Integrating academic research, clinical research and private practice: a unique opportunity for translational medicine

Abstract

Degeneration or acute damage of nerve cells in the retina due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are the major causes of visual loss and blindness in the United States and worldwide. The determination of the function and effectiveness of new neuroprotective drugs and surgical treatment options has the potential to produce therapy approaches for these chronic degenerative diseases of the eye that focuses on the nerve cells of the retina and that has the potential to be both preventative and therapeutic in nature. With the formation of the new interdisciplinary Vision Research Center Kansas City is well on its way to becoming a national center for eye research where these ocular diseases and others are being researched to develop new therapy approaches urgently needed by physicians in the US and worldwide, transferring basic science findings seamlessly into practical use with patients.