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Doctors sometimes call glaucoma the “silent thief of sight,” and for good reason. It’s the second leading cause of blindness in the world after cataracts, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, yet it continues to evade detection often until it’s too late. By the time people with glaucoma begin experiencing vision loss, they’ve already reached the latest stage of a disease with no cure.

Gaps in research continue to prevent scientists from most effectively countering glaucoma. A new awarded to ��������Ƶ Assistant Professor Qianbin Wang aims to address these questions, providing $600,000 to investigate the mechanisms of glaucoma and potential ways to detect and treat it early.

“Some people don’t even know they have glaucoma until they begin to experience vision loss,” said Wang, a faculty member of the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science’s Biomedical Engineering Department. “My current research focuses on developing new tools for early glaucoma detection and tries to provide some new treatments.”

The NSF’s CAREER award is its most prestigious distinction, signaling potential future trailblazers in both research and education. Wang’s proposal bridges his background in materials science with engineering and neuroscience to pinpoint how glaucoma causes gradual vision loss.

“The problem is currently we don’t know the mechanisms of glaucoma,” he said. “We don’t know its pathophysiology.”

But more insight into the inner workings of this “silent thief” can clue doctors in to more reliable warning signs and biomarkers of the disease. Knowing the exact ways in which this condition robs sight also can lead to more accurate and effective treatments, replacing current methods that drill holes into the corneal wall to decrease ocular pressure with new possibilities such as gene therapy.

To investigate these mechanisms, Wang needs to establish an accurate animal model to mimic the actual disease. To do this, his lab injects beads into their models’ eyes, blocking the circulation within and introducing pressure. (Researchers seem to have reached a consensus on pressure as a cause of glaucoma.)

After creating an environment in which glaucoma could occur, the researchers will then create noninvasive tools to catch the disease, while using artificial intelligence-assisted algorithms to analyze the data they collect.

So far, Wang and his colleagues have found that as glaucoma progresses, a certain type of neuron becomes overactive. This could be a chink in the disease’s armor: By targeting this specific neuron to restrict its activity, through drugs or gene therapy, Wang believes his team could unlock a new, less invasive method of treating glaucoma.

“Currently, we are at a point where materials science, neural engineering and AI can work together to make a real breakthrough,” he said. “I think my role is just to build some bridges between these fields. Then, we can make better tools, either for the early detection of glaucoma or some kind of treatment.”

Wang began his academic career with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering before earning his doctorate in materials physics and chemistry at Beihang University in 2015. While his doctoral research focused on materials science, the overlap between the disciplines translates to his current work in biomedical engineering.

“I’m always very excited by how engineering can solve real medical problems,” Wang said.

Though he joined ��������Ƶ only around two years ago, Wang is already working to spread his passion for engineering to students and bringing research from his lab to his classrooms, such as by creating a cart controllable by eye movements and other biomedical devices.

As part of his CAREER award, Wang also will establish hands-on workshops to promote eye health for students of all ages, on top of formulating online resources and teaching modules.

“We try to inspire the next generation of engineers,” he said.

As Wang dives into his NSF project, the potential of his research isn’t limited to improving visual health.

“The eyes are the window of the soul,” Wang said, and in this case, “soul” also means our brains.

His team has found in its animal models so far that losing vision can affect sleeping behavior and quality, since our circadian rhythms depend on our ability to sense light and dark.

“This sleeping behavior could maybe inspire the early detection or assessment for evaluating the treatment of glaucoma,” Wang said. “For example, if someone is under treatment but we don’t know if the treatment is good or not, we can use sleeping behavior as one assessment.”

Glaucoma is ultimately a neurodegenerative disease, in a similar vein as Parkinson’s or even Alzheimer’s. Wang hopes the platform he is refining can expand to treat other brain diseases — but his first step is finding a way to catch this evasive disease as early as possible.

“I want to thank the support from our department, college, the University and my outside collaborators. I have been here for less than two years, and I truly appreciate the supportive environment,” Wang said. “I would also like to thank our students for their dedication and hard work.”