UF veterinary students honored for ophthalmology poster

A poster developed by University of Florida veterinary graduate student Edward MacKay and sophomore UF veterinary student Hillary Hart received top honors during the recent annual meeting of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists in Washington, D.C.

The poster described the discovery of a protein associated with inherited glaucoma in dogs. Identification of the protein and the genetic mutation that produces it could lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms that gradually elevate fluid pressure within the eye in both dogs and man.

Faculty advisers and co-authors included professors Kirk Gelatt, V.M.D., and Don Samuelson, Ph.D., from the UF College of Veterinary Medicine’s department of small animal clinical sciences, and Mark Sherwood, M.D., from the College of Medicine’s department of ophthalmology.