Chris Fortenbach, MD, PhD receives RPB Career Development Award

Chris Fortenbach, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in the UW Department of Ophthalmology, has been awarded a Career Development Award from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB).

This is one of RPB’s flagship awards, and provides outstanding early-career vision scientists with significant support to start and sustain an independent research program. The $350,000 grant provides support over four years.

Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) is a leading nonprofit organization supporting eye research directed at the prevention, treatment or eradication of all diseases that threaten vision. RPB-supported researchers have been associated with many breakthroughs in the understanding and treatment of vision loss over the past 65 years.

Among the leading causes of vision loss, outer retinal degeneration impacts millions of people worldwide. These diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, are characterized by the death of rod and cone photoreceptors, resulting in declining vision and, in some cases, blindness. Once photoreceptors have been lost, there are no current treatments to restore vision.

Dr. Fortenbach is investigating the therapeutic potential of photoswitches to restore vision in degenerated retinas in his lab at the Vision Science Center at South Lake Union. These light-sensitive small molecules bind to the degenerating retina and confer new light sensitivity to surviving retinal cells. Several generations of these molecules have been developed with differing cell target specificity and sensitivity.

In contrast to other therapies requiring surgery, photoswitches can be delivered via intravitreal injection, a procedure performed over 20 million times per year globally. Most recently, promising phase 1 clinical trial data have demonstrated vision restoration in several human subjects.

The Fortenbach Lab is researching the mechanisms by which photoswitches restore light sensitivity and methods to improve visual outcomes among treated individuals. The lab uses a combination of electrophysiology methods, including whole-cell and multielectrode array recordings, in conjunction with machine learning to assess the ability of photoswitches to encode visual information. Overall, the lab’s goal is to help develop a medication capable of restoring sight and improving the quality of life for patients with vision loss.

Dr. Fortenbach joined the faculty in August 2023 after completing his ophthalmology residency and vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. His clinical practice is at the Karalis Johnson Retina Center and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Healthcare System.

The UW Department of Ophthalmology receives an unrestricted departmental grant annually from RPB. Past UW Ophthalmology recipients of RPB career development awards include Jennifer Chao, MD, PhD; Aaron Lee, MD; Jay Neitz, PhD; Maureen Neitz, PhD; Kathryn Pepple, MD, PhD; Ram Sabesan, PhD, and Russ Van Gelder, MD, PhD.

Since it was founded in 1960, RPB has funded more than $429 million of eye research. RPB has been identified with nearly every major breakthrough in vision research in that time, For information for RPB's grants program, listing of RPB institutional and individual grantees, and findings generated by these awards, visit rpb.usa.org.