A large federal grant will help researchers at West Virginia University understand vision problems.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded West Virginia University an $11 million Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant for a visual sciences research center.
The funding will help WVU recruit researchers and clinician-scientists who will work together to develop innovative ways to prevent, treat and slow the progression of vision problems and blinding eye disease that are currently incurable.
West Virginia has one of the highest rates of visual disability in the U.S. The CDC estimates four percent of West Virginians live with blindness or severe difficulty seeing even with glasses.
In a press release from WVU, the principal COBRE investigator Visvanathan Ramamurthy said the center’s research could have implications across—and beyond—West Virginia.