Erika Eggers, associate professor of biomedical engineering, physiology and neuroscience and member of the BIO5 Institute at the University of Arizona, recently received two federal grants for her studies on the inner workings of the retina and how they affect eye disease.
Eggers is reportedly the principal investigator of a $1.9 million project funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with additional support from the International Retinal Research Foundation, to study "Retinal Neuronal Signaling in Early Diabetes." Eggers' research includes taking physiological measurements of individual cells in an intact diabetic mouse retina to identify signaling processes that may lead to diabetic retinopathy.
In addition, Eggers recently received a 2016 Faculty Early Career Development Award of $900,000 from the National Science Foundation for a new study, "The Role of Inhibition in Light Adaptation of the OFF Retinal Pathway." This study reportedly follows related research from a report Eggers had published in the June 2016 issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology, and will look at the process of light adaptation and the related mechanisms of inhibitory activity in the retina.
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Source: University of Arizona