Jena Chojnowski, a postdoctoral research associate in cellular biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, received $50,000 from the Knights Templar Eye Foundation Inc. She will use the money to study the treatment of a condition known as aniridic-related keratopathy, a major cause of vision loss in patients with aniridia. Aniridia is characterized by the lack of a fully formed iris, among other eye malformations. Those who have this condition often develop significant scarring and ulceration of the cornea over time, which causes chronic pain and ultimately blindness. Chojnowski will explore ways to treat this progressive condition using epithelial stem cells, which play an important role in wound repair and maintenance of healthy eye tissue.
