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University of Pennsylvania Health System

Department of Ophthalmology

Ophthalmology News/Calendar
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What's New at Scheie Eye Institute

Scheie is #1 in Funding from the NEI

Scheie Eye Institute, the Department of Ophthalmology at University of Pennsylvania, is #1 among all departments of ophthalmology and eye institutes across the U.S. in research grant awards from the National Eye Institute (NEI), National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Despite a flat budget at NIH, Scheie Eye Institute at Penn this year increased its overall funding from NEI by 25 % compared to the prior year.  Both these figures speak volumes about the quality and importance of the eye and vision research being conducted by physicians and scientists in the department and of the esteem and respect accorded to these various research projects by ophthalmologists and vision scientists across the U.S. who provide peer review of all grant applications to the NIH.

Scheie scientist appointed Associate Editor of The Journal of General Physiology

Edward N. Pugh

Edward N. Pugh, Jr, PhD

Edward N. Pugh, Jr., PhD, Jules and Doris Stein Research Professor of Ophthalmology and senior scientist at the F.M. Kirby Center for Molecular Ophthalmology, was appointed Associate Editor of The Journal of General Physiology.  The appointment reflects The Journal’s desire to publish more articles on sensory, especially visual, physiology.  The Journal, founded in 1918 by Jacques Loeb, emphasizes “quantitative and rigorous reasoning underlying studies that seek to understand the mechanisms governing complex biological processes.”  Pugh has been a member of the editorial advisory board for 16 years.

Ophthalmology takes part in Penn clinical research initiative

Joan DuPont, Project Manager for Clinical Research Studies in Ophthalmology, was invited join Penn’s new Clinical Research Coordination and Management Advisory Committee (CRCMAC) Executive Committee.  CRCMAC was established to provide a professional forum for UPENN Clinical Research Coordinators (CRCs) in order to elevate the visibility and importance of the profession, to create a forum for advancing the profession, to enhance networking and synergy among CRCs and to provide a mechanism for CRC input into institutional strategic planning and process improvement.  The University chose Ophthalmology as the first Department to take part in a new initiative to introduce a School of Medicine strategic approach to supporting clinical research.  DuPont, a member of Scheie’s research enterprise for more than 25 years, was instrumental in the success of this project.

Scheie scientist receives ARVO/Alcon award

Andras Komaromy, Dr med vet, PhD

Scheie scientist receives ARVO/Alcon award

Andras Komaromy, Dr med vet, PhD, received the 2007 ARVO/Alcon Early Career Clinician-Scientist Research Award.  The award selection was based on Komaromy’s abstract, Cone-Directed Gene Therapy with rAAV Leads to Restoration of Cone Function in a Canine Model of Achromatopsia that he will present at the 2007 ARVO Annual Meeting in Ft. Lauderdale in May.  Komaromy’s research focuses on the study of achromatopsia (loss of cone function) in canine models and the targeting of cone photoreceptors by gene therapy.

Three NANOS awards go to Penn neuro-ophthalmology group

Penn’s Neuro-ophthalmology group made a clean sweep of the research awards at the annual meeting of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS), a professional organization of more than 400.  Penn medical student Bryn Burkholder won the medical student prize for her longitudinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) study of patients with multiple sclerosis and optic neuritis.  Melissa W. Ko, MD (Penn’s next Neuro-ophthalmology fellow) won the resident prize for her OCT study of patients with Parkinson’s disease.  Our current fellow, Chris Glisson, DO won the fellow prize for his study of the clinical and serological characteristics of neuromyelitis optica.  This was the first time that all three awards went to the same institution.  Congratulations to our awardees.

American Geriatric Society award supports Scheie clinician-scientist's AMD research

Joshua L. Dunaief, MD, PhD, was awarded the Jahnigen Career Development Scholars Award from the American Geriatrics Society to support his research on age-related macular degeneration. The award is $75,000 per year for two years beginning July 1.

Scheie Researchers Receive Grants from Hope for Vision

Tomas S. Aleman, MD, received an unrestricted $100,000 award from Hope for Vision to support his research in inherited retinal degenerative diseases at the Center for Hereditary Retinal Degenerations at Scheie Eye Institute. Hope for Vision is an organization dedicated to raising awareness of retinal degenerative and other blinding diseases, to providing information and community tools to help those coping with vision loss, and to developing the tools required to support a grassroots movement to raise urgently needed funding for scientific research.

