Recent News

  • Ralph Hazlewood wins PJ Leinfelder Research Day Award
    Fingert Lab News
    Monday, April 28, 2014 - 14:15

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    Ralph Hazlewood, a graduate student in the Glaucoma Genetics Lab, presented his research into the genetic basis of cavitary optic disc anomaly (CODA) at the University of Iowa’s 2014 Opthalmology Research Day. CODA is a disease of the optic nerve and has some clinical similarities to normal tension glaucoma. His presentation, entitled "Triplication of Upstream Regulatory Sequences Leads to Gene Dysregulation in Patients with Cavitary Optic Disc Anomaly” was awarded the 2014 Leinfelder Award for research excellence.

  • Lab is awarded a research grant from the Glaucoma Foundation.
    Fingert Lab News
    Friday, April 11, 2014 - 09:00

    Grant awarded to investigate the mechanisms by which defects in the TBK1 gene lead to glaucoma. Learn more about the Glaucoma Foundation here.

  • Fingert and the World Ophthalmology Congress in Tokyo
    Fingert Lab News
    Friday, April 11, 2014 - 08:45

    Dr. Fingert presented glaucoma and genetics research in two symposia at the 2014 World Ophthalmology Congress in Tokyo, Japan. He presented recent data about the TBK1 gene, abnormalities in autophagy, and the development of glaucoma. He also presented a review of epigenetics and eye disease (how modification of our chromosomes may lead to increased susceptibility to disease).

  • Lab publishes 6th report on TBK1 and glaucoma.
    Fingert Lab News
    Monday, April 7, 2014 - 11:30

    The Glaucoma Genetics Lab discovers a novel TBK1 gene duplication in normal tension glaucoma patients from New York. Read more about this report here.

  • Lab contributes to new glaucoma genetics study.
    Fingert Lab News
    Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - 14:15

    Research that identified a link between glaucoma genes and vascular tone was recently published in the journal Eye. Read more about this report here.

  • Lab awarded a 1.8 million dollar grant to study the genetic causes of normal tension glaucoma from the NIH.
    Fingert Lab News
    Wednesday, March 12, 2014 - 21:45
  • Dr. Suman Thapa, director of glaucoma services in Kathmandu’s Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology visits the Department of Ophthalmology and the Glaucoma Genetics Lab at the University of Iowa.
    Fingert Lab News
    Tuesday, March 11, 2014 - 12:00
  • Lab joins consortium (NEIGHBORHOOD) to study glaucoma genetics
    Fingert Lab News
    Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - 07:30

    In conjunction with several other researchers, the Glaucoma Genetics Lab has identified an association between the caveolins genes on chromosome 7 and glaucoma. This genetic region is more commonly linked with glaucoma that has central vision loss and affects women. Read more about this report here.

  • Fingert and the American Glaucoma Society
    Fingert Lab News
    Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - 07:30

    Dr. Fingert presented a report about a transgenic mouse model of glaucoma caused by the TBK1 gene at the American Glaucoma Society’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Dr. Fingert has also joined the American Glaucoma Society’s Research Committee to help evaluate grant applications for Young Investigator and Clinician Scientist Mid Career Awards.

  • Lab publishes report on stem cell research of TBK1 glaucoma
    Fingert Lab News
    Thursday, January 30, 2014 - 15:00

    We recently published a report of our stem-cell based studies of glaucoma in the prestigious JOURNAL OF STEM CELL RESEARCH & THERAPY.

    Normal tension glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve that occurs without high pressure in the eye. We previously discovered that a duplication of the TBK1 gene is responsible for some cases of normal tension glaucoma. We believe that the TBK1 gene duplication alters the metabolism of the optic nerve and causes glaucoma.

    In this new publication we report the first example of using adult stem-cell technology to grow optic nerve cells (retinal ganglion cells) from a glaucoma patient’s skin in a culture dish. We have grown optic nerve cells from a skin biopsy taken from one of our patient’s that has normal tension glaucoma caused by a TBK1 gene duplication. This major development has provided us with the means to use laboratory methods to study what goes wrong in the optic nerve cells of patients with TBK1 gene duplications.

    A copy of our article describing this work is available here.

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