FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                               

For more information, contact:

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Sheila Champlin – (901) 448-4957, schampli@uthsc.edu

 

 

Assistant Professor Tonia Rex of

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

 Receives $1.8 Million Grant to Continue Glaucoma Research

_________________________________________________

 

Memphis, Tenn. (April 9, 2012) – Tonia Rex, PhD, assistant professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology, and Anatomy and Neurobiology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), has received a grant totaling $1,874,688 from the National Eye Institute, a subsidiary of the National Institutes of Health.  The award will fund research on glaucoma.  The study titled, “Novel Therapy and Mechanisms in Glaucoma,” will be conducted over a five-year period.

“I am grateful to have received this grant in this competitive environment,” said Dr. Rex.  “I am excited about performing this translational research geared towards providing important insights into the pathogenesis of glaucoma and the development of much-needed treatments for this blinding disease.”

The primary goal of Dr. Rex’s research is to treat glaucoma using systemic neuroprotective gene therapy.  Nearly three million people have been diagnosed with glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness in the United States.  Current preventive therapies are directed at lowering the intraocular pressure (IOP), the most significant risk factor for the development of glaucoma.  However, the need for daily treatment can lead to poor patient compliance.

Dr. Rex and her research team focus on an alternative IOP-independent neuroprotective therapy, wherein they modify the glycoprotein hormone that controls red blood cell production, known as erythropoietin.  This modification diminishes the erythropoietic activity while preserving its neuroprotective activity, and packages it into a format to provide sustained, systemic delivery.  Early results have shown that this therapy could lead to breakthroughs in glaucoma treatment.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases.  For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

As the flagship statewide academic health system, the mission of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) is to bring the benefits of the health sciences to the achievement and maintenance of human health, with a focus on the citizens of Tennessee and the region, by pursuing an integrated program of education, research, clinical care, and public service.  In 2011, UT Health Science Center celebrated its centennial: 100 years advancing the future of health care.  Offering a broad range of postgraduate training opportunities, the main UTHSC campus is located in Memphis and includes six colleges: Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy.  The UTHSC campus in Knoxville includes a College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, and an Allied Health Sciences unit.  In addition, the UTHSC Chattanooga campus includes a College of Medicine and an Allied Health Sciences unit.  Since its founding in 1911, UTHSC has educated and trained more than 53,000 health care professionals on campuses and in health care facilities across the state.  For more information, visit www.uthsc.edu.

###