Research Updates

Stanford researchers, funded in part by the National Eye Institute and the Glaucoma Research Foundation, make discovery that may help glaucoma patients who have lost vision.

Members of our Scientific Advisory Board talk about the success of the Catalyst for a Cure collaborative research model.

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells which have the potential to develop into many different types of specialized tissues.

There are millions of people in the United States who have increased pressure in their eyes (intraocular pressure) without glaucoma. Often this condition is referred to as ocular hypertension.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.”

“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

What can we do when patients have lost functional vision in glaucoma?

Catalyst for a Cure is a unique approach to research developed by Glaucoma Research Foundation to accelerate the pace of discovery toward a cure for glaucoma.

GRF awarded Dr. Tonia Rex the Shaffer Prize for Innovative Glaucoma Research in 2012 for her project investigating a neuroprotective therapy in a model of inherited glaucoma.

What is a biomarker? A biomarker is an indicator of a biological condition that, in some cases, can assist in the diagnosis and management of disease.

Researchers hope that by studying other neurodegenerative diseases, we can identify common causes that will help us develop new treatments for glaucoma.

Eye drops that reduce elevated pressure inside the eye can delay or possibly prevent the onset of glaucoma in African Americans at higher risk for developing the disease, researchers have found.

These videos with the Catalyst for a Cure researchers were filmed during a roundtable interview discussion in January 2011 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

The Catalyst For a Cure has reshaped the direction of glaucoma research by taking a pioneering approach that should become a model for research in other diseases.

The research team identified a period of vulnerability for retinal ganglion cells early in the disease, when these cells are more sensitive to metabolic insults and stressors.

During the year 2009, the investigators of the Catalyst for a Cure (CFC1) consortium worked together to probe how retinal ganglion cells are damaged and decline in glaucoma.

In a recent study, David Calkins, PhD discovered that the first sign of injury in glaucoma actually occurs in the brain.

The Catalyst For a Cure (CFC1) researchers are: David Calkins, PhD, Philip Horner, PhD, Nicholas Marsh-Armstrong, PhD, and Monica Vetter, PhD.

Before this study was done, there was a difference of opinion on whether intraocular pressure (IOP) was involved in optic nerve damage even when IOP was in the normal range.