Dr. Ashrifa Ali from University of Texas awarded $90,000 Knights Templar Eye Foundation Grant for Retinal Ganglion Cell Survival Research

Dr. Ashrifa Ali from the University of Texas at Austin was awarded a $90,000 grant for Identifying novel neuroprotective factors that increase RGC survival using zebrafish and human retinal organoid-derived RGCs.

Approximately 500,000 children become blind every year. A common denominator in both pediatric glaucoma and many types of pediatric ocular traumas is the loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). RGCs are the sole projection neurons of the retina and have complex functions because they process the light patterns that fall on the photoreceptors and send processed information to the optic centers in the brain. In addition, RGCs in the human retina have no regenerative ability. Therefore, death of RGCs in children and adolescents because of pediatric glaucoma or ocular trauma can lead to irreversible loss of vision. While there has been substantial progress in identifying the molecular and cellular events that lead to RGC death, there are still no FDA approved drugs to prevent death of RGCs or promote their survival.

Unlike mammalian RGCs, zebrafish RGCs show remarkable survival properties with no significant loss in number of RGCs after severe optic nerve injury. Dr. Ali will use this unique zebrafish system to identify novel protective pathways in RGCs that preserve them after damage and validate their neuroprotective potential in human RGCs. This work is significant in that protective pathways they discover can be leveraged to develop new therapies to preserve RGCs in children with pediatric glaucoma or who suffer ocular trauma. Dr. Ali’s long-term goal is to start an independent research laboratory focused on RGC survival; factors identified here will be further investigated in her laboratory as potential gene therapies to maintain RGC health in children suffering from glaucoma.