Roman Giger, Ph.D., Dr. Richard Mark Newman Research Professor and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the U-M Medical School, has received the prestigious Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) Stein Innovation Award for his groundbreaking research to restore vision lost from injury or disease by repairing the optic nerve. “The goal of our project is to help this connection between the retina and the brain grow back,” says Dr. Giger. “In mammals, including humans, this part of the nerve does not heal on its own, so injuries or diseases often result in blindness. Right now, there is no cure or treatment, so this research is urgently needed.” Dr. Giger and his team are trying to use the body’s own immune system to help regrow the long nerve fibers, called axons, that carry visual information from the eye to the brain. However, he notes that while the immune response can help healing, it can also cause problems. Specifically, it can make blood vessels in the retina become leaky, which injures the tissue and makes it harder for the nerve fibers to grow back. To solve this, the team is now working to see if they can block or control this leakiness in the blood-retinal barrier, a natural filter that protects the retina, to allow better nerve regeneration. Dr. Giger is working closely with David Antonetti, Ph.D., the Roger W. Kittendorf Research Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences; Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences; and Professor of Molecular & Integrative Physiology. By combining their knowledge of the immune system and the retinal blood barrier, they hope to solve this challenging problem. “I’m very excited about our progress. It’s a big step forward. But repairing these nerve connections is only one part of restoring full vision, and there are still many challenges ahead,” says Dr. Giger.