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$4.9 million grant awarded to support research in retinitis pigmentosa
The California Institute of Regenerative Medicine awarded Cedars-Sinai scientist Shaomei Wang, MD, PhD, a grant for $4.9 million to support research in use of neural progenitor cell therapy for retinitis pigmentosa.
“Funding from [California Institute of Regenerative Medicine] will spur the late stages of preclinical projects necessary to bring our treatments to patients,” Wang said in a news release from Cedars-Sinai, where she is member of the Eye Program of the Regenerative Medicine Institute and leader of the Wang Laboratory.
In the preclinical studies, human neural progenitor cells are injected into the eye, move along the retina and remain adjacent to photoreceptors, where they slow progression of retinal degeneration and preserve vision in animal models, according to the release.
The grant is one of 14 grants totaling more than $43 million that Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute has received from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine.