Sharing a Vision: UI and ISU Researchers Collaborate to Improve Animal and Human Visual Health -- Profile in Translation

Originally from Eastern Europe, came to the Midwest to pursue a PhD in veterinary medicine at Iowa State University (ISU). Sinisa, an unknown graduate student without a single publication, was using stem cells to treat glaucoma in rats when he learned about a small inter-institutional grant opportunity in 2000. Consequently, Sinisa reached out to clinicians and scientists at the University of Iowa's Department ofOphthalmology and Visual Sciences and shared some of his unique ideas about improving visual health in animals and humans.

Now an accomplished assistant professor of comparative ophthalmology at ISU, Sinisa claims his ideas, "Probably sounded borderline crazy at the time." However, University of Iowa faculty members welcomed his novel approach nonetheless. Dr. Randy H. Kardon, Professor and Director of Neuro-ophthalmology, swiftly agreed to serve on Sinisa's thesis committee and helped supervise his research. He was impressed by Sinisa's ingenuity and even donated some of his own expensive laboratory instruments to the student's cause. Sinisa modified the instruments so they could be used on animals.

As Dr. Kardon and his colleagues became more involved in Sinisa's research, they started drawing more connections to their own human research. Dr Kardon said, "We thought he was overly ambitious regarding some of the things he'd proposed, but he accomplished more than what he set out to do, and that's what started the collaboration."

Ten years and multiple studies later, Drs. Kardon and Grozdanic continue to share a flourishing and successful research partnership. Modern medical research cannot be successful without collaborative teams of people offering differing expertise, according to Dr. Grozdanic. He said, "When we combine our clinical experience and knowledge, we have a much better chance of identifying the exact nature of the problem, and ultimately providing a solution for it."

This collaborative principle guides their work and results in some exciting science that will potentially make a strong impact on clinical care for both animals and humans. Drs. Kardon and Grozdanic are particularly interested in finding new ways of diagnosing and treating diseases that affect the visual system, e.g., what a person or animal sees and how the eyes move in order to take in information. They are able to effectively collaborate because humans and dogs suffer from strikingly similar visual diseases.

Dr. Grozdanic has also developed a blast injury model for mice. This device allows the investigators to observe a blast's effects on the brain and visual system. Military veterans are exposed to blast injuries that can cause complex cognitive and sensory organ problems, so brain injuries are currently of great concern to clinical and basic scientists. Since car accidents and sports injuries can inflict similar brain injuries, these investigators also test preventative devices with the intent of protecting people from traumatic brain injury altogether. As with the glaucoma research, the effects of the blast on mice are translatable to humans and better inform how to treat human conditions.

Drs. Kardon and Grozdanic continue to inspire new research partnerships on both the local and national levels. They train new investigators, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students and work with numerous UI and ISU faculty, some of whom are experts in Parkinson's, retinal, and corneal diseases, while others are advancing stem cell, engineering, ophthalmology, and other research areas. "It really continues to involve more people and grow as people see the translational benefit," said Dr. Kardon.

On a local level, this partnership has prompted some UI ophthalmology and engineering faculty members (e.g., Michael Abramoff M.D. Ph.D, Milan Sonka Ph.D., and Mona Garvin Ph.D.) to develop new ways of analyzing images of the eye. They use photographs of the sensitive tissue lining the back of the eye, the retina, to diagnose disorders like diabetes, glaucoma, and macular degeneration. These new technologies can help researchers and clinicians remotely collect information from individuals, allowing them to determine whether people have a disorder and how it is progressing even if the patient is physically located miles away. Dr. Kardon said, "Using image analysis allows us to better understand both the animal and human condition, and allows us to train each other (and the computer) what to look for."

Dr. Kardon is excited about continuing his collaborative efforts with Dr. Grozdanic and an entire host of other esteemed researchers on a national level as well. The Iowa City Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center was recently awarded $5 million in federal funds and granted status as a VA Research Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Visual Loss under the VA Research and Development program, Rehabilitation Research and Development (RR&D) Service. Dr. Kardon will serve as the center's director alongside Dr. Abramoff, Associate Director, and is optimistic that his partnership with Dr. Grozdanic, one of the center's lead investigators and head of its animal research needs, will only grow stronger as they continue conducting research focused on preventing and treating visual impairments.

Dr. Grozdanic is also excited about future collaborations and encourages clinical and translational scientists to nurture inter-institutional and interdisciplinary partnerships because, "There is so much that we can learn from each other," he said. He also believes interdisciplinary partnerships can help investigators become better clinicians who are more effective at treating diseases and more competitive in terms of creating successful grant applications. "All of which may have strong economic impact on the State of Iowa by reducing the cost of health care through the development of novel diagnostic and treatment modalities and also by attracting large pharmaceutical and biotech companies to invest in Iowa's biomedical research," Dr. Grozdanic said.

Written by Jenn Laskowski 11-18-09

 Learn more about the instruments used by Dr. Grozdanic and Dr. Kardon to diagnose and treat eye disorders

 Learn more about how canine eye diseases are similar to human disorders.

 View a video.