Research to Create Tomorrow's Advances

Several major grants were awarded to Kellogg faculty in 2018, including the renewal of two major institutional grants and five significant new individual investigator awards, continuing to place Kellogg among the leading centers in the nation in ophthalmic research funding.

Steven Abcouwer, PhD, and David Antonetti, PhD: NIH Research Project Grant (R01) - Inflammatory Resolution and Vascular Restoration in Diabetic Retinopathy

Rajesh C. Rao, MD: NIH Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (K08) -Understanding the Epigenetic Mechanisms That Drive Retinal Development

Jillian Pearring, PhD: RPB Career Development Award - Understanding how molecules are delivered to the light-sensing organelle of photoreceptor cells.

David Musch, PhD, MPH: NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award (R21) - Glaucoma progression—modeling its trajectory and contributing factors: evidence from AGIS and CIGTS.

Abigail Fahim, MD, PhD, Clinical Scientist Institutional Career Development Program Award from the National Institutes of Health - Dr. Fahim’s lab is investigating the connection between the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and the development of inherited diseases of the retina, notably choroideremia, an early onset blinding disease for which there is no treatment.

NIH Institutional Training Grant (T32): Supporting pre-and post-doctoral fellows training in vision research at the University of Michigan The program is directed by Peter Hitchcock, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the School of Medicine and Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Initiatives in the Rackham Graduate School.