January 30, 2003

Kellogg research on the genetics of macular degeneration is featured on a new PBS series

Ann Arbor, MI—University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center research scientist Radha Ayyagari, Ph.D., will appear on a segment of Secrets of the Sequence, on February 2 at 1:00 pm on WTVS, Detroit Public Television. The PBS series reports on advances in genetic research and the life sciences that will affect health care and many other aspects of our lives.

Dr. Ayyagari describes her genetic research in families affected by macular degeneration, a disease in which the central vision gradually deteriorates. She focuses on patients who have the “early onset” form of macular degeneration, those affected at a relatively early age, generally before the age of 60. Many of her patients have the disease in their teens or 20s, and she compares their genetic data to that of family members who have not been affected. In this way she has already identified one gene associated with early onset macular degeneration.

In the same segment, Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the National Eye Institute, provides a clinical perspective on macular degeneration. Dr. Sieving and Dr. Ayyagari collaborated on the genetic study at Kellogg before Dr. Sieving was appointed to his current position at NEI. The goal of their research is to understand how macular degeneration affects various generations of a family, and eventually, to development treatments to slow or stop progression of the disease.

The series appears on some 140 PBS affiliates, including WTVS, Channel 56 in Detroit, and the U-M station, WFUM in Flint. Other stations carrying the series are listed at www.wardtv.com.

The University of Michigan is one of six universities that have helped shape the concept of the show and provided scientific review of scripts for the series. Other segements have included UM specialists from the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. Jonathan Ward, is executive producer of the series, which was produced by Ward Television Corporation.

Contact: Betsy Nisbet, 734.647.5586, bsnisbet@umich.edu.