Haiyan Gong, MD, PhD, professor of ophthalmology and anatomy and neurobiology, has received $200,000 through a Standard Award in National Glaucoma Research from the BrightFocus Foundation.
Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. A primary risk factor for the development and progression of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), which results from increased resistance to aqueous outflow. However, the cause of this resistance remains not fully understood. Gong is currently developing new therapeutic strategies to lower IOP in glaucoma, through understanding the mechanisms that regulate aqueous outflow resistance in normal eyes and how this resistance increases in POAG.
