HWNI member Karthik Shekhar, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, is one of four principal investigators leading a collaborative research initiative that has been awarded $1 million from the Glaucoma Research Foundation. The initiative, called the Melza M. and Frank Theodore Barr Foundation Catalyst for a Cure Initiative to Prevent and Cure Neurodegeneration (CFC4), launched in 2022 and is one of the Glaucoma Research Foundation’s Catalyst for a Cure research initiatives.
The goal of CFC4 is to explore the similarities and differences among glaucoma and other conditions that stem from the death of neurons in the eye, brain, or spinal cord, in search of potential preventive measures and cures for all neurodegenerative diseases.
Each of the four laboratories in the collaboration will receive $250,000. In addition to Shekhar, the other principal investigators are Sandro Da Mesquita (Mayo Clinic), Milica Margeta (Mass Eye and Ear), and Humsa Venkatesh (Harvard/Brigham and Women’s Hospital).
Read more about this and the other 2026 grants from the Glaucoma Research Foundation.
