ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Two scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute will spend the next five years fighting childhood blindness.
Michael Fox and Konark Mukherjee were awarded a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study a disorder called Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. This is the leading cause of childhood blindness in the U.S., and cases have doubled during the past decade.
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Right now, there is no treatment to prevent or repair the issue. The two Virginia Tech Carillion researchers are now taking an unprecedented look at mice that carry this disorder, and they are already seeing promising results.
The scientists are hopeful that a breakthrough will be possible during the next five years of research.