NYAM Awards $50,000 Lewis Rudin Glaucoma Prize to Internationally Known Ocular Physiologist

NEW YORK CITY- July 22, The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) has awarded the 2009 Lewis Rudin Glaucoma Prize to Oscar A. Candia, MD for his article describing a new animal model for the study of the effect of corticosteroids on intraocular pressure (IOP). Such a model reproduces the effects of corticosteroids on the IOP of a large percentage of the human population and has similarities with the open-angle glaucoma found in man. Dr. Candia is professor and vice chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is an internationally known researcher who has published extensively on the physiology of the anterior segment of the eye. His research includes studies on the ionic transport properties of the ciliary body, the eye tissue responsible for the secretion of the fluid that bathes the anterior part of the eye. He used the ionic transport properties of this two-cell-layered epithelium to develop the ovine model of corticosteroid-induced ocular hypertension.

The $50,000 Rudin Glaucoma Prize recognizes the most significant scholarly article on glaucoma published in a peer-reviewed journal in the prior calendar year. Recipients are nominated by their peers, and a winner is chosen by The New York Academy of Medicine’s Lewis Rudin Prize Selection Committee and approved by the NYAM Board of Trustees. David H. Abramson, MD, Chair of the Lewis Rudin Selection committee has emphasized that the Prize was established by Lewis and Jack Rudin, New York builders and philanthropists who recognized the importance of rewarding superior research in glaucoma. Since its inception, the committee has recognized the outstanding contributions of physicians and scientists working on the challenges of glaucoma and has become a highly respected and acknowledged award.

This year’s award winning article, "Steroid-Induced Ocular Hypertension in Normal Sheep," appeared online in September 2008 and as a printed version in the February 2009 issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. The main findings of this report were that eyes of normal sheep exhibit a robust steroid-induced ocular hypertensive response that occurs in a few days of topically applied corticosteroid in all treated sheep, and results in a doubling of IOP within 2 weeks. The rapid response, with 100% occurrence indicated that the ovine model was a reproducible and useful animal model for ocular hypertension. Subsequent work in progress (manuscript in preparation) examines an exciting approach for the treatment of glaucoma by gene therapy. Co-authors in the study were Drs. Rosana Gerometta, Steven Podos and John Danias.

“The article lays the foundation for new approaches to glaucoma therapy and is a fundamental advance in glaucoma research,” said Douglas A. Jabs, M.D., M.B.A., Professor and Chairman on the Department of Ophthalmology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. In more recent work, Dr. Candia in collaboration with Dr. Rosana Gerometta of theUniversidad Nacional del Nordeste, Argentina, continues developing applications of this corticosteroid-induced ocular hypertension model in cows and sheep.

The Lewis Rudin Glaucoma Prize of NYAM was established in 1995 in honor of Lewis Rudin, the late New York City real estate developer and founder of the Association for a Better New York. The prize is funded by the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc., with additional support from Jack Rudin, Chairman of the Rudin Management Company. The Rudin Family has a long tradition of service and philanthropy in New York City.

Posted on August 18, 2009

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