Mass. Eye and Ear awarded $150,000 grant from Research to Prevent Blindness

January 26th, 2012

Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) has granted Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary cornea specialist James Chodosh, M.D., M.P.H., a $150,000 Senior Scientific Investigator Award. RPB Senior Scientific Investigator Awards support nationally recognized scientists conducting eye research at medical institutions in the United States.

Dr. Chodosh is internationally respected for his work on viral infections of the eye, and has worked for more than 20 years to elucidate the causes of visual loss in epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC), an Adenoviral infection commonly known as pink eye. The purpose of Dr. Chodosh's RPB-funded study is to identify those characteristics of the virus that cause inflammation in the Adenovirus-infected cornea. If successful, his work should allow prediction of which new Adenoviruses are likely to become causes of EKC, and aid in understanding how corneal inflammation (and poor vision) is caused.

"We are very grateful to Research to Prevent Blindness for their support. Their funding is vital to our on-going research, such as that being done by Dr. Chodosh, to determine the factors involved in vision loss. This is work that will lead to providing the best treatment for our patients and ultimately, patients everywhere," said Dr. Joan W. Miller, Chief of Ophthalmology at Mass. Eye and Ear and Mass General Hospital, and Chair of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School.

Provided by Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary