Symposium shines light on macular degeneration

May 8, 2009

Faculty, staff and students joined the governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) on April 29 for an educational program titled “Spotlight on Macular Degeneration.” Led by a panel of Keck School of Medicine experts, the program was part of a day-long meeting of CIRM’s Independent Citizens Oversight Committee hosted by the Keck School.

“Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the industrial world,” said Carmen A. Puliafito, dean of the Keck School of Medicine, who hosted the program and opened with an introduction about the eye condition. “In California, there are about three million patients who have some degree of macular degeneration.”

According to Puliafito, with the average age of the population in the United States increasing, macular degeneration is a growing public health challenge. “As the general health of individuals improves and their activity levels remain high in advanced age, the inability to read, to drive a car, to recognize faces, which are the three things that macular degeneration steals from patients, is increasingly important,” said Puliafito.

Sharon Hayes, a macular degeneration patient cared for by Puliafito, spoke of her appreciation for treatment aimed at preserving her remaining eyesight. “Dr. Puliafito and so many others are doing everything in their power to find a cure,” said Hayes. “I am so fortunate to be under Dr. Puliafito’s care at a time when medical research is at the brink of being able to restore sight.”

Looking to the future, Puliafito said, “Much is left to be done, particularly in patients with the dry form of macular degeneration. For those patients, stem cell biology and the translation of stem cell biology into the clinic offer perhaps the most direct path to a cure.”

Martin Pera, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC, and David Hinton, professor of pathology at the Keck School of Medicine, discussed advances in stem cell research related to macular degeneration.

Mark Humayun, professor of ophthalmology, cell and neurobiology, and biomedical engineering, concluded with a presentation on the clinical applications of stem cell research in macular degeneration. He discussed the new minimally invasive approach to treating this condition, which is a faster and safer procedure when compared to other surgical options.