Two investigators honored by Research to Prevent Blindness
Two Vanderbilt University Medical Center faculty members have received awards for eye research from Research to Prevent Blindness.
Rebecca Sappington, Ph.D., assistant professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, has received a $200,000 RPB Career Development Award.
Rebecca Sappington, Ph.D.
The RPB Career Development Award Fund was established in 1990 to attract young physicians and basic scientists to eye research. To date, the program has recruited 150 vision scientists to research positions in departments of ophthalmology at universities across the country.
Sappington's research program explores the mechanisms causing glaucoma, a leading cause of vision loss in elderly Americans.
Louise Mawn, M.D.
Louise Mawn, M.D., associate professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, has been granted a $60,000 RPB Physician-Scientist Award.
These awards allow M.D.s at U.S. medical institutions to devote more time to clinical eye research activities, providing greater opportunities for specialized study with direct application to the human condition.
Mawn is one of 43 physician-scientists at 23 institutions who have received the award since it was established in 2000.
For several years Mawn has explored new technology for orbital surgery, collaborating with Robert Galloway, Ph.D., professor of Biomedical Engineering, to develop image-guided techniques for endoscopic treatment of orbital lesions and for drug delivery, addressing such conditions as traumatic optic nerve injury, orbital tumors and thyroid eye disease.
RPB is the world's leading voluntary organization supporting eye research.