P-T RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT--
"New views on treating, preventing glaucoma"
(courtesy Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center) 

Developing new compounds to enhance aqueous outflow from the eye
and treat glaucoma is the focus of the director of glaucoma
services at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Medical Center.

"The rhesus monkey is an indispensable model for studying glaucoma,
the second most common cause of irreversible vision loss in the
U.S.," says Paul Kaufman, M.D., also a researcher with the
Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center and a professor of
ophthalmology and visual sciences at the UW Medical School.

Kaufman is working to develop new, more potent and specific
therapies for the disease, focusing on novel compounds to enhance
fluid drainage from the eye, and others to protect retinal ganglion
cells and their axons from pressure-induced damage. 

This June, the San Francisco-based Glaucoma Research Foundation
(GRF) honored the UW glaucoma team with its Center of Excellence
Award. This is the latest in a string of awards given to the UW's
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual sciences. In July, U.S. News
& World Report ranked the department 15th in the nation. Three
months later, Ophthalmology Times ranked the department as among
the Top 10 "best overall "eye programs in the country. The UW was
chosen for the competitive GRF award by a panel of ophthalmology
experts not connected to the applying institutions. As part of the
award, the UW glaucoma group will receive a $75,000 unrestricted
grant. 

Kaufman attributes the award in large part to a strong
collaborative team of basic researchers, clinical investigators
and epidemiologists. Aside from Kaufman, the honorees are Curtis
Brandt, Ph.D.; Gregg Heatley, M.D.; Leonard Levin, M.D., Ph.D.;
Barbara Klein, M.D., M.P.H.; Robert Nickells, Ph.D; Michael Nork,
M.D., M.S.; Todd Perkins, M.D.; and James Ver Hoeve, Ph.D.

Each researcher focuses on a specific aspect of the disease that
hopefully someday will fit together to form a picture of how to
best prevent glaucoma, which afflicts more than two million
Americans. 

For more information, visit
http://www.wisc.edu/news/thisweek/Awards/Y98/jun/glaucoma.html and
http://www.wisc.edu/kaufmanlab.

Reference: Tian B, Kaufman PL, Volberg T, Gabelt BT, Geiger B: H-7
disrupts the actin cytoskeleton and increases outflow facility.
Arch Ophthalmol 116: 633-643, 1998.


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P-T Research Highlights appears every other week and focuses
broadly on research involving non-human primates. Coverage includes
biomedicine, behavior, conservation and veterinary science. Please
submit highlights for this column to Larry Jacobsen, P-T Research
Highlights editor, at jacobsen@primate.wisc.edu. A 300-word limit and
lay-language style are recommended. P-T Research Highlights are
supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health,
National Center for Research Resources.  Copyright 1998,
Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center. No portion of this highlight
may be copied or redistributed without the consent of the editor.

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