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NEI Research News

Thanks to the work of NEI scientists and grantees, we’re constantly learning new information about the causes and treatment of vision disorders. Get the latest updates about their work — along with other news about NEI.

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LCA is an inherited disorder that causes vision loss in childhood. It primarily affects the functioning of the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye, as shown here. Photo credit: National Eye Institute

NIH-funded Study Points Way Forward for Retinal Disease Gene Therapy

Gene therapy for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), an inherited disorder that causes vision loss starting in childhood, improved patients’ eyesight and the sensitivity of the retina within weeks of treatment.
Eye Examination

Early Tight Blood Glucose Control Reduces Eye Surgeries in People with Type 1 Diabetes

People with type 1 diabetes who intensively control their blood glucose (blood sugar) early in their disease, versus those who do not, are 48 percent less likely to need eye surgery, and the total number of such surgeries is 37 percent less.
Grantee News

Rare Mutation Causes Vitamin A Deficiency and Eye Deformities

Researchers at the University of Michigan and UC Davis have solved a genetic mystery that has afflicted three unrelated families, and possibly others, for generations.
Cross-sectional images of retina from retinoschisin-deficient mice, untreated and treated with XLRS gene therapy.

NEI Human Gene Therapy Trial for Retinoschisis Underway

The National Eye Institute (NEI) recently launched the first-ever human gene therapy trial for the vision disorder X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS). Researchers are conducting the trial at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Research Center in...
Illustration showing the retina as seen through a dilated pupil.

Eylea outperforms other drugs for diabetic macular edema with moderate or worse vision loss

In an NIH-supported clinical trial comparing three drugs for diabetic macular edema (DME), Eylea (aflibercept) provided greater visual improvement, on average, than did Avastin (bevacizumab) or Lucentis (ranibizumab) when vision was 20/50 or worse.
Clinical study of a new eye drop may offer hope to patients with dry eye. Photo courtesy of Patrick Walderzak.

NEI sets stage for new clinical trial to tackle dry eye

For some people it feels like a speck of sand in the eye, or stinging or burning that doesn’t go away. For others, dry eye disease (or simply dry eye) can become a chronic condition that leads to blurred vision or even vision loss if it goes untreated.
An occupational therapist at Thomas Jefferson University works with a patient who has low vision. Credit: Thomas Jefferson University.

Rehabilitation helps prevent depression from age-related vision loss

Depression is a common risk for people who have lost their vision from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but a new study shows that a type of rehabilitation therapy can cut this risk in half.
NICU care providers take photos of a premature baby's retinas in the NEI-funded e-ROP study of telemedicine for retinopathy of prematurity. Photo credit: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Telemedicine catches blinding disease in premature babies

Telemedicine is an effective strategy to screen for the potentially blinding disease known as retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), according to a study funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI).
On the left is a normal optic nerve (light circle at center) and on the right is the optic nerve swelling seen in IIH. Courtesy of Dr. Michael Wall, University of Iowa.

Glaucoma Drug Helps Women with Blinding Disorder Linked to Obesity

An inexpensive glaucoma drug, when added to a weight loss plan, can improve vision for women with a disorder called idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Grantee News

IU School of Optometry study: New technique detects microscopic diabetes-related eye damage

Indiana University researchers have detected new early-warning signs of the potential loss of sight associated with diabetes. This discovery could have far-reaching implications for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy

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