Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness

ISPB congratulates the recipients of this year’s annual awards. Since 1980 ISPB has funded over $780,000 in small seed grants to Illinois eye and vision health researchers.

The Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness (ISPB) annually awards grants to support eye and vision health research in Illinois. Priority is given to newer investigators including medical and optometric students, residents, fellows, assistant professors and junior faculty.

The Research Committee consisting of ISPB board members and others from the fields of ophthalmology and optometry awarded the grants. Funding for ISPB Seed Grants came from foundations, trusts and individuals committed to vision research. Most significant was the J. Henry Norton Charitable Trust administered through The Northern Trust Company.

2011 Approved Research Grants

Hines VA Hospital

Activated Omental Cell Transplantation in Light-Induced Retinal Injury
Evan Bradford Price, MD; Principal Investigator
Ping Bu, MD, Periannan Sethupathi, MD, Jay Perlman, MD, PhD; Co-Investigators

Tissue Engineering Cornea Stroma by Computer Controlled Collagen Stretching
Yonggang Pang, MD; Principal Investigator
Charles Bouchard, MD, Ping Bu, MD; Co-Investigators

Loyola University Chicago

Bioavailability of Ketorolac Tromethamine 0.5% Solution among Diabetic Patients Undergoing Cataract Surgery. A Randomized Clinical Trial of Differing Drops Size on Treatment Outcomes
Bruce I. Gaynes, OD; Principal Investigator
Joshua Levar, MD, Charles Bouchard, MD, James Qiao; Co-Investigators

Correlation of CPAP and BiPAP Use with Intraocular Pressure in Patients with Sleep Apnea and Glaucoma
Daniel Watson; Principal Investigator
Shuchi Patel, MD; Co-Investigator

Prospective Study Examining Contact Lens Wear, Refractive Error, and Optical Coherence Tomography Retinal Fiber Nerve Layer Measurements
Pooja Jamnadas, MD; Principal Investigator
Marie Brenner, MS3; Co-Investigator

Secreted Frizzled-Related Protein-1 Expression in Keratoconus
Samir Vira, MD; Principal Investigator
George Fisher, Omer Iqbal, MD, Suneet Mehrotra, PhD, Basabi Rana, PhD, Jawed Fareed, PhD; Co-Investigators

Use of the Omentum in Engineering in Vivo Levator Palpebrae Superioris: Feasibility and Potential Uses
Sara Duke, MD; Principal Investigator
Ping Bu, MD; Co-Investigator

Rush University Medical Center

Inflammatory Mediators in Diabetic Cataract Formation
Kristin Joan Al-Ghoul, PhD; Principal Investigator
No Co-Investigator

University of Chicago

Mechanisms of Bone Marrow Stem Cell-Mediated Neuroprotection in the Retina in Rats
Jacqueline Poston; Principal Investigator
Steven Roth, MD; Co-Investigator

University of Illinois at Chicago

Correlation of Neurocognitive Function with Focal Macular Thinning in Sickle Cell Disease
Erica Zerfoss Oltra, MD; Principal Investigator
Felix Chau, MD, Heather Moss, MD, PhD; Co-Investigators

Early Detection of Functional Changes Using Microperimetry on Patients with Subclinical Plaquenil Toxicity
Renu Jivrajka, MD; Principal Investigator
Mohamed Genead, MD; Co-Investigator

Effect of Hemodialysis on Intraocular Pressure and Ocular Perfusion Pressure
Jennifer Hu, MD; Principal Investigator
Jacob Wilensky, MD, Jose Arruda, MD; Co-Investigators

Eyelid Contour Evaluation with Digital Imaging before and after Muller’s Muscle-Conjunctival Resection for Ptosis Repair
Mark Krakauer, MD; Principal Investigator
Vinay Aakalu, MD; Co-Investigator

Quantification of Adrenergic Receptor Subtypes in Human Muller Muscle and Correlation with Phenylephrine Testing in the Evaluation of Blepharoptosis
Joshua Hou, MD; Principal Investigator
Vinay Aakalu, MD, Ramesh Singa, MD, Robert Chang, PhD; Co-Investigators

2010 Approved Research Grants

Hines VA Hospital

D-Glucose Enhanced Rho G-Protein Signaling in Human Trabecular Meshwork Cells
Cynthia L. Von Zee, Ph.D; Principal Investigator
Evan B. Stubbs, Jr., Ph.D; Co-Investigator

Neuroprotection by Resveratrol in Retinal Ischemia Reperfusion Injury
Ping Bu, M.D; Principal Investigator
Jay I. Perlman, M.D., Ph.D., Evan B. Stubbs, Jr., Ph.D; Co-Investigators

Illinois College of Optometry

Visual Function Assessment with Therapeutic Tinted Contact Lenses in Patients with Albinism
Faheemah Saeed, O.D; Principal Investigator
Darrel Schlange, O.D; Co-Investigator

Loyola University Chicago

Safety and Efficacy of a Novel Topical Ophthalmic Drug Administration Aid
Joshua Levar, MD; Principal Investigator
Bruce L. Gaynes, OD, PharmD; Co-Investigator

Topical Timolol for the Treatment of Benign Vascular Periocular Lesions
Raymond G. Areaux, Jr., M.D; Principal Investigator
David Yoo, MD; Co-Investigator

Northwestern University

miRNA Profiling of Muller Glial Cells During Retinal Degeneration
Dr. Caroline Haldin, PhD; Principal Investigator
Rush University Medical Center

Alpha 1-Antagonist Binding Affinity to Ocular Melanin in the Pigmented and Albino Rat
Jeffrey A. Borgia, PhD; Principal Investigator
Bruce L. Gaynes, OD, PharmD; Co-Investigator

Non-Invasive, Targeted Gene Delivery to Retina and Retinal Microvascular Endothelial Cells Using Contrast-Enhansed Ultrasound Delivery System (CUSDS)
Shunbin Xu, M.D./Ph.D; Principal Investigator
Mathew MacCumber, MD, PhD., Steven Feinstein, MD; Co-Investigators

University of Chicago

Vitreous Penetration of Orally Administered Acetazolamide in Humans
Rama D. m,Jager, MD, MBA, FACS; Principal Investigator
Armin R. Afshar, MD; Co-Investigator

University of Illinois at Chicago

Development of a Prototype Temporal Fossa Glaucoma Shunt
Vinay Aakalu, MD MPH; Principal Investigator
Jose De La Cruz, MD MS, Thasarat Vajaranant, MD; Co-Investigators

Effect of AntiThrombotic Agents on Ocular Microvascular Blood Flow
Pangyu Teng, MS; Principal Investigator
Bruce I. Gaynes, OD, PharmD; Co-Investigator

Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness Analysis in Sickle Cell Disease: Implications for Glaucoma Evaluation
Clement C. Chow, MD; Principal Investigator
Jenny I. Lim, MD; Co-Investigator

Role of Syndecan-1 in Herpes Simplex Virus-1 Corneal Infection
Asim Visal Farooq, MD; Principal Investigator
Deepak Shukla, PhD; Co-Investigator

2009 Approved Research Grants

Illinois Eye Institute/Illinois College of Optometry

Prospective Study of Macular Thickness and Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Amblyopia Associated with Myopic Anisometropia
Yi Pang, Ph.D., O.D; Principal Investigator

Loyola University Medical Center

Evaluation of the Attitudes and Perspectives on Ophthalmology Resident Training (APORT)
Matthew J. Welch, M.D; Principal Investigator
James F. McDonnell, M.D; Co-Investigator

Nano-Based Synthetic Mammalian Lens
Bruce I. Gaynes, OD, PharmD; Principal Investigator
Vitali Metlushko, Ph.D; Co-Investigator

Roosevelt University

Cellular and Micovesicular miRNA Expression During Oxidative Stress in Trabecular Meshwork Cells
Kelly Wentz-Hunter, PhD; Principal Investigator

University of Chicago

Genomic Studies of Diabetic Retinopathy
Michael Grassi, M.D; Principal Investigator

Mechanisms of Ischemic Post-Conditioning in the Retina
Steven Roth, M.D; Principal Investigator
Ajay Sampat, B.S; Co-Investigator

Phosphatases and Retinal Ischemic Preconditioning
Steven Roth, M.D; Principal Investigator
Anthony Bratton; Co-Investigator

Rod and Cone ERGs Under Mesopic Light Levels
Dingcai Cao, Ph.D; Principal Investigator

University of Illinois at Chicago

Design and Characterization of a Probe System For Testing Novel Molecular Structures of Potential Importance to a New Type of Therapy for Retinal Degenerative Diseases
Ambarish S. Pawar, MS; Principal Investigator

Homotypic, Heterotypic and Heteromeric Gap Junctional Channels Formed by Connexin Proteins Expressed in Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells
Quan Hoang, M.D., Ph.D; Principal Investigator

Safe and Non-Toxic Dose of Intravitreal Micafungin in a Rabbit Model
Rashmi Kapur, M.D; Principal Investigator

Use of Novel Peptides to Inhibit Viral Entry and Spread in Human Ocular Cells
Praveen Kumar Pandey, Ph.D; Principal Investigator
Deepak Shukla, Ph.D; Co-Investigator