# BLR&D Research Career Scientist Application

> **NIH VA IK6** · VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION · 2021 · —

## Abstract

Diabetic retinopathy remains the leading cause of visual loss in adults in the US, and it is increasing
throughout the US and the world as diabetes rapidly affects more people. Although prolonged good
glycemic control has been demonstrated to inhibit the development of diabetic retinopathy in patients,
this goal is essentially impossible for most diabetics to maintain, so additional means are needed to
inhibit the development of diabetic retinopathy. The Kern laboratory focuses on how diabetic
retinopathy develops and thus can be inhibited. This research currently focuses on 4 research areas
related to the development of diabetic retinopathy, most of which initially were reported by or
championed by Dr. Kern and his collaborators: (1) the role of leukocytes and inflammation as a cause of
diabetic retinopathy, and the regulation of those pro-inflammatory changes by epigenetic acetylation,
(2) the role of retinal photoreceptor cells and vision itself in the development of the retinal vascular
leakage and degeneration of diabetic retinopathy, (3) the use of low intensity light to inhibit and reverse
diabetic retinopathy, and (4) the use of systems pharmacology of G-Protein Coupled Receptors to inhibit
the retinopathy. Discussions are now underway to translate these findings into patients with diabetes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10047700
- **Project number:** 5IK6BX003604-06
- **Recipient organization:** VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
- **Principal Investigator:** Timothy S Kern
- **Activity code:** IK6 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-10-01 → 2021-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10047700

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10047700, BLR&D Research Career Scientist Application (5IK6BX003604-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10047700. Licensed CC0.

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