New Orleans, Louisiana – Nicolas Bazan, MD, PhD, Boyd Professor, Ernest C. And Yvette C. Villere Professor at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, and Director of the LSUHSC Neuroscience Center of Excellence, has been awarded $850,000 by the EENT Foundation. The funding will be used to purchase two Mass Spectrometers and related equipment for use in scientific research and development at the NeuroscienceCenter, particularly Dr. Bazan’s work in retinal degeneration.
Dr. Bazan’s research has led to significant advances in our understanding of retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. Among his most recent findings are that a substance discovered in his laboratories, neuroprotectin D1, protects against damage to retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells crucial to vision as well as the identification of an important trigger for its production and novel molecular mechanisms that support vision.
According to the National Eye Institute, an estimated 100,000 people in the U.S. have retinitis pigmentosa, a group of inherited diseases causing retinal degeneration. People with RP experience a gradual decline in vision as photoreceptor cells die. The book, Recent Advances in Retinal Degeneration, edited by Robert E. Anderson, Matthew M. LaVail, and Joe G. Hollyfield and published by Springer, is dedicated to Dr. Bazan. The dedication reads: Nicolas Bazan is a man of great talent and energy who has overcome many obstacles to achieve the tremendous success he now enjoys in retinal research. We are honored to dedicate this proceedings volume to him.
