Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, dry eye, diabetic retinopathy, and cataract are the most common ocular diseases. However, the early diagnosis and effective treatments remain limited because the pathogenesis of these diseases is incompletely defined because of their diverse etiologies. Emerging and established therapies of these diseases have implicated specific pathogen pathway-based strategies. Knowledge and deeper understanding of molecular pathogenesis of these diseases have led to the development of animal models, successful therapies, novel biochemical/genetic markers, and proof of concepts.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will stimulate the continuing efforts to understand the pathogenesis of age-related ocular disorders and other common ocular diseases with large health burden and the development of strategies allowing earlier detection and treatment of these diseases. Particularly, we are interested in articles that explore aspects of neuronal degeneration, genetics/epigenetics and immunology, and in vivo and cell-based model development.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Contributions of neuronal defects to age-related ocular diseases
• Genetics/epigenetics and age-related ocular diseases
• Role of innate immunity in retinal and ocular surface disorders
• Retinal glia cells and age-related ocular diseases
• Biochemical/genetic multimarker approaches
• Age-dependent alterations of ocular tissues
• Recent advances in dry eye, high myopia, and ocular surface disorders