Ralph Hazlewood, completed his PHD working on the genetics of optic nerve disease in The Glaucoma Genetics Lab at the University of Iowa. He is pictured with his graduate school advisor, John Fingert, at graduation ceremonies on May 22. Dr. Hazlewood will continue his training as a post-doctoral fellow in Doctor Rachel Kuchtey’s laboratory at Vanderbilt University.

Drs. Alward and Fingert delivered Raine lectures at the University of Western Australia in Perth as well as at the state conference of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists, which was held in Kalgoorlie September 5th through 7th.

Dr. John Fingert has been awarded the Research to Prevent Blindness Physician Scientist Award. This Research to Prevent Blindness award will be used to investigate the causes of glaucoma that occur in people with low intraocular pressure (normal tension glaucoma). The Fingert lab recently discovered that extra copies of the TBK1 gene (gene duplications or triplications) are one of the most common known causes of normal tension glaucoma. The RPB Physician Scientist Award will be used to support studies investigating how TBK1 gene duplications lead to glaucoma and vision loss.