NEI Research News

Scientists at the National Eye Institute (NEI) report that tiny tube-like protrusions called primary cilia on cells of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) are essential for the survival of the retina’s light-sensing photoreceptors.

A new report outlines steps to bringing future regenerative therapies for blinding diseases of the retina to patients. The retina is the light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye. When stimulated, retinal neurons send visual information to the brain.

A new report gives recommendations for regenerating retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), crucial neurons in the back of the eye that carry visual information to the brain.

The breast cancer drug tamoxifen appears to protect light-sensitive cells in the eye from degeneration, according to a new study in mice.

A tiny, transparent device that can fit into a contact lens has a bright future, potentially helping a range of scientific endeavors from biomedicine to geology.

NEI-funded researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have shown that vision loss associated with a form of retinitis pigmentosa can be slowed dramatically by reprogramming the metabolism of photoreceptors, or light sensors, in the retina.

The National Institutes of Health will fund six projects to identify biological factors that affect neural regeneration in the retina.

Combinations of Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs protect against the loss of cells required for vision in a mouse model of blinding retinal diseases.

Engineers and physicians at Duke University have developed a handheld device capable of capturing images of a retina with cellular resolution.

NEI research fellow Nathan Hotaling, PhD, has been awarded a $65,000 grant from the Knights Templar Eye Foundation to develop a stem cell-based system to study Best disease, a genetic disorder that can cause progressive vision loss.