Proctor Medal lecturer focuses on retinal vascular growth research

DENVER — Patricia D’Amore, PhD, MBA, FARVO, the 2015 Proctor Medal lecturer, discussed the development of retinal vascular growth with a focus on the role of vascular endothelial growth factor in adults at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting.

“Diseases of the retina that have unwanted vessel growth really span the whole gamut [of ocular neovascularization] from prematurity to adulthood, and what we set out to do was understand how this process happens,” she said.

D’Amore discussed laboratory and clinical research in VEGF in adults that has implications for wet age-related macular degeneration, the role of the pericyte in vessel integrity and stability in adults with wet AMD, and the pathologies of the retina that involve blood vessel growth in dry AMD.

Vessel assembly can be a complex process that is regulated by a number of growth factor and cell-to-cell interactions, D’Amore said.

Pathologic processes summarize normal processes, “which is something many years ago we did not have the knowledge of, but in a manner that lacks the appropriate balance,” she added.

Through laboratory and clinical studies, VEGF is shown to be involved in normal development and pathology, but has also played a role in survival in adults for vascular and non-vascular cells.

As a take-home message, D’Amore recommended the continuation of basic and translational research of retinal vascular growth, as “there is still a lot of work to be done,” she said. - by Kristie L. Kahl

Disclosure: D’Amore reports she is a consultant for AGTC and a member of the scientific advisory board of Eleven Biotherapeutics.