Glaucoma is a blinding disease characterized, in many cases, by pressure-induced trauma to the optic nerve posterior to the globe. Past research in my lab has focused on the structure-function relations that characterize neuronal degeneration within the central visual pathway following damage to the optic nerve. These studies combined conventional histological methods with intracellular recording and labeling, confocal microscopy, and video-enhanced image analysis. Our more recent work has focused on the development of treatment strategies aimed at mitigating or preventing optic nerve-related retinal degeneration and loss of visual function via the delivery of neuroprotectants to the diseased visual system. These studies employ an in vivo partial nerve crush model, osmotic mini-pump drug delivery, standard histological techniques, non-invasive electrophysiological analyses, Western blot, laser micro-dissection, and real time RT-PCR methods, to better understand the mechanisms of trauma-induced cellular degeneration and neuroprotection. Additional studies are aimed at the development of non-invasive approaches for enhancing endogenous neuroprotective mechanisms within the central visual pathway
