News — Rockville, Md.—The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) congratulates Tasneem Khatib DM, FRCOphth—recipient of the 2022 Point of View Award.
Established by the Point of View Foundation (Fundació Punt de Vista), the award provides a $20,000 cash prize in recognition of an outstanding scholarly article related to efforts to restore vision through regenerative ophthalmology, biotechnology, whole eye transplantation or other approaches. Khatib's article is entitled:
- Receptor-ligand replacement via a self-cleaving 2A peptide-based gene therapy promotes CNS axonal transport with functional recovery; Science Advances; March 31, 2021 (Corresponding author: Keith Martin, MA, DM, MRCP, FRCOphth, FRANZCO, FARVO)
"The axons of nerve cells function like a railway system, where the cargo is essential components required for the cells to survive and function," noted Khatib. "In neurodegenerative diseases, this railway system can get damaged or blocked. We reasoned that replacing two molecules that we know work effectively together would help to repair this transport network more effectively than delivering either one alone, and that is what we found. Rather than using the standard gene therapy approach of replacing or repairing damaged genes, we used the technique to supplement these molecules in the retina...The combined approach leads to a much more sustained therapeutic effect, which is very important for a treatment aimed at a chronic degenerative disease."
"We are very honoured to receive this award which will help us to continue to develop translatable therapies for patients with blinding disease," says Khatib. "While this paper reports early stage research, we believe it shows promise for helping to treat neurodegenerative diseases that have so far proved intractable. Gene therapy has already proved effective for some rare monogenic conditions, and we hope it will be similarly useful for these more complex diseases which are much more common."
Khatib completed her doctoral research in neurobiology and glaucoma at the Centre for Brain Repair (University of Cambridge) and her ophthalmology residency at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She then undertook further subspecialty surgical fellowship training in glaucoma at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. Currently, she is a postdoctoral scholar at Byers Eye Institute (Stanford Medicine) in Stanford, Calif.
For more information about the Point of View Award,
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The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) is the largest eye and vision research organization in the world. Members include approximately 10,000 eye and vision researchers from over 75 countries. ARVO advances research worldwide into understanding the visual system and preventing, treating and curing its disorders. Learn more at .
Established in 2001, the ARVO Foundation for Eye Research raises funds through partnerships, grants and sponsorships to support ARVO’s world-class education and career development resources for eye and vision researchers of all stages of career and education. Learn more at .
Based in Spain, the Point of View Foundation (Fundació Punt de Vista) is dedicated to advancing scientific research related to disease and injuries of the eye and visual system. To learn more about their work, visit the .
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