| JULY 2001
The New England Medical Center Hospitals (NEMC)
has been awarded a P30 center grant from the National Eye Institute
(NEI) to support shared core resources for investigators of the
Tufts Center for Vision Research (TCVR). The initial award is for
1.6 million dollars over a five-year period, but this amount may
be increased through annual supplement applications. Funding began
on May 1, 2001.
The TCVR is an umbrella organization comprising
more than 30 vision scientists from multiple organizations, with
the common denominator being their appointment to the faculty of
Tufts University. Conceived by former New England Eye Center (NEEC)
Director, Carmen A. Puliafito, MD, MBA, development of the TCVR
was initiated in January of 1999 with appointment of M. Elizabeth
Fini, PhD as Founding Director. Start-up funding and space for the
TCVR has been provided through a partnership agreement between the
New England Eye Center, New England Medical Center Hospitals, and
Tufts University.
Establishment of the TCVR is a direct result of
dramatic growth in eye and vision research at Tufts and NEMC over
the past decade, due in no small part to opening of the NEEC's Vision
Research Laboratories in 1994. The TCVR now ranks third among Boston
research organizations, and fourth in Massachusetts in NEI funding,
with a total of 22 grants.
"It is not easy to obtain an NEI center grant",
said Dr. Fini, "as new applicant organizations must typically
knock-out renewing organizations in order to access the relatively
fixed funding pool. Award of this grant is an indication of our
scientific excellence and our critical mass of senior NEI-funded
investigators". The TCVR is now one of 38 centers funded by
the NEI nationwide.
Dr. Fini attributes success to the synergism that
arose when vision scientists with diverse interests and training
were drawn together through shared activities of the TCVR. Key contributers
to the grant application were Module Directors Dale D. Hunter, PhD
(Tufts), Ramesh C. Nayak, PhD (Tufts), Joel S. Schuman, MD (NEEC),
and Judith A. West-Mays, PhD (NEEC); past Center Administrator Laoti
A. Russo (NEEC); and Steering Committee Members Margaret E. Newell,
MBA, JD (Tufts), and Carmen A. Puliafito, MD, MBA (NEEC). Dr. Fini
is the grant's Principal Investigator.
The center grant will support operation of two
of the TCVR's core resource modules: Morphology and Monoclonal Antibodies/Tissue
Resources. Further information on these modules, and other core
resources can be obtained by visiting the TCVR website at http://www.TCVR.org,
or by contacting the Center Administrator Cheryl K. Connery at info@TCVR.org
November 2000
TCVR's Dr. Ramesh C. Nayak, Assistant Professor
at the New England Eye Center's Vision Research Laboratories, was
both surprised and honored at a recent meeting of the American Diabetes
Association when he was asked to serve as president of the New England
Region of the ADA. He will be president-elect 2001-2002 and president
2002-2003. Dr. Nayak will succeed Peter D'Angelo, past CEO of Raytheon
Corporation.
Dr. Nayak, who does research into diabetic retinopathy,
is generous with his time in community activities related to eye
disease. He has been a member of the Massachusetts Lion Clubs for
ten years and has served the Lions as fundraising chairman and as
secretary of the Lions eye mobile corporation, among other roles.
For the last three years, he had been working with the ADA to build
a local alliance between the ADA and Lions Clubs International to
promote knowledge of diabetes and its symptoms. The ADA estimates
that there are over five million undiagnosed diabetics in the US
today. These undiagnosed and untreated diabetics are at great risk
for developing complications of diabetics, such as diabetic retinopathy.
November 2000
With the advent and refinement of molecular genetics,
the genetic bases of disease have become a major thrust of current
medical research. Additionally, sequencing of the complete genomes
of complex organisms provides the data necessary for efficient and
detailed genetic investigation of disease. To sort through this
wealth of data and piece together the relationships of individual
genes with specific disorders requires sophisticated computational
methods. The challenge is no longer to obtain genetic data, but
to find people who can decipher the growing mountains of information
and draw relevant conclusions about complex relationships. Dr. Kurt
R. Wollenberg, Assistant Professor at the New England Eye Center's
Vision Research Laboratories, is such a scientist. Dr. Wollenberg
is the computational geneticist staffing the new TCVR Computational
Biology Module.
"Major advances are being made in genomics
field, predominately in the analysis of expression array (gene chip)
data," says Dr. Wollenberg. "These advances include both
the identification of significant differences in expression and
the integration of expression data into models of gene interaction."
