The Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF) has awarded Dr. András Komáromy a 2013 Shaffer grant for his research project titled “Gene Therapy in a Spontaneous Canine Model of Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma.” Co-investigators are Drs. Simon Petersen-Jones (Myers-Dunlap Endowed Chair in Canine Health) and William Hauswirth (University of Florida). GRF grants from the Shaffer Fund for Innovative Glaucoma Research fund investigations of promising or novel ideas. Grant recipients are selected each year by the GRF Scientific Advisory Committee.

Glaucoma is a leading cause of incurable vision loss in humans and animals, including dogs. The eyes of dogs are anatomically similar to human eyes, and genotype and phenotype correlate closely, making them model subjects for innovations that have bearing in human medicine. The Komáromy Lab uses canine models in order to facilitate the transition of new findings from the laboratory bench towards clinical trials in human patients.

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common form of the disease in humans, and it also affects certain canine breeds such as the Beagle. Rise in inner eye pressure or intraocular pressure is a major risk factor for POAG and occurs because the drainage of fluid from within the eye is impaired. Komáromy and his team have developed a valuable model to further investigate the disease mechanisms in POAG, and the study funded by the Glaucoma Research Foundation will evaluate the use of gene therapy to prevent or reverse the clogging of the drainage canals and maintain normal intraocular pressure in individuals with POAG.

Dr. Komáromy joined the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine as associate professor in January, 2012. His laboratory studies the cellular and molecular disease mechanisms of inherited retinal and optic nerve diseases, among the leading causes of incurable vision loss in humans and dogs. His team is developing treatment strategies—including gene therapy—to restore visual function.

Komáromy comes to MSU from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, where he and colleagues, including researchers from Temple University, University of Florida, and Cornell University, developed a gene therapy to treat achromatopsia—a model cone disease—in dogs. The treatment restored cone function and is now the foundation for new studies of retinal disease in humans. His groundbreaking research is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Foundation Fighting Blindness.

Komáromy earned his veterinary degree from the University of Zurich in Switzerland, was an intern in small animal medicine and surgery at MSU, and received his PhD and veterinary ophthalmology training at the University of Florida. He is a Diplomate of the American and the European Colleges of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.