Contact: Cara Martinez | Email: [email protected]

Los Angeles — April 14, 2015 – An injection of stem cells into the eye may soon slow or reverse the effects of early-stage age-related macular degeneration, according to new research from scientists at Cedars-Sinai. Currently, there is no treatment that slows the progression of the disease, which is the leading cause of vision loss in people over 65.

“This is the first study to show preservation of vision after a single injection of induced neural progenitor stem cells into a AMD-like rat model for retinal degeneration,” said Shaomei Wang, MD, PhD, lead author of the study published in the journal STEM CELLS and a research scientist in the Eye Program at the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute.