Economic Burden of Vision Loss and Making Chemistry More Accessible To Those Who Are Blind and Visually Impaired

Dr. David Rein (National Opinion Research Center - Chicago, IL)

Dr. Bryan Shaw (Baylor University - Waco, TX)

Dr. David Rein, director of the Public Health Analytics Program, at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) in Chicago, goes over a study showing the economic burden of vision loss in the United States broken down by age, sex, and state in total loss and per person with vision loss and the sources of the economic burden.

Dr. Bryan Shaw, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Baylor University, discusses a program that makes chemistry more accessible to those with blindness and low vision with the use of tactile graphics, esters, and a robot.

11/6/2022 Podcast (Click Image Below) 

Outlook For Guide Dog Use and Enzyme For Possible Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy

Dr. Arielle Silverman (American Foundation for the Blind)

Drs. Ruth and William Caldwell (Medical College of Georgia - Augusta, GA)

Dr. Arielle Silverman, American Foundation for the Blind director of research, goes over a study showing the outlook for guide dog use in a world with wayfinding apps and ridesharing services.

Dr. Ruth Caldwell, professor of cellular biology and anatomy, and Dr. William Caldwell, professor and chair emeritus in pharmacology and toxicology at Medical College of Georgia in Augusta explain how an enzyme, arginase 1 (A1), could possibly be used to treat diabetic retinopathy.

10/30/2022 Podcast (Click Image Below) 

Using Gene Therapy To Treat A Type Of Leber Congenital Amaurosis On October 9 Show

Dr. Anand Swaroop (National Eye Institute - Bethesda, MD)

Dr.  Anand Swaroop, Senior Investigator and Chief of the Neurobiology Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory at the National Eye Institute, in Bethesda, Maryland, explains how a gene therapy has been developed that rescues cilia defects in retinal cells affected by a type of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA).

10/9/2022 Podcast (Click Image Below)

Using Patient's Own Reprogrammed Stem Cells To Treat Dry AMD and How Blind and Visually Impaired Deal With Social Interactions

Dr. Kapil Bharti (National Eye Institute - Bethesda, MD)

Melissa Taussig (Adjustment Counselor for Blindness Community)

Dr. Kapil Bharti, Senior Investigator of the Ocular and Stem Cell Translational Research Section of the National Eye Institute, discusses how a patient's own reprogrammed stem cells can be implanted back into the individual's own eyes to treat the dry form of age-related macular degeneration.

Dr. Lynsey Romo, an associate professor of communication at North Carolina State University, in Raleigh, and Melissa Taussig, an adjustment counselor for the blindness community, explain how those who are blind and visually impaired deal with social interactions.

10/2/2022 Podcast (Click Image Below) 

Children's Eye Health and 4to24 App for Blind Youth On September 4 Show

Dr. Michael Maldonado (Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center - El Paso, TX)

Dr. Karla Antonelli (NRTC at Mississippi State University - Starkville, MS)

Dr. Michael Maldonado, Therapeutic Optometrist and Clinical Director of the Ocular Sciences Division, at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, in El Paso, goes over ways to keep children's eyes healthy.

Dr. Karla Antonelli, Research Scientist I, at the National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision (NRTC) at Mississippi State University, explains the 4to24 mobile app, which helps youth who are blind and have low vision and their parents prepare for employment and independent living.

9/4/2022 Podcast (Click Image Below) 

Alt Text From Webb Telescope and Metformin Clinical Trial For Stargardt Disease On August 21 Show

Tim Rhue (Space Telescope Institute - Baltimore, MD)

Dr. Brian Brooks (National Eye Institute - Bethesda, MD)

Tim Rhue, principal informal education specialist, and Margaret Carruthers, writing and design deputy, of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, explain the process by which the alt text descriptions explaining the images from the James Webb Space Telescope were written.

Then, Dr. Brian Brooks, branch chief of Ophthalmic Genetics and Visual Function branch of the National Eye Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, goes over a clinical trial, involving a drug, metformin, which potentially could slow the progression of photoreceptor death in Stargardt Disease.

August 21 Podcast (Click Image Below) 

Loss Of "Youth" Protein Drives Aging of Eyes In Mice And OcuMet Beacon Used To Detect Fluorescence To Diagnose Glaucoma Early On August 7 Show

Dr. Patricia Becerra (National Eye Institute - Bethesda, MD)

Dr. Richard Rosen (Mount Sinai Health System - New York, NY)

Dr.  Patricia Becerra, chief of the National Eye Institute Section on Protein Structure and Function, discusses how loss of the "youth" protein, pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), drives aging of the eye in mice.

Then, Dr. Richard Rosen, Pierce Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Retinal Service Chief of the Mount Sinai Health System in New York, explains how the OcuMet Beacon camera with special filters that specifically isolate fluorescence detect flavoprotein fluorescence (FPF), which is an indicator of mitochondrial oxidative stress and early sign of glaucoma.

8/7/2022 Podcast (Click Image Below)