ERI director Frank Giblin has NIH grant renewed

CBR member and director of the Eye Research Institute, Frank Giblin, recently had his National Institutes of Health grant renewed for another four years. His award number is R01EY002027-36. For those unfamiliar with the NIH grant numbering system, the “R01” indicates this is an investigator-initiated Research Project Grant (often the most sought after type of award), the “EY” stands for the National Eye Institute that is the particular institute among the National Institutes of Health that provided the funding, the “002027” is the grant number, and the “-36” is the year of the award (so “-01” would be the first year, “-02” the second, etc.). You read that correctly; Giblin’s award to study Proteins of Normal and Cataractous Lenses is currently in its 36th year! The project began in 1977, and is now funded through summer 2018. Forty years of continuous funding is a remarkable achievement for any biomedical researcher, particularly in the current challenging funding environment. The amount for 2014 alone is $353,569. Giblin’s research not only is providing new knowledge about cataracts in the lens of the eye, but also has great clinical relevance:

“This application concerns the mechanism of formation of human nuclear cataract, the most common type of lens opacity in older adults, and the type most likely to require surgery. The proposed work will investigate factors leading to severe aggregation of proteins within the center of the lens, causing cataract. Understanding mechanisms involved in aggregation of proteins in the lens will aid in developing therapeutic agents to slow the process, and delay the onset of both maturity-onset and vitrectomy-induced nuclear cataract.”

Moreover, this funding will provide research opportunities in Giblin's laboratory for several OU students through the ERI' Summer Undergraduate Program in Eye Research (SUPER), such as Oakland University undergraduates Mason Geno and Nahrain Putris (summer 2014) and Mirna Awrow (summer 2013).