Duke University School of Medicine has been awarded a $30,000 Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB), in partnership with the American Osteopathic Colleges of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (AOCOO-HNS) Foundation. This prestigious award will support medical student Michael Miltich as he takes a year-long leave from his medical studies to pursue dedicated research within the Department of Ophthalmology at Duke. In addition to the fellowship, Mr. Miltich will receive an $8,000 relocation stipend to support his transition into full-time research.
Miltich’s fellowship project, titled “Investigating the Prevalence and Phenotypes of PRPH2-Associated Maculopathies Among Patients Clinically Diagnosed With Age-Related Macular Degeneration,” is being conducted under the mentorship of Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Oleg Alekseev, MD, PhD. The research aims to distinguish between PRPH2-associated maculopathies and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), two conditions that can appear clinically similar but may require different treatment approaches.
This project will generate two invaluable resources for the field:
- A DNA repository that can be used in future genetic studies of PRPH2, other genes, or AMD.
- An imaging database that may be used to train artificial intelligence algorithms to differentiate between PRPH2-maculopathy and AMD.
Since its founding in 1960, RPB has invested more than $429 million into vision research, contributing to nearly every major breakthrough in the field. The organization’s continued support of early-career researchers like Mr. Miltich underscores its commitment to advancing the science of sight and preventing vision loss.