Calvin Alexander Grant is an American

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

. Grant was born in 1970 in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n parents, and spent a large amount of his childhood in the

Washington Metropolitan Area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

. At the age of 21 he attended the

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine The Perelman School of Medicine (commonly known as Penn Med) is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a Private university, private, Ivy League research university located in Philadelphia. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of M ...

where he received the Oliver prize for ophthalmological research. His earlier research in

gene transfer Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the movement of genetic material between organisms other than by the ("vertical") transmission of DNA from parent to offspring (reproduction). HGT is an important factor in the e ...

to the

retina The retina (; or retinas) is the innermost, photosensitivity, light-sensitive layer of tissue (biology), tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some Mollusca, molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focus (optics), focused two-dimensional ...

using adeno-associated

viruses A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are found in almo ...

was one of the first. This work was conducted under the Howard Hughes Medical Student Fellowship. Grant developed the first sustained treatment for

ischaemic Ischemia or ischaemia is a restriction in blood supply to any tissue, muscle group, or organ of the body, causing a shortage of oxygen that is needed for cellular metabolism (to keep tissue alive). Ischemia is generally caused by problems ...

and non-ischaemic

central retinal vein occlusion Central retinal vein occlusion, also CRVO, is when the central retinal vein becomes occluded, usually through thrombosis. The central retinal vein is the venous equivalent of the central retinal artery and both may become occluded. Since the cent ...

. His procedure, called revascularization by anastomotic decompression (RAD), allowed for communication between the blocked superficial retinal venous circulation and the open underlying choroidal circulation. In a press release issued by ISTA Pharmaceuticals, which has a strong interest in the success of the drug, it was claimed that Grant demonstrated a significant decrease in the number of treatments of ranibizumab (Lucentis) needed for the treatment of choroidal neovascularization secondary to age-related macular degeneration by the concomitant administration of

bromfenac Bromfenac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) marketed in the US as an ophthalmic solution (brand names Prolensa and Bromday, prior formulation brand name Xibrom, which has since been discontinued) by ISTA Pharmaceuticals for shor ...

(Xibrom). There was a significant reduction in the number of injections of ranibizumab given to those patients also receiving bromfenac during a six-month period. ISTA Pharmaceuticals at first claimed that there was no statistically significant visual acuity improvement amongst those receiving bromfenac in addition to ranibizumab, however; they now claim that upon "rigorous review" a significant improvement can be detected. ISTA Pharmaceuticals states that these results will need to be verified in clinical studies and that bromfenac is not currently approved for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. Grant has also become the first to introduce robotic radiosurgery in the treatment of choroidal melanoma. Grant has had his license indefinitely suspended for a minimum of 6 months and fined $10,000 for performing a surgical procedure below the required standard of care and engaging in unprofessional conduct. https://idfpr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idfpr/forms/discpln/2023-07enf.pdf

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Calvin A. 1970 births Living people Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni American ophthalmologists American people of Jamaican descent