WVU summer research program helps students explore vision through basic science and clinical research projects

Students from universities across the country are gaining valuable insight into preventing vision loss through West Virginia University’s Summer Undergraduate Research Vision Research Fellowship Program.

The program is a 10-week, full-time vision research-focused internship hosted on the WVU Health Sciences Campus. Supported by faculty in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, the program provides students with basic biochemistry and visual neuroscience research experience in areas that explore blinding diseases and new diagnostic treatment methods.

Students accepted to the program in 2025 included University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill junior Julie Munsoor, who was inspired to pursue a career in visual sciences by her grandmother.

“Growing up, my grandmother was diagnosed with glaucoma and macular degeneration and steadily lost her functional vision,” she explained. “I got to see firsthand how important vision is, and realized the resilience you must have to persevere through vision loss. Like many elderly patients, several factors contributed to her vision loss. I’m interested in better understanding these factors so I can help people like her protect and maintain their vision.”

Upon being accepted to the program and arriving on WVU’s Health Sciences Campus in May, Munsoor was paired with Professor and Glaucoma Specialist Joel Palko, M.D., to examine glaucoma from different perspectives.

Munsoor’s primary focus was a clinical research study co-led by Dr. Palko and WVU School of Public Health Professor Ranjita Misra, Ph.D. The study aimed to examine and address the barriers that rural West Virginians face in receiving timely glaucoma care.

“Management of glaucoma is a longitudinal process that requires regular follow-up with specialty physicians,” Munsoor explained. “But for patients from rural areas who may be required to travel far to receive specialty care at the Eye Institute, that process may not be so simple. We aim to better understand the factors that may lead to glaucoma patients not maintaining follow-ups and determine methods to streamline that process for them in the future.”

Munsoor served as the primary data collector on this project, where she utilized patient databases to collect information such as the distance glaucoma patients are required to travel for appointments and how often they may miss or cancel follow-up appointments. In addition to gathering this data, she also read and studied several academic publications on topics such as glaucoma and barriers to access to care to see how documented research in these areas could be applied to this project.

Munsoor also contributed to a basic science research project led by Palko that examined the effects of low blood pressure on the optic nerve amongst patients with glaucoma.

She assisted in data collection and imaging for this project, where she utilized high-powered microscopes and machine learning models to observe and quantify the damage done to the optic nerve in disease models of glaucoma with low blood pressure.

“This was one of the first opportunities I’ve had to work in a laboratory space and conduct hands-on research myself. It was exciting to be able to visualize optic nerve damage in real-time and to see the changes between a damaged and non-damaged optic nerve with my own eyes. It’s fascinating to see these pathways at work,” she said.

As the Summer Undergraduate Vision Research Fellowship Program prepares to conclude for the year, Palko highlighted the importance of exposing students to both clinical research and basic science research opportunities.

“These projects provide complementary perspectives on the same overarching goal – preventing vision loss in patients with glaucoma,” Palko said. “For students enrolled in this program, like Julie, who are still discovering their research interests, receiving exposure to both of these aspects is invaluable. It helps young aspiring researchers understand that progress in medicine requires both mechanistic insight and system-level solutions.”

Munsoor reflected on her experiences in the program and said they’ve helped her reaffirm her passion for studying vision.

“This program has helped me see what a career in this field can be like by embedding me within the research process, where I’ve had opportunities to directly contribute to major research projects aimed at better understanding blinding diseases. I feel very privileged to have spent my summer at WVU and to have worked alongside the great team of faculty researchers on campus,” she said.

The Summer Undergraduate Vision Research Fellowship Program is supported by the WVU Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE), an initiative aimed at developing innovative methods to prevent, treat and slow the progression of blinding diseases. CoBRE is funded through a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

To learn more about this program and the other vision research opportunities at the School of Medicine, visit medicine.hsc.wvu.edu/eye/research.