Professor Swindle-Reilly receives Disaster Relief Grant from the Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation

Congratulations to Assistant Professor, Katelyn Swindle-Reilly, Biomedical and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering,  for recently receiving a Disaster Relief Grant from the Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation, to further her research on Ocular Drug Delivery. The awards runs from September 15, 2020 to September 14, 2021, in the amount of $20K. 

Abstract: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading causing of blindness in the US for individuals over the age of 65 and the third leading cause of blindness worldwide. The current treatment requires monthly injections of a therapeutic in the eye in order to prevent permanent blindness. Frequent injections are associated with low patient compliance, high costs, and risk of side effects including pain, infection, and elevated intraocular pressure. We have developed improved drug delivery systems to overcome these significant limitations in the current treatment of wet AMD. The overall objective of our research is to develop injectable, biodegradable, drug delivery systems to extend release of therapeutic for at least 6 months, reducing the frequency of injections. Injectable nanoparticles, microparticles, and microcapsules have been prepared and loaded with therapeutic with the potential to control release for several months to over one year. The nanoparticle drug delivery system has anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic properties that could treat both mechanisms driving AMD. This could provide better treatment options for patients suffering from AMD by slowing the release of therapeutic, reducing the frequency of injections from monthly to 1-2 times year. This has the potential to improve patient compliance and outcomes for this common disease. 

LEARN MORE about the Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation.