Preventing Blinding Disease In Premature Babies

Leah A. Owen, MD, PhD, has received a prestigious career development award.

Leah A. Owen, MD, PhD.

They are the smallest of patients—premature infants at risk of developing a potentially blinding eye disease called retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). While research on this leading cause of childhood blindness has often focused on treatments, Moran Eye Center pediatric surgeon-scientist Leah A. Owen, MD, PhD, is exploring how ROP might be prevented.

In 2020, Owen received a National Institutes of Health Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award, a three-year, $500,000 grant that will boost her work. Owen’s lab is exploring how preeclampsia, a dangerous pregnancy complication, may protect preterm infants from developing ROP. She will investigate molecular and genetic factors in the mother, infant, and placenta, which contribute to this ROP protection.

“If we can learn how these babies are naturally ‘protected’ from ROP, then we can develop interventions to prevent rather than mitigate ROP,” Owen said.

As part of the award, Owen will work closely with three international experts:

· Kathleen B. Digre, MD, Distinguished Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology at Moran and an adjunct professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology who also serves as director for the Center of Excellence in Women’s Health at the University of Utah.

· Michael W. Varner, MD, H.A. and Edna Benning Endowed Presidential Professor and vice-chair for research for the U’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

· Margaret M. DeAngelis, PhD, Ira G. Ross and Elizabeth Olmsted Ross Endowed Chair at the Ira G. Ross Eye Institute in Buffalo, New York, and an adjunct professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Moran.

Owen will also collaborate with a separate team representing expertise in each aspect of the project.

In ROP, abnormal blood vessels grow between the retina and the front of the eye, preventing a sufficient blood supply to the baby’s developing eyes. This can cause vision loss in even mild cases, and complete blindness in the worst.

“ROP is uniquely suited to prevention,” said Owen. “It is not present at the time of preterm birth, but instead develops four to eight weeks later. We want to change that.”