Friday, March 13, 2026 3/13/2026

Role of retinoic acid signaling in fovea development

Award Number: R01EY033385
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 01/01/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2026

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Role of retinoic acid signaling in fovea development - PROJECT SUMMARY: The fovea is a highly specialized retinal structure located within the macula responsible for high- acuity vision, which in humans enables critical tasks such as reading and recognizing faces. Foveal diseases such as macular degeneration are highly debilitating and often lead to blindness. However, there are no current available treatments or therapies for fovea-specific disorders. A major reason underlying this limitation is the lack of suitable experimental systems for foveal studies, as only a small number of species have fovea-like high acuity areas (HAA). Indeed, among mammals, only a subset of primates has foveated retinas. However, avian species including the chick, possess fovea-like HAA and can be used as a powerful model system to study the molecular underpinnings of fovea formation in vivo. Human stem cell-derived retinal organoids (hRetOrg) have emerged as a promising in vitro system to study human retinal disorders but current protocols fail to generate foveae. We have recently found that retinoic acid (RA) signaling is highly patterned during foveogenesis in humans and is required for HAA formation in the chick. Our hypothesis is that recapitulation of endogenous patterns of RA signaling in hRetOrg is sufficient to induce fovea formation. To test this hypothesis, we will utilize the chick system to elucidate the spatiotemporal properties of RA-dependent fovea induction in vivo (Aim 1); longitudinally characterize the dynamics of RA signaling and expression profile of RA enzymes during retinogenesis period in hRetOrg (Aim 2); experimentally manipulate RA signaling to recapitulate the spatiotemporal patterns of RA found in vivo in the in vitro hRetOrg system (Aim 3). To achieve this we have developed an innovative molecular strategy based on transposon- and doxycycline-inducible systems for precise spatial and temporal regulation of transgenesis and optimized high-speed high-resolution imaging analysis of whole chick retinas and 3D hRetOrg. This effort will not only advance our current understanding of the mechanistic role of RA signaling as a fovea regulator but also generate an innovative and much needed foveated hRetOrg system with high translational potential for diseases affecting the fovea through disease modeling, high-throughput drug screening and as a source of clinically-relevant fovea-specific cells for transplantation.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $395,258 )
2026	2026	UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH - OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	4200 FIFTH AVENUE	PITTSBURGH	PA	15260	ALLEGHENY	USA	Vision Research	001	5	1/12/2026	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$395,258
2026	2025	UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH - OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	4200 FIFTH AVENUE	PITTSBURGH	PA	15260	ALLEGHENY	USA	Vision Research	000	4	12/8/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $395,258

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $395,258 )
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH - OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	4200 FIFTH AVENUE	PITTSBURGH	PA	15260	ALLEGHENY	USA	Vision Research	000	4	12/20/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$395,258
														Subtotal = $395,258

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $395,258 )
2024	2024	UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH - OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	4200 FIFTH AVENUE	PITTSBURGH	PA	15260	ALLEGHENY	USA	Vision Research	000	3	1/17/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$395,258
														Subtotal = $395,258

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $395,258 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH - OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	4200 FIFTH AVENUE	PITTSBURGH	PA	15260	ALLEGHENY	USA	Vision Research	001	2	3/8/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$39,526
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH - OF THE COMMONWEALTH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION	4200 FIFTH AVENUE	PITTSBURGH	PA	15260	ALLEGHENY	USA	Vision Research	000	2	1/4/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$355,732
														Subtotal = $395,258

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $392,181 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, THE	4200 5TH AVE	PITTSBURGH	PA	15260	ALLEGHENY	USA	Vision Research	000	1	12/16/2021	NEW	$392,181
														Subtotal = $392,181

Grand Total All Awards = $1,973,213

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Role of retinoic acid signaling in fovea development

Award Number: R01EY033385

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 01/01/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2026

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