PhD Proposal Presentation

Date: Thursday, December 17, 2015

Time: 1:00 PM

Location: IBB 1128

Thesis Committee:

C. Ross Ethier (BME, Georgia Institute of Technology) (Advisor)

Andres J. Garcia (ME, Georgia Institute of Technology)

Mark R. Prausnitz (ChBE, Georgia Institute of Technology)

Chunhui Xu (Pediatrics, Emory University)

W. Daniel Stamer (Ophthalmology/BME, Duke University)

Title: Autologous Stem Cell Therapies for the Trabecular Meshwork in Glaucoma

Abstract:

Glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness, affects over 60 million people worldwide and its incidence is expected to continue to rise with an aging population. The exact origin of the disease is unknown, but an increased intraocular pressure (IOP) is a well-established risk factor for glaucoma. IOP is mostly influenced by aqueous humor production and outflow through drainage tissues in the anterior eye, specifically through the trabecular meshwork, which serves to filter debris before the aqueous humor enters Schlemm’s canal and subsequently the circulatory system. In glaucoma, the cellularity of the trabecular meshwork has been shown to be significantly decreased in comparison to healthy eyes. This loss of cellularity, presumably, leads to loss of function in the trabecular meshwork which may lead to higher outflow resistance and, thus, increased intraocular pressure. As a result, therapies striving to restore the cellularity in the meshwork could potentially alter glaucoma progression. This research will investigate the use of stem cells for functionally restoring the trabecular meshwork. We hypothesize that mesenchymal stem cells can be differentiated into functional trabecular meshwork cells which, when transplanted into glaucomatous eyes, can stop glaucoma progression.