|
Health | Funding | News | Research at NEI | Education | Jobs | About NEI | Resources |
Dr. Paul Sieving, Director
National Eye Institute
March 6, 2007
On this page:
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
I am pleased to present the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 President's budget request for the National Eye Institute (NEI). The FY 2008 budget includes $667,820,000 in the President's request.
As the Director of the NEI, it is my privilege to report on the many research opportunities that exist to reduce the burden of eye disease.
On the genetic side of the equation, NEI supported laboratories have identified common variations in two genes that are associated with AMD and may account for 75 percent of the risk of developing AMD. The genes-complement factor H (CFH) and complement factor B (BF)-contain instructions to encode proteins that help regulate the body's immune defense against microbial infections. This defense, called the complement system, provokes inflammation, a common response to foreign pathogens. It is thought that certain variations in these genes result in sub-optimal control of the complement system and cause chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation damages tissues of the retina and provide initial damage that could lead to AMD.
Inflammation is thought to play a role in many other common diseases beyond the eye, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, kidney disease, stroke, and atherosclerosis. Although the cells, tissues, and molecular events in these diseases are diverse, they may share some common disease mechanisms that present an opportunity to cross pollinate findings from diverse research areas.
The genetic discovery of the possible role of inflammation and the immune system in AMD is a watershed moment. We have now uncovered a possible central disease mechanism that may lead to a better understanding of this major disease and the development of therapies that prevent vision loss. We now hold the possibility to learn their risk vulnerability well before the disease is clinically detectable, and to intervene effectively at early stages.
Based on published data, an estimated 8 million older-age Americans are at high risk to develop advanced AMD and vision loss. Of these 8 million, 1.3 million would develop advanced AMD within 5 years. However, now with the successful AREDS treatment, 300,000 of these individuals could be rescued from severe vision loss associated with advanced AMD over a 5-year period. This simple and inexpensive dietary intervention offers to the American public a valuable intervention to prevent severe vision loss and to reduce the need for more aggressive and expensive therapies.
On the heels of this success, the NEI launched AREDS2. One of the primary objectives of AREDS2 is to determine whether oral supplementation with lutein and zeaxanthin and/or omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids will further decrease the progression to advanced AMD or formation of cataract. Previous NIH-funded studies have found high concentrations of these nutrients in the macula of the eye. Moreover, several studies have found an inverse relationship between dietary intake of these compounds and AMD. AREDS2 could result in a more effective but still inexpensive treatment regimen to prevent severe vision loss.
The NEI has begun a program called EYE GENE to address this issue. EYE GENE will provide research diagnostic gene testing for patients. Many eye diseases are considered rare and genetic testing services are not commercially available. The diagnostic information from EYE GENE will directly benefit such patients.
EYE GENE will significantly aid the research community by creating a centralized patient registry that can be used to locate patients who may wish to participate in clinical trials for new therapies. EYE GENE will also include centralized secure blood collection and processing protocols and a shared database, which will allow for the creation of the larger datasets necessary to identify novel genetic risk factors and answer other epidemiologic questions. Programs like EYE GENE will drive genomic research and become the necessary fabric for individuals to benefit from genomic medicine.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
PAUL A. SIEVING, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, National Eye Institute, NIH, 2001-Present
National Institutes of Health
Education:
B.A., Valparaiso University (Physics with honors), 1970
M.S., Yale University Graduate School (Physics), 1973
Yale Law School, 1973-1974, leave of absence
M.D., University of Illinois Medical School, 1978
Ph.D., University of Illinois (Biomedical Engineering), 1981
Licensure:
National Board of Medical Examiners, 1978
American Board of Ophthalmology, 1983
Medical License: IL, 1978; CA, 1982; MA, 1984; MI, 1985
Professional Experience:
Medical Internship and Ophthalmology residency, University of Illinois Hospital, 1978-1982. Postdoctoral Fellowship in Retinal Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, 1982-1984. Medical Fellowship in Inherited Retinal Degenerations, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, 1984-1985. Faculty, Medical School and Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan, 1985- 2001.
Academic Appointments:
At the University of Michigan: Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, 1985-1989. Faculty, Rackham Graduate School Programs in Neuroscience, 1985-2001; Bioengineering, 1985-2001. Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, 1989-1994. Founding Director, Center for Retinal and Macular Degenerations, 1990-2001. Founding Director, Ocular Molecular Diagnostics CLIA Laboratory, University of Michigan, 1999-2001. Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, 1994-2001. The Paul R. Lichter Professor of Ophthalmic Genetics, 1990-2001.
Professional Organizations:
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision. American Academy of Ophthalmology. American Ophthalmological Society. Society for Neuroscience. American Society of Human Genetics. Champalimaud Foundation Award Committee, Portugal. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, elected 2006.
Honors and Awards:
James Scholar Award and Leon F. Moldavsky Physiology Award, University of Illinois Medical School. Fight-for-Sight Research Award. Career Development Award, National Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation. Olga Keith Wiess Scholar, Research To Prevent Blindness. Distinguished Alumnus Award, Valparaiso University. American Ophthalmological Society. The Foundation Fighting Blindness, Scientific Advisory Board. Senior Scientific Investigator Award, Research to Prevent Blindness. Alcon Award. Doctor of Science (honorary), Valparaiso University, 2003. The Best Doctors in America. Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis, elected 2004. Pisart Vision Award, 2005.
This page was last modified in March 2007