In this episode of the Vets First Podcast, hosts Dr. Levi Sowers and Brandon Rea interview Dr. Oliver Gramlich, a research health science specialist at the Iowa City VA Health Care System. He is also a research assistant professor in the Neuroscience and Pharmacology Program at the University of Iowa.

Dr. Gramlich was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and went to graduate school at the University of Mines, where he was interested in biology and ophthalmology. After he obtained his PhD, he was recruited to the University of Iowa to work on glaucoma-related vision loss at the Department of Ophthalmology. This led him to become interested in many other vision-related diseases surrounding the optic nerve, such as multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Throughout the beginning of the episode, Dr. Gramlich narrates his journey to neuro-ophthalmology research at the University of Iowa and his preclinical research at the VA. He discusses the importance of using animal models to translate physiological knowledge from experiments to human subjects. He later talks about the importance of the optic nerve in visual information transmission and elaborates about the physiological mechanisms and effects of various diseases such as glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.

In the second half of the episode, Dr. Gramlich discusses potential treatments for vision-related diseases. He then talks about his work regarding biomarkers of the visual system that relate to humans and describes potential ways to enhance recovery in patients dealing with optic neuritis. Dr. Gramlich shares his work with utilizing a combination of different diets and drugs to manipulate metabolic pathways in order to promote neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects to remedy optic nerve inflammation. Lastly, he describes his use of three-dimensional imaging to observe disease progression and resolution based on multiple variables and how this can directly apply to the clinical side of vision.

If you are a Veteran or you know a Veteran needing help with visual loss, contact the Visual Impairment Services Team coordinator at your nearest VA medical center or contact the Blind Rehabilitation Service Program by phone which can be found here. There are 13 Blind Rehabilitation Centers around the country, which can help with things like mobility, communication, and living with vision loss.

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