UAMS Receives Nearly $2.2 Million Federal Grant to Study Immune Response to Eye Disease

By Benjamin Waldrum

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) received a five-year, nearly $2.2 million federal grant to study how modulating the body’s immune response may potentially benefit patients with certain eye diseases.

The National Eye Institute (NEI) awarded the grant to a laboratory led by Abdel Fouda, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the UAMS College of Medicine. Fouda specializes in studying retinal ischemic diseases, which are common causes of vision impairment caused by a lack of blood flow to the retina. His lab focuses on developing new therapies for ischemic and trauma-induced retinopathy.

The grant allows Fouda’s lab to study the role of a certain type of immune cells, called myeloid cells, in retinopathy. In a process called efferocytosis, myeloid cells engulf, or eat, and remove dead cells as part of the body’s natural immune response. Although efferocytosis is well-documented for various diseases, its impact on retinopathy is largely unknown. Fouda’s initial data shows that efferocytosis could play a beneficial role in treating retinopathy. The project will explore methods of treatment to enhance myeloid cell-mediated efferocytosis, potentially leading to improved injury recovery and better patient outcomes.

UAMS Receives Nearly $2.2 Million Federal Grant to Study Immune Response to Eye Disease

Fouda (back row, third from right) with members of his lab earlier this summer. The NEI grant is the third "R-type" grant the lab has received in three years.