Ophthalmology is a clinical and surgical specialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. A former term is oculism.
Retinopathy is any damage to the retina of the eyes, which may cause vision impairment. Retinopathy often refers to retinal vascular disease, or damage to the retina caused by abnormal blood flow. Age-related macular degeneration is technically included under the umbrella term retinopathy but is often discussed as a separate entity. Retinopathy, or retinal vascular disease, can be broadly categorized into proliferative and non-proliferative types. Frequently, retinopathy is an ocular manifestation of systemic disease as seen in diabetes or hypertension. Diabetes is the most common cause of retinopathy in the U.S. as of 2008. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in working-aged people. It accounts for about 5% of blindness worldwide and is designated a priority eye disease by the World Health Organization.
Diabetic retinopathy, is a medical condition in which damage occurs to the retina due to diabetes. It is a leading cause of blindness in developed countries.
Vitrectomy is a surgery to remove some or all of the vitreous humor from the eye.
Retinoschisis is an eye disease characterized by the abnormal splitting of the retina's neurosensory layers, usually in the outer plexiform layer. Retinoschisis can be divided into degenerative forms which are very common and almost exclusively involve the peripheral retina and hereditary forms which are rare and involve the central retina and sometimes the peripheral retina. The degenerative forms are asymptomatic and involve the peripheral retina only and do not affect the visual acuity. Some rarer forms result in a loss of vision in the corresponding visual field.
The National Eye Institute (NEI) is part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The mission of NEI is "to eliminate vision loss and improve quality of life through vision research." NEI consists of two major branches for research: an extramural branch that funds studies outside NIH and an intramural branch that funds research on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Most of the NEI budget funds extramural research.
The Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) was a clinical trial sponsored by the National Eye Institute that ran from 1992 to 2001. The study was designed to:
Stargardt disease is the most common inherited single-gene retinal disease. In terms of the first description of the disease, it follows an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern, which has been later linked to bi-allelic ABCA4 gene variants (STGD1). However, there are Stargardt-like diseases with mimicking phenotypes that are referred to as STGD3 and STGD4, and have a autosomal dominant inheritance due to defects with ELOVL4 or PROM1 genes, respectively. It is characterized by macular degeneration that begins in childhood, adolescence or adulthood, resulting in progressive loss of vision.
AMD Alliance International is a non-profit coalition of the world’s leading vision, seniors and research organizations working to raise awareness of age-related macular degeneration, understanding of available options for prevention, early detection, treatment, rehabilitation and support services. It is the only international organization in the world that concentrates exclusively on age related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in the developed world.
David Anthony Newsome M.D. FARVO was a scientist, ophthalmologist, inventor, and author. He studied the treatment of age-related macular degeneration and proposed the usefulness of zinc supplements to slow the rate of vision loss from age-related macular degeneration.
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute is the University of Miami School of Medicine's ophthalmic care, research, and education center. The institute is based in the Health District of Miami, Florida, and has been ranked consistently as the best eye hospital and vision research center in the nation.
Teleophthalmology is a branch of telemedicine that delivers eye care through digital medical equipment and telecommunications technology. Today, applications of teleophthalmology encompass access to eye specialists for patients in remote areas, ophthalmic disease screening, diagnosis and monitoring; as well as distant learning.
Rohit Varma is an Indian-American ophthalmologist and professor of ophthalmology and preventive medicine. In 2014, he was named director of the USC Eye Institute and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology for Keck School of Medicine of USC. In March 2016, Varma was named the interim dean of the Keck School of Medicine, and in November was named dean. In October 2017, USC announced that he stepped down as dean. In October 2018, Varma became the founding director of the Southern California Eyecare and Vision Research Institute.
Joan Whitten Miller is a Canadian-American ophthalmologist and scientist who has made notable contributions to the treatment and understanding of eye disorders. She is credited for developing photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin (Visudyne), the first pharmacologic therapy for retinal disease. She also co-discovered the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in eye disease and demonstrated the therapeutic potential of VEGF inhibitors, forming the scientific basis of anti-VEGF therapy for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, and related conditions.
Noemi Lois is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Queen's University Belfast and an Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist and Vitreoretinal Surgeon at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.
Janine Austin Clayton is an American ophthalmologist. She is the NIH associate director for research on women's health and director of the Office of Women's Health. Clayton was previously the deputy clinical director of the National Eye Institute.
Hatice Nida Sen is an ophthalmologist researching mechanisms involved in different forms of human uveitis. She is a clinical investigator at the National Eye Institute.
Chi-Chao Chan is a Chinese-born American ophthalmologist and physician-scientist specialized in the diagnosis and pathology of eye diseases. She joined the National Eye Institute (NEI) as a postdoctoral researcher in 1982 and remained until her retirement in 2015. Chan was promoted in 1999 to senior investigator and chief of the NEI immunopathology section and the histopathology core.
Neil M. Bressler is an American ophthalmologist. He is the James P. Gills Professor of Ophthalmology and chief of the Retina Division at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and editor-in-chief of JAMA Ophthalmology.
Adrienne Williams Scott is an American ophthalmologist specialized in diabetic retinopathy, epiretinal membranes, and macular degeneration. She is chief of the Wilmer Eye Institute in Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland. She is an associate professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
