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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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Artistic rendering of retinal blood vessels with blood vessel damage.

Experimental drug inhibits or prevents diabetic eye disease in Wilmer Eye Institute study

May 25, 2023

Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine show that experimental drug may prevent or slow vision loss in people with diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes.
Schematic showing SREDs bind to G-protein coupled receptors to promote cell survival

UCI researchers discover new drugs with potential for treating world’s leading causes of blindness

May 8, 2023

In a University of California, Irvine-led study, researchers have discovered small-molecule drugs with potential clinical utility in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), and retinitis pigmentosa (RP).
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Congressman Pete Sessions visits NIH

March 31, 2023

Texas Congressman Pete Sessions visited the NIH March 27 to meet with NEI Director Michael F. Chiang, M.D., and to tour NEI’s Section on Ocular and Stem Cell Translational Research, led by Kapil Bharti, Ph.D.
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FDA-approved drug shows promise in lab models for blinding childhood disease 

March 29, 2023

A National Eye Institute-led team has identified a compound already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that keeps light-sensitive photoreceptors alive in three models of Leber congenital amaurosis type 10 (LCA 10).
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Night vision tests in age-related macular degeneration precisely localize disease mechanisms

March 17, 2023

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham discovered that night vision tests at a specific location in the retina will be suitable for assessing treatments and preventions for AMD.
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Researchers discover therapeutic target to aid in glaucoma treatment

March 13, 2023

Indiana University researchers have identified a new therapeutic target that could lead to more effective treatment of glaucoma.
A person with diabetes checks their blood sugar

Researchers unravel why episodes of low blood sugar worsen eye disease in people with diabetes

January 26, 2023

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have linked transient low blood sugar levels that occur in people with diabetes with a molecular pathway that is turned on in oxygen-starved cells in the eye.
Animation of abnormal blood vessels bleeding into the center of the eye due to proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Photo credit: National Eye Institute. Watch video.

Type 1 diabetes: Maintaining the enzyme ACE2 in the gut prevents diabetic blindness

January 13, 2023

Study from University of Alabama at Birmingham suggests that a leaky small intestine that weakens the barrier between gut bacteria and the blood system may drive diabetic retinopathy.
3D illustration of nanoparticle inside an eye

Nanotechnology may improve gene therapy for blindness

January 11, 2023

Using nanotechnology that enabled mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, a new approach to gene therapy may improve how physicians treat inherited forms of blindness.
Microscopy image of red fluorescent retinal neurons

Lab-grown retinal eye cells make successful connections, open door for clinical trials to treat blindness

January 4, 2023

Retinal cells grown from stem cells can reach out and connect with neighbors, according to a new study, completing a “handshake” that may show the cells are ready for trials in humans with degenerative eye disorders.