The challenge to make whole eye transplants a reality continues in 2025 with a new group of US-based scientists and other experts joining the undertaking.
The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is part of a major new undertaking that will bring together more than 40 scientists, doctors, and industry experts from around the country to meet the challenge.
The award of up to US$56 million (AU$90m) is from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Transplantation of Human Eye Allografts (THEA) program. The awarded project title is Viability, Imaging, Surgical, Immunomodulation, Ocular Preservation and Neuroregeneration (VISION) Strategies for Whole Eye Transplant—a reflection of the breadth of the collaboration assembled to solve such a complex challenge.
The WFIRM has been approved for an initial contracting commitment of US$5.2m (AU$8.3m) over four years.
A media release said Dr Vijay Gorantla, a renowned expert in Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation (VCA) and Professor at WFIRM, would join this project led by co-directors, Dr Jeffrey Goldberg at Stanford University and Dr Jose Sahel at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
The studies spearheaded by Dr. Gorantla at WFIRM will play a pivotal role in addressing the technical, biological, and immunological hurdles in whole eye transplant.
“Achieving vision restoration through whole eye transplantation is an unparalleled opportunity to transform lives. This ARPA-H program brings together unmatched expertise, innovative technologies, and a shared determination to overcome challenges once deemed insurmountable,” said Dr Gorantla.
“This project represents the potential of regenerative medicine to solve complex medical challenges,” said Dr. Anthony Atala, director of WFIRM. “Through collaboration and innovation, this work will advance technologies that could restore vision and fundamentally improve lives.”
The release said that meticulous donor eye selection, advanced ocular imaging, and specialised logistics in organ procurement and preservation would be critical for success, and collaborators on this team were already the established leaders in these key areas of transplant science.
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