Kaustabh Ghosh, PhD, Recognized With Catalyst Award for Innovative AMD Research

Doheny Eye Institute announced that Kaustabh Ghosh, PhD, was recently recognized by non-profits Research to Prevent Blindness (RPD) and the International Retinal Research Foundation (IRRF) with the Catalyst Award for innovative approaches for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).  

As a Principal Investigator at Doheny Eye Institute and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology in the UCLA Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Ghosh is currently working on novel ways to understand or treat AMD. The Catalyst Award brings a grant of $300,000 for Dr. Ghosh to continue his important research.

“Our team is very grateful to have received the prestigious Research to Prevent Blindness and Retinal Research Foundation Catalyst Award as it is a testament to the high impact that unique, multidisciplinary approaches might have in addressing long-standing complex problems like AMD,” Dr. Ghosh said in a Doheny Eye Institute news release. 

Dr. Ghosh’s work integrates the principles and techniques of physical, biological, and medical sciences to understand the problem of vascular loss in the eye in early AMD. His approach is distinct from the traditional emphasis on the role of genetic or biochemical cues in AMD, according to Doheny Eye Institute.

Vascular stiffness is increasingly being recognized as a major contributor to various other debilitating conditions such as cancer, atherosclerosis, and lung edema. Inspired by these findings from non-ocular diseases, Dr. Ghosh is currently investigating whether and how changes in vascular stiffness contribute to the onset/progression of AMD.