Current Ocular Tissue Research Needs
Corneas
A number of diseases affect the cornea and temporarily or permanently disrupt vision including corneal infections and injuries, ocular herpes, and diabetes.. Researchers need donated corneas to investigate causes and better treatments for these corneal disorders, as well as ways to enhance corneal healing and eliminate the corneal scarring that can threaten sight. Researchers currently need donated corneas to:
- Test ways to use growth factors and other compounds to repair injured cells in the cornea and prevent the need for a corneal transplant to restore vision.
- Explore whether greater activity of an enzyme that destroys collagen fosters the progressive thinning of the cornea that is the hallmark of the corneal disorder keratoconus, a disorder that disrupts the vision of both the young and old.
- Investigate the molecular causes for the corneal eye pain, vision-disrupting swelling and other corneal abnormalities that frequently afflict people with diabetes.
Corneas from donors with various corneal disorders are particularly valuable to researchers. Scientists also need normal corneas to use as controls in studies aimed at uncovering the mechanical, biochemical, or genetic differences between diseased and normal corneas. Most cornea transplant donors that are rejected due to various diseases can still support important eye research.
NDRI will place corneas from donors of any age. Corneas should be recovered within 6 hours and delivered fresh within 24 hours post mortem. NDRI usually cannot place corneas removed from a donor with an infectious disease, such as hepatitis.