News

Berkeley Fahrenthold, a graduate student in Dr. Rick Libby's lab, successfully defended her PhD thesis titled,"Assessment of the involvement of intrinsic and extrinsic cell death pathways in retinal ganglion cell death after excitotoxic injury".

Congratulations Dr. Fahrenthold!!!

Dr. Libby (center) receives the 2017 Shaffer Prize from GRF

For his research project "Understanding Axonal Degeneration Pathways in Glaucoma," Richard T. Libby, PhD from the University of Rochester Medical School in Rochester, New York was awarded the 2017 Shaffer Prize for Innovative Glaucoma Research.

The Shaffer Prize was presented during ceremonies at the Glaucoma 360 Annual Gala on February 2nd at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. The Shaffer Prize is awarded annually by Glaucoma Research Foundation to recognize a researcher whose project best exemplifies the pursuit of innovative ideas in the quest to cure glaucoma.

Thomas M. Brunner, President and CEO of the Glaucoma Research Foundation, presented the Shaffer Prize to Dr. Libby. Mr. Brunner explained the significance of the research results to Gala guests: "A 2015 Shaffer Grant allowed Dr. Libby's lab to explore a novel new idea in the field of neurodegeneration, defining the molecular cascade that controls axon degeneration, which is a key early event in glaucoma," he said.

Dr. Libby is an Associate Professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center, School of Medicine and Dentistry. He has previously received awards and honors including the Research to Prevent Blindness Career Development Award. Funding for Dr. Libby's 2015 research project "Understanding Axonal Degeneration Pathways in Glaucoma" was provided by a grant from The Alcon Foundation.