Research Updates

Montage of the four research scientists in the Catalyst for a Cure Biomarker Initiative

Catalyst for a Cure: Glaucoma Biomarker to Be Tested

The Catalyst for a Cure (CFC) Biomarker Initiative brings together four research laboratories to find new and sensitive measures for glaucoma.

Vision researcher Dr. Stuart McKinnon in his laboratory studying data

Restoring Vision: Retinal Nerve Cell Regeneration

Researchers have made great progress in understanding the process of optic nerve degeneration and regeneration in glaucoma.

Illustration of the brain imagined as a maze inside a silhouette of a human head

Glaucoma and the Brain

Researchers now view glaucoma as a disease of the brain — a neurodegenerative disease — rather than simply an eye disease.

Laboratory microscope image of a retinal ganglion cell provided by glaucoma researcher Rana El Danaf, PhD

Early Retina Cell Changes in Glaucoma Identified

A study published by Andrew D. Huberman, PhD and Rana N. El-Danaf, PhD points to the specific structural features and cell types in the retina that may act as key factors in glaucoma progression.

Can Glaucoma Be Cured?

We hope to one day restore vision lost from glaucoma, but that can’t presently be done.

Dr. Derek Welsbie receives the 2014 Shaffer Prize from Thomas Brunner at the GRF Annual Gala

Dr. Derek S. Welsbie awarded the 2014 Shaffer Prize for Innovative Glaucoma Research

Derek Welsbie, MD, PhD was awarded the 2014 Shaffer Prize for Innovative Glaucoma Research for his study “Evaluating the Role of the c-Jun N-terminal Kinase Cascade in Retinal Ganglion Cell Death.”

Calkins laboratory team photo posing outdoors at Vanderbilt University in 2012

Calkins Team Tracking New Options to Treat Glaucoma

“We believe this is an important step toward a new and powerful treatment option for glaucoma patients who are going blind despite efforts to lower or manage their eye pressure.” — David Calkins, PhD