Experiments that revealed the central role of vascular endothelial growth factor in the development of oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) simultaneously provided a platform for prevention of ROP (Aiello et al., 1994; Aiello et al., 1995); VEGF supplementation during the hyperoxic phase 1 of ROP prevented vascular obliteration and retinovascular growth attenuation, and thereby removed the substrate for ROP by permitting growth even in hyperoxia (Alon et al., 1995; Pierce et al., 1996). Here, VEGFA is linked to retinopathy of prematurity.