Scientist Cindy Windhol, PhD, Receives Knights Templar Eye Foundation Grant for Retina Research

BOSTON (June 26, 2015) – Cindy Windhol, Ph.D., a Postdoctoral Fellow at Massachusetts Eye and Ear’s Howe Laboratory, has recently been awarded a $60,000 grant from the Knights Templar Eye Foundation to further her examination of vascularization in the retina.

Dr. Windol’s research proposal is titled “A novel mechanism of pathological vascularization of the retina.”

The retina is the eye’s paramount source for absorbing light, relaying it to the brain, and translating its wavelengths into images. Occupying nearly 65% of the eye’s interior, the retina holds two different types of cells, or photoreceptors, known as rods and cones. These complex cells allow the eye’s to interpret nuances in changes of light, movement, and color. Because of its fragility as a light-sensitive tissue and positioning in the inner eye, the retina stands as an ambitious area for examination.  

Dr. Windhol’s study seeks to discover new ways of understanding the causes of vascularization in the retina, specifically from its relationship with the choroid, the vascular layer that contains the eye’s blood vessels. This type of research is most commonly aimed toward infants because the blood vessels supply nutrients and oxygen for their developing eyes. 

About the Knights Templar Eye Foundation

Founded in 1956, the Knights Templar Eye Foundation has donated over $140 million on research, patient care, and education. The charitable organization was founded on the mission of providing assistance for individuals requiring surgical treatment in their eyes. This mission has since shifted, and now seeks to provide researchers with the resources necessary to help make advancements in optical research. Each year the foundation invites eligible researchers from Pediatric Ophthalmology to submit grant applications.