Shree Kurup, M.D., director of research in the ophthalmology department at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, will present the preliminary findings of a Phase 3 clinical trial on a new drug for the treatment of uveitis, a serious inflammatory condition of the uvea, the middle layer of the eye that provides most of the blood supply to the retina. T

he findings will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Retinal Specialists in Las Vegas from Aug. 25 to 29.

Kurup will present his findings on Aug. 28. "This is the first new drug that could be approved in 50 years. Currently only steroids are available," he said.

Non-infectious uveitis involving the posterior segment of the eye is a leading cause of vision loss and long-term disability and the fourth leading cause of legal blindness in the industrialized world.