To get ideas for applications of such techniques to ophthalmology
and vision research, Dr. Wollenberg attended the recent meeting
on Ocular Genomics and Proteomics, held at Alcon Laboratories, Inc.
in Houston, Texas. At this meeting, several researchers presented
data derived from the use of genomic and proteomic screens for the
identification of causative agents in various ophthalmic disorders.
Current research at Tufts applies the techniques
of genomics/proteomics to investigate the underlying causes of ocular
disease. As mentioned above, gene expression arrays will be used
to identify genes that are up- or down-regulated in the onset and
progression of specific disease conditions. In a similar way, 2-D
protein gels will be used to characterize the gene products involved
in disease etiology. In both cases, statistical analysis techniques
are necessary for the identification of biologically significant
variation in expression. Recreation of the underlying networks of
gene and protein interactions from these data will require another
family of analytic techniques. Combinatorial analyses will allow
the recreation and characterization of molecular biological networks
that will produce a clearer understanding of disease dynamics. Dr.
Wollenberg envisions that these techniques hold much promise for
furthering new breakthroughs in ophthalmology and vision research.
October 2000
TCVR held its first research retreat at the MIT
Endicott House, in Dedham, MA, on October 6, 2000. The retreat was
sponsored by the New England Eye Center. This day-long event was
attended by 38 Tufts scientists, administrators and invited guests.
The morning session introduced the vision research programs at Tufts.
An interactive session devoted to the development of new initiatives
was held in the afternoon. Janet C. Banks, PhD, Executive Vice President
of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and
Director of Oakland Eye Institute, served as scientific advisor
for the retreat. Dr. M. Elizabeth Fini, Professor of Ophthalmology
and Director of the TCVR observes that "the team spirit engendered
by the retreat has already sparked new avenues for research and
educational development." Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, Professor
and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at Tufts states,
"I am pleased to see that our vision for a cross-departmental
research program at Tufts is now becoming a reality." Dr. Fini
adds, "TCVR seeks to be a leading center for eye and vision
research nationwide."
September 2000
A National Lobby Day for Eye Research took place
on Wednesday, September 6th in Washington D.C. This effort was organized
by the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR), with
the enthusiastic support of the Board of Trustees, Association for
Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). The event was attended
by 22 prominent senior vision scientists and vision research administrators
from across the country. Ken P. Trevett, JD, General Counsel and
COO of the Schepens Eye Research Institute, organized the Boston
contingent which included Anthony P. Adamis, MD (Mass Eye &
Ear Infirmary), M. Elizabeth Fini, PhD (TCVR), Ilene K. Gipson,
PhD (Schepens) and Sayon Roy, PhD (Boston University). The New England
Eye Center, Tufts University School of Medicine sponsored Dr. Fini's
travel to the meeting.
The day began at 8:00 am in Room 385 of the Russell
Senate Office Building with a briefing by Director Ed McManus and
the NAEVR staff. The group was informed of their mission: to request
at 20% increase in the budget to the National Eye Institute. The
Boston contingent then visited the offices of Senators Edward Kennedy
and John Kerry, as well as Congressmen McGovern, Meehan, Moakley,
Olvers and Tierney.
May 2000
Tufts University has long been recognized for excellence
in ophthalmology and vision research; however, a period of rapid
growth in the faculty over the past decade has led to attainment
of a truly critical mass of National Eye Institute funding at the
university, with great stability and potential for further growth.
In May of 2000, a partnership agreement between the New England
Eye Center and the New England Medical Center Hospitals/Tufts University
launched the Tufts Center for Vision Research (TCVR). Dr. M. Elizabeth
Fini, Research Director for the New England Eye Center, was asked
to take the lead in unifying the vision scientists under the TCVR
umbrella, across the multiple administrative components of the organizations.
"TCVR seeks to become a leading center for
eye and vision research nationwide," says Dr. Fini. This goal
seems well within grasp. Tufts University and the New England Medical
Center Hospitals have provided extraordinary support for vision
research over the past decade. During this period, funding from
the National Eye Institute to these institutions has increased from
approximately $750 thousand in 1990 to more than $5 million projected
for year 2000. A major growth spurt corresponded with the opening
of the Vision Research Laboratories (VRL) of the New England Eye
Center in 1994. NEI funding to the VRL now accounts for more than
half of the Tufts/NEMC totals. The productivity and impact of vision
research performed by VRL and TCVR investigators is significant.
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