Tonia Rex, PhD, a research associate in Dr. Jean Bennett’s lab at the F. M. Kirby Center for Molecular Ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania received AN UNRESTRICTED AWARD of $50,000 FROM HOPE FOR VISION to support her research on retinal degenerative diseases.

Chair Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Stuart L. Fine, MD, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) for his contributions to the Academy and the ophthalmology profession. The AAO is the world's largest association of eye physicians and surgeons.

Scheie to Participate in Trial to Evaluate Retinal Gene Therapy

The National Eye Institute of NIH has funded a clinical trial to evaluate gene therapy for children and adults with Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), a blinding eye disease. The trial will be led by Samuel G. Jacobson, MD, PhD and his team and conducted at Scheie’s Center for Hereditary Retinal Degenerations and at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville.

Scheie Lands Major NIH Grant to Study AMD Drugs

On September 30, 2006, the National Eye Institute awarded grants to three institutions to compare the efficacy of two drugs for the treatment of the neovascular (wet) stage of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of severe vision loss in the U.S. According to NEI officials, the study will cost approximately $16 million. Daniel F. Martin, MD of Emory University is the Study Chair, and Stuart L. Fine, MD is the Vice-Chair. Maureen G. Maguire, PhD, Professor and Director of our Center for Preventive Ophthalmology and Biostatistics, will direct the Coordinating Center which is responsible for orchestrating the study and collecting and analyzing the data from 1,200 patients at 40 clinical centers. Glen Jaffe, MD, Professor at Duke University, will direct the OCT Reading Center, and Juan E. Grunwald, MD, Professor and Director of the Vivian Simkins Lasko Retinal Vascular Research Laboratory at Scheie, will direct the Photograph Reading Center. Patient enrollment is expected to begin after the first of the year.

Scheie Faculty Garner Important Awards

Joshua L. Dunaief, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and scientist at the F. M. Kirby Center for Molecular Ophthalmology, received the Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) William & Mary Greve Scholar Award of $60,000 to support his investigations concerning the role of iron overload in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration.

The Department of Ophthalmology was awarded a grant of $110,000 from RPB to support research into the causes, treatment and prevention of blinding diseases. The research will be directed by Stuart L. Fine, MD, Chairman.

Samuel G. Jacobson, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Hereditary Retinal Degenerations, received the Ruth and Milton Steinbach Fund Award and the Alcon Research Institute Award to support his on-going research into the causes of inherited retinal degenerations.

Kenneth S. Shindler, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neuro-ophthalmology and scientist at the F. M. Kirby Center for Molecular Ophthalmology, received a Career Development Award from RPB. This $200,000 grant is the seventh Career Development Award to faculty at Scheie Eye Institute

Nicholas J. Volpe, MD, Professor, Vice Chair and Residency Program Director, received Penn’s Robert Dunning Dripps Memorial Award for Excellence in Education. Dr. Volpe headed AUPO’s national task force to develop tools for competency-based education in ophthalmology.

Juan Grunwald Awarded Major Grant from NIH

Juan E. Grunwald, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Vivian Simkins Lasko Retinal Vascular Research Laboratory, was awarded a grant from the National Eye Institute to investigate the relationship between retinopathy and end stage renal disease in patients with chronic renal insufficiency. Grunwald and colleagues will assess whether retinal vascular abnormalities can provide information of prognostic value regarding the progression of renal and cardiovascular disease. Non-invasive retinal photographs might provide unique information about the microvasculature that would not be available through any other means. Such information could identify new risk factors for end-stage kidney disease.

Scheie Eye Institute Stands Tall Among Departments Of Ophthalmology

  • #5 in the U.S. in NIH grant support for eye and vision research
  • Listed again as one of the top eye institutes in US News and World Report
  • Cited repeatedly in Ophthalmology Times as among best in U.S. in eye research and ophthalmology residency programs
  • Cited by AUPO’s Resident Matching Program as #1 among all U.S. medical schools with respect to number of medical students applying for ophthalmology residency

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