Yao Liu, MD, Secures 2018 American Glaucoma Society Mentoring for Advancement of Physician Scientists Award

Yao Liu, MD, assistant professor with the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, was recently awarded a 2018 American Glaucoma Society Mentoring for Advancement of Physician-Scientists Award grant.

The $10,000 grant supports Dr. Liu’s study, “Macular Pigment and Glaucoma Incidence in the Carotenoids in Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2.” This glaucoma ancillary study will provide the first longitudinal evidence as to whether low macular pigment levels are associated with an increased incidence of glaucoma.

In discussing the study, Dr. Liu noted, “If macular pigment levels in the eye predict the risk of glaucoma in older women, followed for over 10 years in the Carotenoids in Eye Disease Study (CAREDS), a subgroup of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), then low-cost lutein and zeaxanthin nutritional supplements to increase macular pigment may represent a new treatment to prevent vision loss from glaucoma.”

 

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