SALT LAKE CITY – A researcher at the 约翰一. 莫兰眼科中心 has been selected as one of 10 winners by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health.
付英斌，博士, a Moran researcher and assistant professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the University of Utah, is one of 10 winners of the Audacious Goals Challenge, a nationwide competition for compelling ideas to advance vision and science.
Dr. 傅的“大胆”目标—— 体内精确的基因编辑 – aims to permanently correct disease-associated mutations in a patient through the use of molecules specially designed to target mutated DNA sequences that can be delivered safely and efficiently into the eye, which would lead to an enormous step in the prevention and cure of human ocular diseases.
“如果这个目标实现了, the impact would be enormous in the prevention and cure of human diseases," Dr. 傅说. "As we enter the era of personalized medicine, it has become more and more practical to sequence a person's genome at low cost, which makes it possible for us to catch disease-causing mutations early and before the onset of disease."
Dr. Fu's vision is to correct these "bad guys" using highly efficient and safe molecular scissors to prevent disease 发展. Of course, it can also be used to treat disease in the early and intermediate stages. 超越眼疾, this strategy could also be applied to the genetic component of virtually any human disease, whether inherited or resulting from cellular responses to environmental stresses.
The NEI Challenge to Identify Audacious Goals in Vision 研究 and Blindness Rehabilitation is part of a 政府-wide effort to bring the best ideas and top talent to bear on our nation's most pressing challenges. Entries were reviewed by experts on the basis of relevance to the NEI mission and whether the idea is bold, 大胆的, 非传统的, or exceptionally innovative; broad in scope; and potentially attainable in about 10 years.
"It is an incredible honor for the 莫兰眼科中心 for Dr. Fu to receive this prestigious and well-deserved award,”医生说。. 兰德尔·J. 约翰一 . Olson，董事长兼首席执行官. 莫兰眼科中心. "Dr. Fu's work gives hope to the idea that diseased optic pathways can be restored to function as intended. This work is truly ‘audacious' in the best sense of the word and revolutionizes this area of science."
The challenge sought ideas that support the NEI mission to conduct and support research and other programs aimed at reducing the burden of vision disorders and disease worldwide. Prize competition entries were solicited not only from experts in vision research but from anyone in the private, 政府, 非营利部门, 包括科学家, 工程师, 卫生保健大发娱乐提供者, 发明家, 和企业家, 以及普通大众.
"We didn't know what to expect when we issued this challenge," said Richard S. 费舍尔,Ph值.D., director of NEI's Office of Program Planning and Analysis, which is spearheading the initiative. “出人意料的是, nearly half of the submissions we received came from people who had never been funded by NIH, which demonstrated that we captured the attention of a wide audience throughout the U.S. We invited anyone with an interest in vision research to submit an idea that began with the phrase, ‘It would be fantastic if…' and in fact, we received many truly audacious ideas."
三个月内, 476 entries were submitted from people across the United States, 包括波多黎各. Topics ranged from regenerative medicine and stem cells to neuroscience, 遗传学, 药物开发, and artificial vision and prosthetics.
除了博士. Fu, winners include doctors and researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara; Oregon Health and Science University; University of Alabama: the Washington University School of Medicine and The Retina Institute in St. 路易, Missouri; Vanderbilt University; University of Michigan; Capital Region Retina, 事务所, 在奥尔巴尼, New York; University of Washington; and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. 傅将在会议上提出他的观点 NEI Audacious Goals Development Meeting, which will include about 200 vision researchers, 病人的倡导者, ophthalmologists and optometrists from the U.S. 和国外. His ideas will be discussed intensively among other winners' for further expansion, 发展, 和细化. 会议结束后, NEI staff and members of the National Advisory Eye Council will finalize and publish a set of the most compelling audacious goals for the institute and the broader vision research community to pursue over the next decade.
"The selection of the winning entries marks the true starting point for NEI's Audacious Goals initiative,”医生说。. 费雪. "We are now at the point where some of the world's most prominent vision experts can discuss these ideas in-depth, 制定一系列大胆的目标, and weigh in on how we can realize those goals."
For more information about the challenge, visit the Audacious Goals网站.