<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Researchers at VTC's Fralin Biomedical Research Institute are investigating potential preventative and treatment methods for optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH), a disorder that causes vision impairment in neonates.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to the National Institutes of Health, the disorder arises when the optic nerves that convey information from the retina to the brain are undeveloped at birth, resulting in moderate to severe vision loss in children (NIH). It has no recognised cause, and families affected by it have limited medical options.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With support from a four-year, USD 1.56 million grant from the National Eye Institute of the NIH, Virginia Tech scientists, led by principal investigator Konark Mukherjee, will explore whether a prenatal deficiency of an important fatty acid known as arachidonic acid contributes to the disorder.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If so, the discovery could explain why ONH in babies has been associated with factors such as young maternal age and prenatal exposures to smoking, alcohol, recreational drugs, anti-depressants, anticonvulsants, and other agents. HT</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>