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Meaningful discoveries
A Lions Club sees its generosity in action, while a research scientist makes an important discovery about the people who made his grant funding possible.

When you make a gift in support of the Lions Eye Bank of New Jersey, the Illinois Eye-Bank or the Michigan Eye-Bank, how do you want that gift to be used?

Obviously, most people hope their gift will be used to help save someone’s sight. After all, that is the Eye-Bank’s mission. But that mission is accomplished in many ways. Those who benefit from Eye-Bank services and programs are rarely fortunate enough to know their benefactors. In most cases, a transplant recipient cannot say “thank you” directly to the one generous individual or group whose support helped to pay the rush courier fees to deliver her cornea to the operating room. A high school student cannot send a letter of gratitude to the supporter whose gift paid for an educational pamphlet that taught her an important lesson about contact lens safety. And a vision research scientist usually has no idea where his benefactor obtained the funding to provide the crucial seed money grant for his project.

Recently, the Eye-Bank seized an opportunity to change that.

For more than three decades, the Lewiston Lions Club of Lewiston, Michigan has steadfastly provided annual support to the Michigan Eye-Bank. The Club’s only request was that most of the money be used to fund the Eye-Bank’s Eye and Vision Research Program.

“It has always been our Club’s philosophy that research is critical to defeating blindness,” says John Righi, a longtime member of the Lewiston Lions. “That’s why we have been giving to the Michigan Eye-Bank for the past 31 years. As the Michigan Eye-Bank's mission grew into research, our Club realized the importance of research and grew along with them.”

This year, for the first time, Righi and his fellow Lions Club members were given a glimpse of the research their support has made possible. Their years of contributions helped the Eye-Bank award Howard R. Petty, Ph.D., a Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Michigan, a grant for $15,000 to find new and better ways of detecting vision problems.

“My group is working hard to develop a new screening device that allows the early detection of eye disease, such as glaucoma, before any vision is lost,” Dr. Petty explains.

The device would measure the autofluorescence given off by the eye in certain areas by sending a blue light into the eye. The fluorescent signal, Dr. Petty believes, may be a good indicator of cell health because the mitochondria in cells that are dying produce less energy, thus changing the cell’s fluorescent signal.

Dr. Petty and his team hope this device might one day be available in general practitioners’ offices, to give patients routine eye screenings, like blood pressure tests are currently given, instead of waiting until a patient notices a loss of vision and decides to visit an ophthalmologist.

“Early detection means early intervention and, hopefully, preservation of eyesight,” says Dr. Petty. “It is my hope that in the not too distant future, everyone visiting a general physician’s office could get this screening test… then, if necessary, enter treatment to stop the disease before any noticeable vision loss has occurred.”

The device can also be used to monitor treatment, determining what is working and what isn’t.

The next step in Dr. Petty’s research will be to use the device in a small trial. Data generated by the trial, he hopes, will be enough to get him Federal grants or corporate sponsorships.

Without ongoing support from individuals and groups like the Lewiston Lions Club, the discoveries and preventive measures being made possible by researchers like Dr. Petty would be impossible. That is why the Michigan Eye-Bank chose to honor the Lewiston Lions with a 2009 Shared Vision Award earlier this year.

The Club’s generosity was not lost on Dr. Petty and his team.

“In a day and age when greed and selfishness dominate the newspapers and television, your good works do not seem to garner the recognition they deserve,” he wrote in a letter to the Lewiston Lions. “On behalf of all the people our research will help, I thank you.”

Dr. Petty’s gratitude toward supporters like Lions Clubs extends beyond his current research project.

“When I was born, I required care in a neonatal intensive care unit,” he explains. “Some benefactors, forever unknown to me, invested in the development of incubators and other medical devices for infants that saved my life. We are all the beneficiaries of medical research

Dr. Petty’s project was one of 10 research projects – along with seven student stipends – approved for funding this year by the Eye-Bank’s Research Review Committee, a panel of distinguished scientists with decades of experience in the field of ophthalmology. Total funding for research this year is $167,500.

Each year, funding from Midwest Eye-Banks’ Eye and Vision Research Program is made available to academic researchers in New Jersey, Illinois and Michigan – the organization’s primary service areas.

Of the 10 research proposals approved for funding this year, nine were from academic institutions in Michigan, including Wayne State University/Kresge Eye Institute and the University of Michigan. A researcher from NorthShore University Health System in Illinois also received a grant. The proposed research will investigate such eye conditions as glaucoma, diabetic macular edema and retinal detachment.

Dr. Hemant Khanna, an assistant professor in the University of Michigan ’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, is applying his grant funding toward his research studying blindness that may be caused by gene mutations.  

“This funding has allowed us to generate enough preliminary data to formulate a comprehensive proposal for Federal grants,” explains Dr. Khanna. He believes his research will help to determine possible treatment strategies for other neurodegenerative disorders as well.

“I appreciate the continued support of our projects by Midwest Eye-Banks,” he says.

David Zacks, M.D. Ph.D. was also among the Eye-Bank’s Eye and Vision Research Program grant recipients this year. Since coming to the University of Michigan’s Kellogg Eye Center seven years ago, Dr. Zacks’ main interest has been the study of photoreceptors and their behaviors during retinal detachment. He theorizes that a catabolic process called autophagy determines which cells die and which ones live. A better understanding of this process can lead to improved prevention of retinal detachment, and more effective treatment after diagnosis.

After gathering his preliminary data, Dr. Zacks hopes to obtain Federal grant funding to continue his study.

“When you apply to the Federal government, you need preliminary data to show that your research is viable,” Dr. Zacks explains. Seed money grants, like those made possible through the Eye and Vision Research Program, enable scientists to obtain this preliminary data and establish scientific credibility.

After a study of ocular hypertension revealed that a thin cornea was a risk factor in progressing from high ocular pressure to glaucoma, Sayoko Moroi, M.D., Ph.D. and her colleagues at the University of Michigan set out to determine why – with the financial support of a grant from Midwest Eye-Banks.

Initially, members of the scientific community believed that there was some kind of simple biomechanical connection, but according to Dr. Moroi, scientists now know the answer is not that simple.

Dr. Moroi and her colleagues are now looking for the connection between thin corneas and glaucoma on a molecular level. They are attempting to identify genes that are shared between the optic nerve and the cornea, as well as the genes that are different. Once the genes have been identified, the researchers will group them into gene families, based on the genes’ functions. When they find genes they believe may play a role in thin corneas and glaucoma, they will use their patient database to check what it looks like in patients with and without glaucoma. If they can find a genetic connection, Dr. Moroi says she will be in a good position to apply for Federal grants.

Dr. Moroi hopes that her research will lead to new treatment strategies for people with a genetic risk for glaucoma. She is appreciative of the support her work has received from Midwest Eye-Banks.

“All scientists value pilot project funding programs,” she says.

Midwest Eye-Banks has awarded more than $2.5 million in seed money grants since its Eye and Vision Research Program began in 1980. Over the years, this funding has led to important scientific findings, including the discovery of a gene that, if defective, can cause early childhood blindness.

Academic researchers in New Jersey, Illinois and Michigan interested in applying for grant funding through Midwest Eye-Banks’ Eye and Vision Research Program should prepare to submit a proposal by April 9, 2010. The grant application, review and awards schedule is available on the Eye-Bank’s Web site, www.midwesteyebanks.org, or by calling (800) 247-7250.

Individuals and organizations interested in supporting the Eye and Vision Research Program are encouraged to visit www.midwesteyebanks.org or call (800) 247-7250 to arrange a contribution.