Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

NIH grants support SUNY's neuroscience, pediatric pharmacology and vision research

The State University of New York has received two grants totaling more than $4.3 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support neuroscience and pediatric pharmacology and vision research as part of SUNY REACH, a collaborative research network of SUNY's four academic health centers and the College of Optometry.

15 Oct 2011

U.S., South Korea continue to delay food aid to North Korea despite 'proven' ability to monitor food distribution

In this Christian Science Monitor opinion piece, Jim White, vice president of operations at Mercy Corps, and Matt Ellingson, director of program development at Samaritan's Purse, who "co-led a team from five U.S.-based aid organizations that traveled to North Korea to deliver flood relief supplies" last month, ask why the U.S. and South Korea continue to delay food aid to North Koreans affected by the country's food crisis despite the fact that "aid groups have a proven ability to monitor the way food is distributed in North Korea."

15 Oct 2011

CooperVision's voluntary recall of Avaira Toric contact lenses continues

In full cooperation with the United States Food and Drug Administration, CooperVision, Inc. is continuing to work with the FDA, distributors, customers, eye care practitioners and lens wearers to complete the worldwide recall initiated on August 19, 2011 on certain lots of Avaira Toric contact lenses.

14 Oct 2011

Action Medical Research announces grants to investigate conditions affecting babies, children

Action Medical Research - the leading UK-wide medical research charity dedicated to helping babies and children - has today announced grants worth more than £1.3 million for top researchers across the country.

13 Oct 2011

GeneDx launches new genetic test to accurately diagnose rare diseases

At the joint conference of the American Society of Human Genetics/International Congress on Human Genetics in Montreal on October 12, GeneDx, one of the foremost genetics laboratories in the world and a subsidiary of Bio-Reference Laboratories, Inc., is announcing a first-of-its-kind test that will enable physicians and patients to more accurately identify the genetic cause of rare diseases.

13 Oct 2011

Children under the age of 3 with NLDO more likely to develop amblyopia

Amblyopia, sometimes referred to as "lazy eye," is a cause of poor vision in children. It occurs in about 1.6% to 3.6% of the general population. Early treatment is critical, as the first few years are the most important in the development of eyesight. If amblyopia is not treated in the first 6 to 10 years, poor vision becomes permanent and cannot be corrected.

13 Oct 2011

German stem cell scientist wins annual Young Investigator Award in Serbia

A young scientist who led research into the use of stem cells from hair follicles to treat the ocular surface disease has been named the winner of the Young Investigator Award by the journal Stem Cells.

12 Oct 2011

British scientist wins NYSCF - Robertson Stem Cell Prize

The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) announced today that a British stem cell scientist working to cure blindness will be the first recipient of The New York Stem Cell Foundation - Robertson Prize in Stem Cell Research, a $200,000 prize awarded annually for extraordinary achievement in translational stem cell research.

12 Oct 2011

HHS OIG will investigate 'incident to' Medicare billing

A watchdog agency in the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants to know how many office visits, consultations, eye exams, skin grafts, and other services are performed by unqualified nonphysicians under Medicare's "incident-to" billing rules.

12 Oct 2011

ASHG to honor U of U geneticist with William Allan Award

As a teenager just moved to Iowa from war-ravaged Germany in 1951, John M. Opitz, M.D., wanted to study developmental biology, but his "very Prussian" mother insisted he go to medical school instead.

12 Oct 2011

Study: Emerging pharmaceutical platform may produce undesirable effects on eye function

According to new research by University of Kentucky investigators, an emerging pharmaceutical platform used in treating a variety of diseases may produce unintended and undesirable effects on eye function.

12 Oct 2011

UB scientists discover promising new drug target for Alzheimer's

A tiny piece of a critical receptor that fuels the brain and without which sentient beings cannot live has been discovered by University at Buffalo scientists as a promising new drug target for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

12 Oct 2011

AOA launches new easy-to-use Web site about contact lens safety

The American Optometric Association (AOA) launched www.ContactLensSafety.org, a new, easy-to-use Web site to help answer consumer questions about contact lens safety.

12 Oct 2011

FDA approves NDA for Edgemont's Fluoxetine 60 mg tablet

Edgemont Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a neuroscience focused company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its New Drug Application (NDA) for Fluoxetine Tablets 60 mg.

12 Oct 2011

Governments target contract workers; eye millions lost in payroll taxes, health benefits

The federal government as well as states, including Maryland, are cracking down on employers who treat what should be workers as contractors. Governments are losing millions of dollars in payroll tax and other revenue and workers are losing benefits, including Social Security, health care and unemployment insurance.

11 Oct 2011

Potential vaccine against trachoma

An attenuated, or weakened, strain of Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria can be used as a vaccine to prevent or reduce the severity of trachoma, the world's leading cause of infectious blindness, suggest findings from a National Institutes of Health study in monkeys.

10 Oct 2011

Scientists identify first DNA faults linked to melanoma

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered the first DNA faults linked to melanoma - the deadliest skin cancer - that are not related to hair, skin or eye colour, according to research published in Nature Genetics today.

10 Oct 2011

Study identifies three new chromosomal regions implicated in susceptibility to melanoma

The genomic analysis technologies enable the study of genetic factors related to numerous diseases. In few areas this researches brought such a big and useful volume of information as in the case of melanoma.

10 Oct 2011

Boehringer Ingelheim receives FDA approval for COMBIVENT RESPIMAT to treat COPD

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved COMBIVENT RESPIMAT, a new, propellant-free inhaler product that uses a slow-moving mist to deliver the same active ingredients of COMBIVENT Inhalation Aerosol in a metered dose inhaler.

10 Oct 2011

Smoking susceptibility of young people linked to tobacco displays

Young people who find tobacco displays in shops attractive and who easily recall seeing the displays have a greater chance of becoming a smoker according to a new Cancer Research UK funded research study published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research today.

7 Oct 2011