Przemyslaw (Mike) Sapieha, PhD, Director of the Neurovascular Eye Disease Research Unit at the Centre de recherche de l’Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, won the 2019 Cogan Award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), the world's leading vision health research body. This prestigious peer-awarded prize is presented every year to a researcher for their outstanding contribution to ophthalmology and vision science research and for the potential of their new ideas. At the age of 43, he is the first Quebecker and second Canadian to win an ARVO award since its inception in 1928. The first was Michael A. Walter from the University of Alberta in 2002.
A neuroscientist by training, Dr. Sapieha is interested in retinal diseases, particularly diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. These eye diseases are caused by blood vessels that grow abnormally on the surface of or through the retina, which can cause scarring and obstruct the patient's vision. While studying how neurons communicate with vessels in these diseases, Dr. Sapieha and his team discovered what causes the early aging of nerve cells and blood vessels in retinopathy. They identified axon and vascular guidance molecules such as semaphorin 3A. These molecules contribute to the physiological development of the embryo and are absent in a healthy eye. However, they are produced abnormally by a diseased eye and disrupt the health of the eye's vascular network.
“So many people in our community are affected by an eye disease. Dr. Sapieha's cutting-edge research is essential to help us deepen our knowledge of these diseases and find innovative treatments. This recognition from ARVO speaks volumes about the relevance of his work and his remarkable contribution to identifying promising treatments. ” – Sylvain Lemieux, President and CEO of the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
Instead of treating only the symptoms, as is currently the case with the drugs available on the market, Dr. Sapieha wants to repair the retina by injecting molecules that he designed to inhibit semaphorin 3A. This new therapeutic approach would regenerate the retina naturally and stimulate the development of new functional blood vessels in the retina. This discovery has led to the creation of a spin-off company called SemaThera, and the preclinical phases of this research are currently evaluating the toxicity and pharmacokinetics of the injectable drugs. If all goes well, he hopes that this discovery will lead to the first treatments in patients within 20 to 24 months.
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