Nova Southeastern University Associate Professor Receives Special Grant for Eye Research

Newswise — FORT LAUDERDALE/DAVIE, Fla. – Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is happy to announce that Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) has granted NSU Associate Professor Roger Wing-Hong Li, Bsc (Optom) Ph.D., a $100,000 RPB Walt and Lilly Disney Award for Amblyopia Research.

Amblyopia, a condition also known as lazy eye, results from a breakdown in how the brain and the eye work together. Symptoms of amblyopia include a wandering eye, eyes that may not appear to work together, or poor depth perception.

The RPB award was established in 2002 to strengthen and support amblyopia research. To date, the program has given awards to 29 vision scientists in departments of ophthalmology at universities across the country. Since it was founded in 1960, RPB has channeled more than $397 million into eye research. As a result, RPB has been identified with nearly every major breakthrough in vision research in that time.

Li came to the NSU College of Optometry in 2021. As a clinician scientist, he has a wide range of research interests in vision science - from amblyopia, visual psychophysics, myopic control, aging eye, visual electrophysiology, eye movement, to retinal and brain imaging.

Li, whose research focuses on developing new treatments for amblyopia, has had a long-term interest in amblyopia and spatial vision. In particular, his earlier research showed that adult amblyopia still retains a significant degree of visual plasticity, or potential for development. Using a perceptual learning approach, a wide range of visual functions can be rapidly improved in amblyopia patients.

Over the past two decades, Li and his research collaborators have conducted a series of pioneering perceptual learning amblyopia treatment studies and have developed numerous new treatment regimens. Surprisingly, his recent research shows that video-game play may have potential therapeutic applications for improving amblyopic vision.

With the support of the RPB Disney Award for Amblyopia Research, his research team is currently working toward establishing a novel “stereoscopic” treatment for childhood amblyopia using three-dimensional (3D) video games. This new technique may provide important fundamental principles for improving stereo vision in amblyopia.

For information on the Research to Prevent Blindness grants program, listings of RPB institutional and individual grantees, and findings generated by these awards, go to www.rpbusa.org.

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About Nova Southeastern University (NSU): At NSU, students don’t just get an education, they get the competitive edge they need for real careers, real contributions and real life. A dynamic, national private research university, NSU is providing high-quality educational and research programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree levels. Established in 1964, the university includes 15 colleges, the 215,000-square-foot Center for Collaborative Research, the private JK-12 grade University School, the world-class NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, and the Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center, one of Florida’s largest public libraries. NSU students learn at our campuses in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach, and Tampa Bay, Florida, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico, and online globally. With more than 200,000 alumni across the globe, the reach of the NSU community is worldwide.  Classified as having “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU is one of only 59 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification, and is also the largest private institution in the United States that meets the U.S. Department of Education’s criteria as a Hispanic-serving Institution. Please visit www.nova.edu for more information.