BLR&D Research Career Scientist Award Application (Renewal)
Project Summary/Abstract This competitive renewal application of my RCS program is focused on a major health problem of vision loss caused by the traumatic eye and brain injury. Both, traumatic eye and brain injuries lead to vision loss and ocular tissue damage that affects veterans’ health and quality of life immensely. Eye and brain trauma are the major cause of vision loss among our veterans and troops engaged in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), New Dawn, and fighting terrorism. Despite using protective gears, eye injuries has risen from 2% in World Wars to 13% in OIF and OEF. Presently, >167,000 Veterans are legally blind, 1.5 million have significantly compromised vision, and >7000 veterans becoming blind each year. Both, traumatic eye and brain injuries are becoming more common among Veterans, active military personnel, and civilians. Also, the population of elderly Veterans continues to increase, and therefore development of novel molecular thera