Catalyst for a Cure

Catalyst for a Cure (CFC) is a major collaborative research effort redefining how glaucoma research is conducted.

Launched in 2002, the original team of four Catalyst for a Cure investigators has made a significant impact on the field of glaucoma research. Their findings have redefined our understanding of how glaucoma steals sight and created possibilities for new therapeutic approaches to the disease.

In 2012, Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF) has assembled a second team of four investigators to work collaboratively and further expand our knowledge of glaucoma. This new team will add critical skills and fresh perspectives to the Catalyst for a Cure.

Real-time Collaboration

The CFC was formed in 2002 by convening four investigative groups chosen by the Glaucoma Research Foundation’s CFC Scientific Advisory Board for their particular expertise in neurobiology, ophthalmology and developmental genetics.

Each group forms a nucleus whose purpose is to facilitate the rapid and efficient development of technologies pertinent to understanding the causes of glaucoma and identifying potential new treatments. By design, each member of this team shares research results and collaborates on all CFC projects.

Catalyst for a Cure breaks with the traditional approach to medical research. Typically, individual scientists work on separate projects and share the advances they make only at conferences and in publications. Scientists in the same field compete for grant money to fund their work. CFC researchers, however, are engaged in a full, ongoing partnership. They spend time together in each other’s labs, collaborate online, and share results as they move ahead.

Results-oriented Research

Our funding of the Catalyst for a Cure (CFC) and its innovative collaborative approach to research has changed the conventional understanding of glaucoma from an eye disease to a neurodegenerative brain disease.

Research has yielded promising results on two fronts: preventing vision loss from late stage glaucoma, and therapeutic treatment to stop glaucoma before it starts. For example, two papers from the CFC published in the Journal of Neuroscience have uncovered important findings:

• In the early stages of glaucoma, there is a failure of transport of important scaffolding material, nutrients and individual fibers in the optic nerve. This shows up first not in the eye, but in the visual centers of the brain — and coincides with a build-up of oxidative stress and a slowing down of tiny energy batteries in the nerves known as mitochondria.

• While this is occurring, the connections in the retina that begin the transfer of visual information are targeted for removal, which is affected by specialized sentinels in the retina called microglia. In the early stages of glaucoma, microglia scan the retina for signs of damaged connections and mark those connections for removal by the immune system, leading to vision loss.

The CFC researchers continue to chase down the mechanisms underlying transport loss, oxidative stress, and loss of connections so they can be targeted through new therapeutic interventions.

Investing in Research to Find a Cure

At Glaucoma Research Foundation, we have made a serious long-term commitment to this research. The level of funding for the Catalyst for a Cure is significant, at the level of a government grant. The project is structured with an investing mindset, focused on clear goals and useful results. In 2011, we invested over $1 million in Catalyst for a Cure.

The Catalyst for a Cure researchers use state of the art tools, including genetic mapping information and microarray technology, to learn more about how glaucoma progresses to actual vision loss. They have found, for example, that changes to the nervous system in the eye and the brain occur earlier than the disease appears, probably even as the eye is developing.

Their goal is to identify exactly what to target in the disease pathway with new drug or genetic therapies and exactly when in the disease process (possibly before the process even begins) the therapies would be most effective.

The implications for treatment of glaucoma and other degenerative diseases are vast. This is why we are fully committed to the project. We believe the innovative design of the Catalyst For a Cure and the talented scientists it has brought together are our best hope for finding a cure for this devastating disease.

The Catalyst for a Cure Principal Investigators (Neuroprotection)

David J. Calkins, PhD
Vice-Chairman and Director of Research; Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Neuroscience and Psychology
Vanderbilt Eye Institute, Nashville, Tenn.

The Calkins lab focuses on the mechanisms of neurodegeneration in glaucoma. Using systems, cellular and molecular approaches, they investigate how risk factors contribute to neurodegeneration and test new treatments. Dr. Calkins specializes in molecular mechanisms of the retina and optic nerve.

Philip J. Horner, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery
Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine
University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.

The Horner lab is focused on neurodegeneration and neural regeneration in models of glaucoma and spinal cord injury. The lab established and maintains a reliable glaucoma model to study and test hypotheses. Dr. Horner’s experience in spinal cord injury and glial cells has been applied to glaucoma leading to new findings on the role of gliosis and oxidative stress in glaucoma.

Nicholas Marsh-Armstrong, PhD
Assistant Professor, Departments of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, Md.

The Marsh-Armstrong laboratory studies molecular mechanisms involved in gene regulation, development and disease of the central nervous system, focusing principally on the retina. Marsh-Armstrong has identified gamma-synuclein aggregates in glaucoma in the CFC model of glaucoma — an important finding relating glaucoma to other neurodegenerative diseases.

Monica L. Vetter, PhD
Neurobiology and Anatomy Department Chair
George and Lorna Winder Professor of Neuroscience
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

The Vetter lab is studying glaucoma at the molecular level to understand how genetics influence and determine the fate of neurons in the retina and central nervous system. Their goal is to reveal principles governing cell biology that will lead to new disease treatments. Dr. Vetter is committed to better understanding the role of microglia in retinal ganglion cell pathology in glaucoma.

The Catalyst for a Cure Principal Investigators (Biomarkers)

Alfredo Dubra, PhD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Biophysics
Department of Ophthalmology, The Eye Institute
Medical College of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wis.

The main goal of the Dubra lab is to develop non-invasive optical imaging methods for early detection and monitoring of eye disease. The lab pursues a multidisciplinary approach, with a major focus on translating techniques and analytical tools from physics, astronomy and mathematics into robust quantitative diagnostic tools.

Jeffrey L. Goldberg, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Ophthalmology
Walter G. Ross Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmic Research
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute
University of Miami
Miami, Fla.

The Goldberg laboratory in the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute is studying retinal ganglion cell development, survival and axon regeneration in glaucoma, and investigating the cellular basis for the developmental loss of axon growth ability.

Andrew Huberman, PhD
Assistant Professor of Neurosciences, Biology and Ophthalmology
University of California San Diego
San Diego, Calif.

The purpose of the Huberman laboratory is to understand how the retinal and brain circuits that underlie vision wire up during development and to develop new strategies to monitor, prevent, and treat retinal ganglion cell loss in glaucoma.

Vivek Srinivasan, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
University of California, Davis
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Davis, Calif.

The Srinivasan Biophotonics Laboratory develops novel optical imaging techniques and diagnostics with applications spanning from basic to clinical research. In particular, the lab is interested in neuronal control of hemodynamics and metabolism both in health and disease in the central nervous system, including the retina and brain. Their highly interdisciplinary approach combines cutting edge imaging technologies with collaborations ranging from neurobiology to neurology and ophthalmology to test fundamental hypotheses and explore the diagnostic implications.