ARPA-H launches program to restore vision through whole eye transplantation
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Key takeaways:
- Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health has launched a program to restore vision through whole eye transplantation.
- Calvin Roberts, MD, is serving as Transplantation of Human Eye Allografts program manager.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health has launched the Transplantation of Human Eye Allografts program, which aims to transplant whole human eyes to restore vision, according to a press release.
The goal of the Transplantation of Human Eye Allografts (THEA) program is to restore vision in patients who are blind or visually impaired by reconnecting the nerves, muscles and blood vessels of whole donor eyes to the brain.
The program will “leverage emerging microsurgical techniques, coupled with genetic and cell-based therapies, to preserve or regrow nerves from the eye to the brain,” Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) said in the release. “These regenerative solutions could help prevent degenerative blindness and are a critical step towards successful whole eye transplantation to restore vision.”
THEA will request proposals for the program in three areas: retrieval of donor eyes and maintenance until transplantation; optic nerve repair and regeneration; and surgical procedures, postoperative care and functional assessment, the release said. ARPA-H will collaborate with academia and industry to accelerate these discoveries with tools not yet applied to ocular surgery.
“For centuries doctors have theorized eye transplantation to repair vision without success. However, very recent discoveries in vision science and neuroscience may now help solve the hurdles of reattaching the donor eye’s optic nerve to the recipient,” Calvin Roberts, MD, ARPA-H THEA program manager, said in the release. “With THEA, we aim to revolutionize the reconnection of nerves to the brain and make these advancements accessible in the United States and around the globe, with the ambition to offer an alternative to lifelong blindness.”
Editor's note: Calvin Roberts, MD, will be presenting on this new, tremendous undertaking at Hawaiian Eye/Retina 2024 on Saturday, January 13, at 10:30 am.
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