Finding Therapies in Old Ideas

Cagri Besirli, M.D., Ph.D., recently found inspiration in metabolic reprogramming— research that earned him a Macula Society 2022 Young Investigator Award. “We looked at how metabolism can be reprogrammed to make cells more resistant to injury, boost their survival and slow vision loss,” said Besirli, a clinician-scientist and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology treating and researching retinal diseases. “The concept of aerobic glycolysis was discovered decades ago,” he said. “We are rediscovering the importance of the metabolic pathways partly because we understand them better, we have new tools to investigate them and there is broader interest, especially in cancer. We are leveraging what cancer researchers are discovering and applying those concepts to the eyes. We hope it will give us another tool to prolong vision.”