Retina Foundation, SMU Partner to Save Eyesight
Exciting news in the scientific community: the Retina Foundation of the Southwest and SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering are partnering to explore new treatments for age-related macular degeneration. This collaboration is supported by a $2.5 million donation from the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation at Communities Foundation of Texas.
Dr. Karl Csaky, Chief Medical Director and T. Boone Pickens Senior Scientist at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest, and Dr. Marc Christensen, Dean of SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering, are leading the partnership.
This age-related strain of the disease is a deterioration of the retina, and affects about 18 million Americans. Currently, there are few effective treatments available to patients.
“We are grateful for this opportunity to collaborate with Retina Foundation doctors to help develop and prototype treatments tailored to patients’ needs,” said Christensen. “Engineering and medicine can partner in astounding ways, and we are excited to see how our framework for fostering innovation accelerates solutions to medical challenges.”
