Welcome to Corner Blog: Insights + Advances
Welcome to The President’s Corner and my first message as the new President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Doheny Eye Institute.
Welcome to The President’s Corner and my first message as the new President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Doheny Eye Institute.
Last month, I travelled to Guangzhou, China to celebrate the opening of the image reading center at the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center with our colleagues there.
Doheny Eye Institute is positioned as a world leader in ophthalmologic research and care delivery for at least three key reasons: our excellent infrastructure and environment, hunger for innovation, and our global reach. My colleague, DEI Executive Director Marissa Goldberg, is key to these operations and to the visionary work of this institution in many ways. In short, she makes it happen.
Doheny Eye Institute innovates alongside tech companies in a way that might be surprising to some. We identify gaps in care, and then collaborate with engineers on ideas for research, development and design for improved ophthalmologic treatment. Often, we are deeply involved from the earliest stages of device development and prototyping. We’ve worked closely with medical device imagineers for decades.
One of the great frontiers of research in the quest to improve eye health involves stem cells. It’s exciting, but the terms are often confusing, and even controversial. Because I see this research as a vital avenue for our patients, I want to use this space to explain precisely how we conduct this research at Doheny Eye Institute, using only adult stem cells, not embryonic stem cells.
Many of us likely read with interest the recent story by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times about the Nepalese ophthalmologist Dr. Sanduk Ruit, who cures blindness with a $50 cataract operation.
The big news in November about the breakthrough in treatment of diabetic retinopathy deserves all the buzz and headlines it’s generating. The conclusive evidence that an injectable drug is just as effective, and not nearly as damaging, as the standard laser treatment favored since the 1970s is a game changer.
At Doheny we are poised to begin providing patients with access to clinical trials of pioneering gene therapy any day now. It’s an advance that seems a perfect way to end the year, or begin the new one, with exciting innovation and hope for improved vision for many.
I’m excited to share some important advances in the field that are the result of international collegial cooperation, intelligence and good humor. Tech can be magic, but in some cases, good old-fashioned talk is all that’s needed to move things forward.
It’s just human nature to have a few items that don’t seem urgent forever stuck at the bottom of the to-do list. Screening for disease is like that. Feeling fine and not experiencing limitations or pain, we can all rationalize not looking for trouble.
Here at Doheny the benefits of joining forces with our colleagues at UCLA/Jules Stein Eye Institute are obvious to us every day. We appreciate the ability to collaborate and share research, and the very real advances we are making for patients.
As the incidence of diabetes rises worldwide, we in eye care see ever increasing rates of retinal disease. This is disheartening and challenging, as diabetic retinopathy is usually asymptomatic until it’s pretty far along.
Later today I’ll fly to the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) annual conference in Taipei, Taiwan. I make the trip because I like to hear first-hand about the challenges and concerns our colleagues are facing in that region and to advance our collaborations across the region.
In my three years as a member of the program committee for the retina section of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, I’ve found the conventional wisdom that committee work kills inspired ideas seriously errant. I loved the work on behalf of ARVO, and as my term draws to a close, I’d like to reflect for a moment on what I found profoundly meaningful in the work — not just for me — but for science.
Last month, two of our colleagues, Dr. Olivia Lee and Dr. Laura Vickers, made an extraordinary trip to Mongolia, where they performed corneal transplant surgeries on several patients, including a three-month-old boy. The trip resulted in restored eyesight for many and an exchange of information between doctors that can mean so much for patients in the future.
Over the past week, many of our Doheny doctors and scientists gathered with fellow researchers from around the world in Seattle for the annual conference of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). It was a great opportunity for all of us to reconnect with our extended Doheny family of physicians and researchers who have gone on to do important work all over the globe.
Doheny doctors treat patients with retinal disease daily; and we also work continuously with colleagues around the world to find ways to fight these diseases. I want to share a few insights about one of those important efforts —a study of Stargardt’s Disease called ProgStar, sponsored by the Foundation Fighting Blindness.
I am happy to use this space to offer more information on gene therapy and gene editing, which I consider to be one of the most exciting frontiers in treating eye disease.
One of my enthusiasms across research areas is cultivating collaboration. I’m happy to say that for the youngest cohort of doctors in ophthalmology, collaborative work and communication skills are becoming part of the training in the field. Technology encourages this connectedness, but relational skills are also critical.
One way in which technology is transforming ophthalmology that I find particularly encouraging is the inclusion of international colleagues in high-level training and discourse via live streams and webinars.
My visit to Japan last month illustrated perfectly how vital our ties are to international colleagues.
Diabetes is epidemic in India, and soon, the country will be home to the largest diabetic population in the world. The concomitant increase in cases of diabetic retinopathy is alarming, making it one of the leading causes of blindness in the country. It seems that soon, the US will face similar issues. Globally, the implications for our work are enormous.
