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April 9, 2005
Hageman Research Group Receives Research Funding
(Iowa City) -- The University of Iowa recently signed two one-year research agreements with Pfizer Global Research and Development totaling $749,296. The multidisciplinary, international research initiative, directed by Gregory Hageman, Ph.D., professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, represents a unique combination of resources and technologies that will be employed to expedite the identification of new candidate drug targets associated with two important blinding conditions facing the Western world, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Studies will be conducted by the Interdisciplinary Program in Age-related Macular Degeneration, a consortium of research laboratories in the US and Europe dedicated to translational studies in the field of retinal disease. The investigators will exploit novel observations and employ genomic and proteomic technologies to identify and validate glaucoma- and AMD-associated genes, pathways and targets. A primary focus of the program will be to determine the role of inflammation and other immune-mediated processes in AMD, pathways that have been shown to be active in AMD by Hageman and his colleagues.
As part of this program, ParAllele BioScience, Inc. announced last week its joint collaboration agreement with the University of Iowa to accelerate the discovery of genes associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The company’s products and services utilize a multiplexed approach that leverages novel biochemical processes rather than complex instrumentation to discover and analyze minute variations in the human genome. “The agreement is an exciting opportunity for us to combine ParAllele’s strengths in pharmacogenomics and high throughput gene mutation discovery with the acknowledged leadership of Dr. Hageman and his Institute in the field of AMD-associated pathways,” said Nick Naclerio, CEO of ParAllele BioScience, Inc.
Dr. Hageman’s research team has also received a grant in the amount of $360,700 from the International Retina Research Foundation to identify the association between age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cardiovascular disease. The program represents a collaborative effort between established research scientists, vascular surgeons, epidemiologists and ophthalmologists, most of who have collaborated successfully together, in various combinations, over the past decade. “We hope that these studies will lead to the identification of novel therapeutic targets and, ultimately, that the research findings will lead to the development of treatment modalities for both conditions”, Hageman said.
Honorary Professorship
Dr. Hageman has been awarded an Honorary Professorship in the School of Medicine, Queen’s University, Belfast for his “established reputation as a scholar in the profession.” The award is one of three granted this past year. Funds provided by the award will be used for collaborative interactions related to age-related macular degeneration between Dr. Hageman, Professor Rod Hay (Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences), Ms. Giuliana Silvestri (Head of Department of Ophthalmology) and other colleagues at Queen’s University. The Professorship is extendible for up to three years.
