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Posted 12-8-00
CLEVELAND -- The Department of Ophthalmology at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland will receive a $969,704 training grant from the National Eye Institute (NEI) to develop the Visual Sciences Training Program.
The five-year grant annually will support four predoctoral students and two postdoctoral associates in the laboratories of 26 research faculty, most of whom are part of the Visual Sciences Research Center. The faculty researchers represent 11 departments at the school and hospital.
According to John Porter, the grant's principal investigator, and the Carl Asseff, professor of ophthalmology at CWRU and UHC, the training program is a significant addition to the work of the Visual Sciences Research Center, one of only 38 in the country funded by a core grant from the NEI, one of the National Institutes of Health.
"The training grant helps us train the next generation of vision scientists. The faculty comprise a multi-disciplinary vision sciences research community, and this atmosphere affords an ideal training opportunity for vision scientists," said Porter. "In addition, the types of grants that support the research center and now the training program are the only ones of their kind from the NEI in the State of Ohio."
Students will receive training in department-specific, vision research theme-specific, and laboratory-based settings, said Porter. "Collectively, this approach will ensure that our trainees will be able to pose biologically and clinically relevant questions without being restricted by either discipline or methodology."
Porter pointed out that new technology at the school and interaction with faculty who are conducting leading-edge research provide tremendous opportunities for vision scientists in training.
For example, he said that Joe Nadeau, professor of genetics at CWRU and UHC, is conducting genetic research with mice that have eye defects. "Some of these mice will form the basis for more detailed studies of genetic issues in the visual system," said Porter.
"Coupled with resources, such as the new gene expression microarray, which allows us to screen thousands of genes at once, this type of work provides excellent training opportunities," Porter added.
Jonathan Lass, chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at CWRU and director of ophthalmology at UHC, said, "We are thrilled to receive this grant to train our future vision scientists. It complements our individual grants and our core facility grant from the National Eye Institute, and positions the CWRU/UHC Visual Sciences Center as the only NEI-funded comprehensive center in Ohio, providing the finest in patient care, teaching, and research."