Ophthalmologist Boris Rosin, MD, PhD, Receives Grant from Foundation Fighting Blindness

UPMC ophthalmologist Boris Rosin, MD, PhD, received a $375,000 grant from the Foundation Fighting Blindness as a career development award for his work in exploring the role of the central nervous system changes in the course and treatment of inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs). Dr. Rosin’s work examines the changes in visual pathways and visual circuit plasticity of the Central Nervous System (CNS) before and following the application of gene therapy in animal models of inherited retinal diseases, including a rat model of retinitis pigmentosa. His goal is to develop an approach for preserving normal visual CNS activity which will potentially lead to better outcomes of gene and cell therapies of IRDs by maximizing the potential for vision restoration. 

The Foundation Fighting Blindness was established in 1971 and aims to drive research that would lead to preventions, treatments, and vision restoration for retinal diseases including age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, Usher syndrome, Stargardt disease, and Leber congenital amaurosis. Annually, the Foundation Fighting Blindness funds more than 87 research grants. 

About Dr. Rosin

Boris Rosin, MD, PhD, completed the MD-PhD program at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. His PhD in Systems Neuroscience explored novel treatment options for Parkinson’s disease, including Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) algorithms, where he has developed the first approach to and has extensively published about closed-loop DBS. After the completion of the MD-PhD program, he has completed the Israeli Residency Program in Ophthalmology at Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel attaining the Israeli Medical Board Certification in 2017.

Between 2017 and 2019 he completed a two-year Vitreoretinal Fellowship program at the same center and between the years 2019 and 2021 completed another Vitreoretinal Fellowship at UPMC. Dr Rosin is a physician-researcher, and his lab investigates the processing of visual information within the CNS and specifically explores ways of restoring visual information in blind rodents directly on the CNS level. His clinical interests include gene and cell therapy options for inherited retinal dystrophies, vitreoretinal surgery as well as visual system electrophysiology.