NEI Audacious Goals Initiative…restoring vision through regeneration of the retina
The Audacious Goals Initiative (AGI) for Regenerative Medicine is an effort by the National Eye Institute to push the boundaries of vision science. By facilitating cross-disciplinary research, the AGI is tackling the most devastating and difficult-to-treat eye diseases.
News
AGI symposium: “Functional imaging technologies for regenerative medicine.” ARVO Annual Meeting, Vancouver. Sunday, April 28, 2019.
AGI Projects
New awards funded October 2018: Five research teams will develop new models for eye disease research.
AGI Events and Reports
Michael A. Dyer presented “Cellular Pliancy in Retinal Development and Disease,” as part of the NEI Audacious Goals Seminar in Neuroregeneration on the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. Videocast archive available.
About the Initiative
The NEI AGI is catalyzing research that will enable the restoration of vision through regeneration of the retina. The central goal is to replace cells of the retina that have been damaged by disease or injury and to restore their connections to the visual centers of the brain. Through strategic research funding, the NEI is enlisting dynamic scientists and teams who are developing the necessary knowledge and technology to make the goal a reality. Read more about the AGI.
About the Goal
The NEI audacious goal is to regenerate neurons and neural connections in the eye and visual system. The NEI AGI is targeting the photoreceptors and retinal ganglion cells. Photoreceptors—often called rods and cones—are cells in the retina that when stimulated by light generate signals the brain perceives as images. The retinal ganglion cells carry the signals from the photoreceptors to the brain. Read more about the audacious goal.
Funding Opportunities
Preliminary Studies for Translation-Enabling Models of the Visual System invites applications for short-term, proof-of-principle research projects that will provide preliminary data for a future funding opportunity aimed at the development of new models that emulate human visual system anatomy, physiology and disease processes. Applications due March 8.