Prof. Colleen McDowell,
Dept of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
Congratulations to MERI member Prof. Colleen McDowell (Dept of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, SMPH) on receiving an NIH R21 grant for her project “Optic nerve head cellular interactions in response to mechanical strain and fibrosis”! This multi-PI grant is a collaboration with Dr. Preethi Ganapathy (Dept of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, SUNY Upstate Medical University) that aims to understand how and to what extent ONH cells signal to each other to produce matrix fibrosis in response to mechanical strains in glaucomatous damage. In their exploratory R21, McDowell and Ganapathy propose to overcome the limitations of existing models by establishing an in vitro 3D culture system that accounts for native tissue stiffness, permits dynamic matrix remodeling, and allows for targeted manipulation of cell type-specific molecular pathways.
Preliminary data for this grant was supported by the McPherson ERI’s Grant Summit Program, a program created specifically to increase support for UW–Madison vision research by facilitating successful resubmissions of competitive federal grant applications.