Pharmacology Alum Capt. Elaine Por, currently works as a principal investigator and deputy task area manager in the Ocular Trauma Division at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research looking for a novel way to treat eye injuries that can result in blindness.

She was recently featured on the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research’s website for her research with induced pluripotent stem cells.

According to USAISR researchers, a non-invasive treatment could be available to Wounded Warriors with eye injuries within the next two to three years.

“We are currently investigating proliferative vitreoretinopathy or PVR, a potentially blinding disorder that can result following a tear or detachment of the retina,” said Capt. Elaine Por, a principal investigator and deputy task area manager in the Ocular Trauma Division at the USAISR.

Por stated that following a retinal tear or injury approximately 5 to 10 percent of the U.S. population develops PVR; however the occurrence of PVR is significantly higher in Warfighters who sustain an ocular injury on the battlefield. Currently, the standard treatment of care for PVR involves surgery to the retina or posterior segment of the eye.

“I really love this project because we are attempting to find a promising therapeutic to treat a problem that is prevalent among our Wounded Warriors,” said Por. “Our in vitro, or cell-based research, is providing us with some promising data, but we are continuing to test different compounds and techniques to identify a therapeutic(s) for PVR that can be translated to the clinic.”

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Bottom photo and original article by Steven Galvan