UI Experts to Lead New VA Center on Vision Research, Treatment
Written by potterr on September 22nd, 2009
A five-year, $5 million grant to establish a Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Visual Loss was awarded to the Iowa City Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center by the Veterans Affairs Division of Rehabilitation Research and Development.
The center will be led by Randy Kardon, M.D., Ph.D., UI professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences and director of neuro-ophthalmology. Kardon, who also holds the Pomerantz Family Chair in Ophthalmology, is a VA staff physician. Michael Abrà moff, M.D., Ph.D., UI associate professor of ophthalmology and computer and electrical engineering and VA retinal specialist, will be associate director.
The center will involve researchers from other medical college departments, the UI College of Engineering, the UI College of Public Health and Iowa State University, as well as collaborators nationwide.
The center will pursue three research areas to advance treatments for visual disorders affecting veterans and the general population: traumatic brain injury; neurotrophic growth factors and neuroprotection; and telemedical detection of eye disease.
Story Source: University of Iowa Health Care Media Relations
