The Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences (BPS) has awarded Dr. Ajay Sharma the 2024 BPS Paper of the Year Award. Dr. Sharma’s recognition is based on his publication, “Diabetes-Associated Hyperglycemia Causes Rapid-Onset Ocular Surface Damage.”

The paper was published in ARVO’s Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science Journal, which has an impact factor of 5.0 and a Journal Citation Indicator (JCI) of 1.62. The article itself has a Relative Citation Ratio (RCR) of 2.08, which is higher than 75.8% of all NIH-funded publications in this field.

The study explores how short-term hyperglycemia in diabetes affects the ocular surface, including the tear film, goblet cells, and corneal glycocalyx. In their findings, researchers observed significant reductions in tear film volume and goblet cell numbers within seven days of hyperglycemia onset for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, detected a decrease in the corneal glycocalyx area, and found increased expression of genes linked to inflammation, apoptosis, and cellular stress.

These experiments will lead to further pharmaceutical discoveries aimed at how regulating hyperglycemia can mitigate ocular damage, tear film changes, goblet cell dysfunction, and protect the corneal glycocalyx. Additionally, targeting inflammatory and stress responses triggered by hyperglycemia could offer new therapeutic avenues for ocular health to enhance the quality of life for diabetic patients.

Dr. Judy Weng, who earned both her PharmD and PhD at CUSP, and Dr. Kiumars Shamloo, who earned both his MSPS and PhD at CUSP, are listed as co-authors.