of the immune and vascular systems on curing glaucoma,” said Thomas M. Brunner, GRF President and CEO. “We are so grateful to Richard and Carolyn Sloane for supporting our third collaborative research meeting with both teams,” he added.

In addition to the Catalyst for a Cure team members, special guests included GRF philanthropic partners Terence Barr, PhD, Daria Becker, and Richard and Carolyn Sloane; Catalyst Meeting Chair John Flanagan, PhD, DSc, FCOptom (University of California-Berkeley); and invited keynote speakers Dorothy Schafer, PhD (University of Massachusetts) and Jeremy Sivak, PhD (University of Toronto). CFC Scientific Advisory Board members in attendance included Larry Benowitz, PhD (Harvard University), Adriana Di Polo, PhD (University of Montreal), Jeffrey L. Goldberg, MD, PhD (Stanford University), Zhigang He, PhD (Harvard University), Sally Temple, PhD (Neural Stem Cell Institute), and Monica Vetter, PhD (University of Utah).

The first full meeting day kicked off with thought-provoking talks from each of the Catalyst for a Cure principal investigators, followed by lively discussion among all participants. The investigators presented brief overviews of their latest research results and challenges faced, which allowed for collaborative troubleshooting and celebrations of key research wins. In fact, the opportunity for both teams to share ideas about their groundbreaking work proved so invaluable that many participants named the rich exchange as their favorite part of the meeting.

“It was particularly interesting to see the interaction between the scientists and hear some of the same ideas presented to solve different neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and glaucoma,” commented Tom Brunner. “This collaboration makes it clear that a multi-faceted approach is the best way to get closer to a cure for glaucoma.”

The afternoon proved equally exciting, with invited keynote speakers Jeremy Sivak, PhD and Dorothy Schafer, PhD presenting results of their pioneering research. Dr. Sivak presented on mechanisms underlying degeneration of the inner retina (including retinal ganglion cells), and underscored the need for more donor human tissue for the study of the optic nerve head – the complexity of which cannot be duplicated in rodent models. Dr. Schafer illustrated the importance of immune and nervous system interactions in the development of neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis. Both presentations illuminated a number of parallels with the CFC teams’ research interests and spurred further discussion of novel, unconventional ideas.

The second day of the meeting allowed both Catalyst for a Cure teams time to convene with their respective mentors and discuss their findings in more detail. Enthusiasm surrounded the recent publication in Nature Communications authored by all four CFC3 investigators — Drs. Xin Duan, Yang Hu, Anna La Torre, and Derek Welsbie — and their mentor Dr. Jeffrey Goldberg. The publication highlights the previously unknown role for a gene called OPTN which, when mutated, led to symptoms similar to glaucoma and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Encouragingly, those cells could be protected from cell death by increasing the amount of OPTN.

Similar enthusiasm surrounded the August 2025 publication of research by CFC3 investigators Dr. Yang Hu and Dr. Xin Duan, alongside CFC4 investigator Dr. Karthik Shekhar, in the journal Neuron. This paper was the first to demonstrate that seven types of retinal ganglion cells are present in higher numbers around blood vessels in the retina, and that being located near blood vessels made those cells more resistant to cell death in glaucoma.

CFC Scientific Advisory Board Chairs, Drs. Jeffrey Goldberg and Adriana Di Polo, were both very encouraged by the advancements they saw. “This year, the CFC4 team — Drs. Sandro Da Mesquita, Milica Margeta, Karthik Shekhar, and Humsa Venkatesh — made exciting discoveries, from novel immune cells at the optic nerve head to new pathways linking brain and eye diseases. These breakthroughs highlight how immune and glial cell dysregulation contribute to vision loss in glaucoma and related disorders. Most importantly, they bring us closer to therapies that slow disease progression and protect sight,” Dr. Di Polo said.

Dr. Goldberg enthusiastically agreed, adding “This year, the progress from CFC3 has been truly remarkable. Collaborating closely, the team has pushed research on neuroprotection and regeneration in glaucoma pre-clinical models to new frontiers and great excitement. The prospects for translating these discoveries to human therapies has never been more compelling, and we look forward to these next steps towards groundbreaking advances in glaucoma research.”

Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cure for glaucoma. GRF funds glaucoma research worldwide and serves as the leading information source for patients and their families. Founded in 1978 in San Francisco, GRF was created to encourage innovative research to find better ways to care for people with glaucoma — the leading cause of preventable blindness. Since its inception, GRF has invested more than $90 million to fund breakthrough research to better understand, detect, and treat glaucoma.

Posted on September 15, 2025