Four win PBA's 2006 Investigator Awards

Prevent Blindness America (PBA) announced four recipients of the 2006 Investigator Awards. The winners will receive grants for research projects dedicated to eye health.

Winners include:

• Kelly M. Muir, MD, of Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, for "Randomized trial of literacy level appropriate education in improving patient adherence to glaucoma therapy." The study's goal is to determine if employing an educational program catered to the patient's level of literacy will improve the treatment of patients with glaucoma.

• Charlotte E. Joslin, OD, of the University of Illinois-Chicago, for "Chicago-area Acanthamoeba keratitis." In response to a recent increase in cases in the Chicago area, the study seeks to determine the source of the organisms through patient study and water analysis.

• Marilyn E. Schneck, PhD, of the University of California-Berkeley, for "Objective assessment of retinal function in adolescents with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes." The study aims to characterize changes in the vision of adolescents with diabetes in an effort to prevent sight loss in these young patients.

• Linda K. McCloon, PhD, of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, for "Intranasal application of neuroprotective agents in rats with anterior ischemic optic neuropathy." The results of the study could produce a simple and cost-effective treatment for anterior ischemic optic neuropathy as well as glaucoma and other vision-debilitating injuries to the optic nerve and retina.