IUB School of Optometry building

A group of scientists working in Indiana University's School of Optometry and the IU Bloomington Department of Biology will share more than $2.2 million from the National Institutes of Health to support ongoing vision research.

The grant from the National Eye Institute, an arm of NIH, places the Indiana University Bloomington campus among an elite group of vision research centers in the United States. By providing support for core research services to aid investigators who have already received independent funding from NEI, the grant will accelerate the progress of vision research.

Because the grant can ultimately assist individuals with National Eye Institute support across the entire campus, it will be a resource for all vision scientists. Currently, the core grant supports the research efforts of 10 NEI-funded IU researchers, including optometry Professor Stephen Burns, principal investigator on the grant. Burns has been continuously funded by NEI since 1982.

Joining Burns as co-investigators are:
• School of Optometry Professors Joseph Bonanno, Ann Elsner, William Swanson, and Larry Thibos
• School of Optometry Associate Professors Rowan Candy and Donald Miller
• School of Optometry Assistant Professor Pete Kollbaum
• School of Optometry Research Associate Dean VanNasdale
• Department of Biology Associate Professor Justin Kumar

"This award fulfills one of the key strategic goals that the School of Optometry faculty set for its research program 10 years ago. The research funding and publications have increased exponentially in the last few years, and we anticipate this growth to continue," said School of Optometry Interim Dean Sarita Soni, who is also Vice Provost for Research. "This new award will help insure that our vision scientists remain focused and that IU continues to attract and support the very best investigators with the greatest potential to establish vigorous program in vision research."

The grant aims to support infrastructure improvements in three areas where researchers share resources -- electronics, machine shop, and scientific computing -- and will play an integral role in allowing for the seamless integration of mechanical, electronic, and software components in the design and use of custom research equipment and new clinical technologies.

"By funding improvements in electronics, mechanical design and computing assets, the research group will be able to improve and speed up the design and implementation of new and customizable instrumentation, a process that currently demands some of the work to be contracted out, which can be costly, relatively slow, and inflexible during the testing process," says Burns.

The new funding will have broad applications to vision research projects related to microscopic and ocular fluorimetry, cell physiology and molecular biology, advanced measurement and modeling of the optics of the eye, novel imaging of the structures of the normal and pathological living human eye, studies of the normal and abnormal developing human visual system, and the development of new quantitative strategies to assess visual function in a clinical setting.

The award will also allow for a new level of coordinated activity among laboratories and groups and will support sustained interaction with sophisticated supercomputing and 3D visualization resources, including collaboration with University Information Technology Services. The school already has active collaborations under way with the cognitive science, computer science, mathematics, and neuroscience departments at IU.

Indiana University's School of Optometry was one of only two programs in the country accepted this year into the NEI core grant program and now joins 32 other schools nationwide that operate NEI-funded vision research centers. The grant period runs from July 2009 into 2014.