This is an application by Reza Dana, an associate professor at the Harvard Department of Ophthalmology, for a K24 Mid-Career Award to (i) provide him with protected time to devote more time to clinical and translational research activities, and to (ii) enhance his mentoring of new clinical investigators in the conduct of patient-oriented research. Dr. Dana is a clinician-scientist whose time is currently divided between (i) his laboratory where patient-oriented research is focused on determining the cellular mechanisms of corneal inflammation, (ii) his clinic focused on the management of patients with corneal and ocular inflammatory conditions, (iii) teaching of residents and fellows in ophthalmology, and (iv) various administrative duties in the Department of Ophthalmology. Due to this spread of responsibilities, protected time is limited for either expansion of clinical research activities or for focused mentoring of trainees and junior faculty colleagues. The current application, which has the strong backing of the institution and department chair, proposes 5 years of 25% effort support for Dr. Dana, which would greatly assist his further development as a clinician scientist and mentor by allowing him to limit 'pure'clinical care and hospital administrative functions as he expands clinical research and mentoring activities. The research plan is focused on development of novel therapeutic and/or prophylactic strategies for management of corneal and ocular surface inflammatory conditions. Specifically, the following clinical studies are envisioned: 1. Use of topical cyclosporine-A (CsA) for prevention of chronic ocular graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), wherein we hypothesize that initiation of topical cyclosporine A (CsA) treatment at the time of allergenic bone marrow or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is efficacious for preventing the incidence and severity of ocular GVHD;and 2. Novel anti-cytokine strategies for management of ocular surface inflammation and corneal neovascularization (NV), wherein we propose to test molecular targeting strategies against specific cytokines known to be relevant in the pathogenesis of ocular surface inflammation. The overall health relevance of the proposed research is that advancing translational research in ophthalmology is of significant relevance to our public health, since there is a growing gap between the state of our basic science knowledge, which has grown considerably in the last decade, and the 'state of the art'in the clinical management of these conditions.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Eye Institute (NEI)
Type
Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24)
Project #
5K24EY019098-03
Application #
7915445
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZEY1-VSN (05))
Program Officer
Shen, Grace L
Project Start
2008-09-15
Project End
2013-08-31
Budget Start
2010-09-01
Budget End
2011-08-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$118,811
Indirect Cost
Name
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Department
Type
DUNS #
073825945
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02114
Kheirkhah, Ahmad; Satitpitakul, Vannarut; Hamrah, Pedram et al. (2017) Patients With Dry Eye Disease and Low Subbasal Nerve Density Are at High Risk for Accelerated Corneal Endothelial Cell Loss. Cornea 36:196-201
Saboo, Ujwala S; Amparo, Francisco; Shikari, Hasanain et al. (2016) Prevalence of ocular hypertension and glaucoma in patients with chronic ocular graft-versus-host disease. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 254:923-8
Abud, Tulio B; Amparo, Francisco; Saboo, Ujwala S et al. (2016) A Clinical Trial Comparing the Safety and Efficacy of Topical Tacrolimus versus Methylprednisolone in Ocular Graft-versus-Host Disease. Ophthalmology 123:1449-57
Saboo, Ujwala S; Amparo, Francisco; Abud, Tulio B et al. (2015) Vision-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Ocular Graft-versus-Host Disease. Ophthalmology 122:1669-74
Shikari, Hasanain; Amparo, Francisco; Saboo, Ujwala et al. (2015) Onset of ocular graft-versus-host disease symptoms after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Cornea 34:243-7
Kheirkhah, Ahmad; Saboo, Ujwala S; Abud, Tulio B et al. (2015) Reduced Corneal Endothelial Cell Density in Patients With Dry Eye Disease. Am J Ophthalmol 159:1022-1026.e2
Hamrah, Pedram; Sahin, Afsun; Dastjerdi, Mohammad H et al. (2015) In Vivo confocal microscopic changes of the corneal epithelium and stroma in patients with herpes zoster ophthalmicus. Am J Ophthalmol 159:1036-1044.e1
Amparo, Francisco; Schaumberg, Debra A; Dana, Reza (2015) Comparison of Two Questionnaires for Dry Eye Symptom Assessment: The Ocular Surface Disease Index and the Symptom Assessment in Dry Eye. Ophthalmology 122:1498-503
Cruzat, Andrea; Schrems, Wolfgang A; Schrems-Hoesl, Laura M et al. (2015) Contralateral Clinically Unaffected Eyes of Patients With Unilateral Infectious Keratitis Demonstrate a Sympathetic Immune Response. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 56:6612-20
Saboo, Ujwala S; Amparo, Francisco; Shikari, Hasanain et al. (2015) Outcomes of phacoemulsification in patients with chronic ocular graft-versus-host disease. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 253:901-7

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