In September, when Doheny’s Dr. Irena Tsui delivered a lecture in Mandarin to our colleagues at Quingdao Hospital at Nanjing University on the latest advances in fighting retinopathy of prematurity, I felt the legacy of our immediate past leader, Dr. Steven Ryan.
Doheny fosters research at the frontiers of medical science, and, I am happy to say, we also foster expertise that can literally write the book on advances in treatment.
Throughout the year, I have the pleasure of using this space to call out the successes of my colleagues as they work to advance research and treatment in important and innovative ways.
The US-China Cornea Forum that took place during the American Academy of Ophthalmology fall conference in Chicago was a first. I’m happy to say the gathering was a direct result of Doheny’s enduring emphasis on international collaboration.
When I share information in this space, I realize that I am dominating the conversation about advances and innovations at Doheny Eye Institute.
It was my honor to participate in the International Retina Conference at the distinguished Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center in southeast China. The Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center (ZOC) is a one of the best eye institutes in all of China and is a key partner and collaborator for the Doheny Eye Institute.
One of the hot topics among my colleagues in this new year is how to combat and treat the Zika virus, because there is now significant data now indicating that the virus affects the eyes of newborns, causing retinal lesions, and leaving large retinal scars that can damage vision.
There is significant news about shifts in health care under the new Trump administration, so it is important to clarify that part of former President Obama’s health care legacy remains intact; and that remaining part affects our patients at Doheny.
I want to share a few thoughts regarding the recent stories about three elderly patients in Florida who hoped to slow the decline of their vision due to macular degeneration by opting for stem cell injections to the eye. Instead of enjoying restored vision, they wound up blind.
This year at ARVO we’ll convene the first-ever India Forum. The reasons for doing this now are grounded in a keen desire to further reinforce existing connections in India – both to make the most of our Doheny fellows network and on-going collaborations and to invite new opportunities for cooperation.
The much anticipated results of a trial of two drugs used to treat retinal vein occlusion were revealed at the annual Association for Research and Vision in Ophthalmology (ARVO) conference in May, and the news has important implications.
Doheny Eye Institute and UCLA /Jules Stein Eye Institute have collaborated to support the launch of the International Retinal Imaging Society, or IRIS. At our first IRIS Executive Committee meeting in Italy in early July, we explored the scope of our work and our goals together.
The work of the Doheny Imaging Reading Center (DIRC) here at the Doheny Eye Institute can be very personally meaningful –for patients we treat here, and for those patients around the world whose images we analyze.
The work of the Doheny Imaging Reading Center (DIRC) here at the Doheny Eye Institute can be very personally meaningful –for patients we treat here, and for those patients around the world whose images we analyze.
The real and exciting advances that AI offers in medicine matter because they mean we can more quickly diagnose, and precisely treat, our patients.
As our population ages here in the US, support for vision care research must grow so our patients can benefit from accelerated research, earlier diagnosis, and effective interventions and therapies.
The latest research demonstrates the negative effects of excessive screen time on our eye health.
Artificial intelligence enabled robotic assistance in surgery has the potential to revolutionize ophthalmologic care in the future.
Many of us recently came together for several days of study and conversation as part of the 10th Anniversary conference of the Stephen J. Ryan Initiative for Macular Research.
This spring and early summer, gatherings and collaborations have kept me moving and thinking about what most accelerates research.
The world-class training and infrastructure in Singapore’s health care stays relevant with constant fine-tuning.
Our determined focus to understand and eliminate this disease is a priority at Doheny, as well as at many of our peer institutions.
This year in vision science we expect more breakthroughs and new collaborations – all pointing toward hope for our patients.
As we look ahead, there is great anticipation to the many advances in the field of vision science that we know are on the near horizon.
As we look ahead, there is great anticipation to the many advances in the field of vision science that we know are on the near horizon.
It seems entirely accurate to me when my Doheny colleague, Dr. Alfredo Sadun, says that in his assessment, the impact of AI on medicine will be as sweeping as the impact of the industrial revolution on the world.
It seems entirely accurate to me when my Doheny colleague, Dr. Alfredo Sadun, says that in his assessment, the impact of AI on medicine will be as sweeping as the impact of the industrial revolution on the world.
Our collaborations with UCLA Stein faculty continue to flourish and constantly provide us new avenues to explore in vision research.
One of the successes we’ve seen in ophthalmology and vision research, particularly in advancing the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, is the collaborative approach taken by the DRCR Retina Network collaboration.
One aspect of the doctor-patient relationship that matters profoundly, but that is often overlooked, is storytelling.
We are fortunate that our diverse and accomplished physicians are invested in defining the cutting-edge of treatment options.
Working together is what will allow us to find cures.
We remain focused on our mission with determination.
Early stage detection can point us towards treatments that may arrest or eliminate disease progress.