Foundation benefactors help fund their research
Contributions to Barrow Neurological Foundation make possible many research projects that otherwise might never get off the ground. The importance of such seed funding was dramatically illustrated by the August 2007 cover of
Scientific American
, the world's most circlulated lay science magazine.
A vision discovery made by Barrow researchers Susana Martinez-Conde, PhD, and Stephen Macknik, PhD, was featured on the magazine's cover. The duo's groundbreaking research was conducted at Barrow Neurological Institute and received funding from Barrow Neurological Foundation.
The scientists' article, "Windows on the Mind," capped 10 years of research that the two conducted on microsaccades and described a discovery that settled a 50-year debate over the importance of the involuntary eye movements.
"This project probably wouldn't have happened without Barrow Neurological Foundation support," says Dr. Macknik. "The support we have received here has been better than what we would have received at Harvard [where the two conducted post-doctorate research from 1997-2001]. Science funding has gone way down, so it's very difficult to get government grants. The Foundation has been very supportive, making sure we can go at full speed."
Eye researchers have long sought to determine the purpose of microsaccades, but until Drs. Martinez-Conde and Macknik's discovery, no one had been able to prove whether the tiny movements are vital to vision or are simply useless tics.
It was not until 2004—after the reseearchers had relocated to Barrow—that they experienced a breakthrough in their research into microsaccades. That's when Dr. Martinez-Conde came up with the primary experiment design that would settle the question. The scientists then developed analysis methods and recruited colleagues and friends to participate in the research.
The results were clear and replicable—microsaccades enable vision to continue when the gaze is fixed and probably are at the root of several types of ophthalmic disease.
Drs. Martinez-Conde and Macknik published their first article about the findings in a professional journal, Neuron. Soon afterward, Scientific American requested a proposal for an article on the topic.
Their discovery has certainly increased their visibility in the scientific world, says Dr. Macknik, especially that of Dr. Martinez-Conde. "It thrusts Susana from being a well-known researcher in the field to being a leader of the field."
The discovery is just the beginning, says Dr. Martinez-Conde. "The next step is making it applicable to the clinic. What happens in diseases when eye movements are impaired? How is vision affected? What can we do to ameliorate symptoms?"
Thanks to Barrow Neurological Foundation benefactors, these researchers have been able to make a significant contribution to the science of vision—and to the promise of improved treatments for eye diseases.
