Eye Research Institute investigators study age related macular degeneration

Researchers in Oakland University’s Eye Research Institute have a long and successful history of collaboration with medical doctors from Associated Retinal Consultants in Royal Oak, Michigan. The ERI’s Frank Giblin and Shravan Chintala (both CBR members) teamed up with ARC’s Michael Trese, Kimberly Drenser (who is also a visiting assistant professor in the ERI) and others to publish “Posterior vitreous detachment with microplasmin aters the retinal penetration of intravitreal bevacizumab (avastin) in rabbit eyes,” (Volume 31, Pages 393-400, 2011). The study seeks to find improved treatments for age related macular degeneration, a severe condition affecting many older adults that causes a loss of vision in the center of the visual field. The research was supported by grants from ThromboGenics, Inc., the Alliance for Vision Research, the Lincy Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.

Trese and Drenser are both involved in the founding of the Virginia and Clarence Clohset Pediatric Retinal Research Laboratory, funded by donations from the Clohset and Bergquist families to the ROPARD (Retinopathy of Prematurity and Related Diseases) Foundation.