Sunday, February 15, 2026 2/15/2026

Elucidating perifoveal vascular development in infants

Award Number: R01EY034134
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/30/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2027

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Elucidating perifoveal vascular development in infants - PROJECT SUMMARY One out of every ten infants is born preterm. Preterm birth can cause retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a leading cause of childhood blindness. Even in the absence of ROP or neurological disability, children born preterm exhibit subtle impairments in visual acuity and visual function, though the etiology of this suboptimal vision in preterm infants remains unclear. The fovea, an indentation in the central retina, is the most critical region determining visual acuity. The fovea is surrounded by anastomosis of three layers of capillaries, forming the foveal avascular zone. It is well-established that children and adults with history of prematurity have a small or absent foveal avascular zone, retained foveal inner retinal layers, and decreased photoreceptor function, and that these abnormalities are more severe in individuals with history of treated ROP. The development of human perifoveal vasculature, however, is difficult to study due to the absence of fovea in most easily accessible animal models and the rarity of human histopathological samples during late gestation. Our multidisciplinary team with complementary expertise will work together to use advanced bedside handheld optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography imaging to fill the gap in our knowledge of perifoveal vascular development in infants. We propose to elucidate the human perifoveal vascular development through the following specific aims: 1) optimize bedside handheld infant OCT angiography to visualize perifoveal vascular development; 2) determine if perifoveal vascular development is delayed in preterm infants compared to term infants, further delayed in ROP, and associates with poor outer retinal maturation; and 3) determine the association of macular edema and decreased perifoveal deep vascular complex formation and outer retinal maturation in preterm infants. This research will expand our knowledge of human foveal development and inform the pathophysiology of diseases of macular and retinal vascular development.


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: 2025 ( Subtotal = $399,055 )
2025	2025	DUKE UNIVERSITY	2200 W MAIN ST	DURHAM	NC	27705	DURHAM	USA	Vision Research	001	4	8/25/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2025	2025	DUKE UNIVERSITY	2200 W MAIN ST	DURHAM	NC	27705	DURHAM	USA	Vision Research	000	4	8/21/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$399,055
														Subtotal = $399,055

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $399,165 )
2024	2024	DUKE UNIVERSITY	2200 W MAIN ST	DURHAM	NC	27705	DURHAM	USA	Vision Research	000	3	8/5/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$399,165
														Subtotal = $399,165

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $398,889 )
2023	2023	DUKE UNIVERSITY	2200 W MAIN ST	DURHAM	NC	27705	DURHAM	USA	Vision Research	000	2	8/14/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$398,889
														Subtotal = $398,889

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $414,256 )
2022	2022	DUKE UNIVERSITY	2200 W MAIN ST STE 710	DURHAM	NC	27708	DURHAM	USA	Vision Research	000	1	9/2/2022	NEW	$414,256
														Subtotal = $414,256

Grand Total All Awards = $1,611,365

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Elucidating perifoveal vascular development in infants

Award Number: R01EY034134

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

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

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/30/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2027

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer