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The Department of Ophthalmology has several outstanding facilities available for research and treatment, all featuring state-of-the-art equipment. In conjunction with the other five affiliated hospitals, the department has a total of four fully equipped research laboratories, two animal laboratories, two practice surgery laboratories, two eye pathology laboratories, six general medical libraries and four separate eye libraries. In addition, SUNY Downstate has 30 examining rooms or units, six outpatient surgical rooms, six fundus cameras, six fluorescein angiographic cameras, nine ultrasound units (A or B scan), two electrodiagnostic units (ERG, EOG, or VEP), seven photocoagulator/lasers, five YAG lasers, two nerve fiber layer analyzers (NFA) and 29 eye beds. As for operating facilities, there are nine eye surgery rooms, nine operating microscopes, four photocoagulators, six retinal cryopexy units, and seven closed vitrectomy units.
Ocular Genetics
Dr. Musarella is an internationally recognized and extensively published expert in ocular genetics, retinitis pigmentosa and pediatric ophthalmology. She has been a leader in the development of multidisciplinary management strategies in the field of ocular genetics and has received numerous grants. Currently, she is investigating optic disc morphology in children with cerebral palsy.
At the present time, Dr. Musarella is collaborating in several projects with researchers at the University of Michigan Departments of Ophthalmology and Genetics. With Dr. Aharid Swaroop, she is looking at isolating a gene at Xp21.3, which Dr. Musarella localized in 1988. She also assigned the gene for complete X-linked incomplete congenital stationary night blindness to Xp11.3 in 1998. The gene for the incomplete form of X-linked congenital night blindness was isolated and reported in the prestigious journal Nature Genetics, in collaboration with a group at the University of Calgary.
Dr. Musarella has been extensively studying Lebers Congenital Amaurosis, a disease that causes congenital blindness in young children. At present, she has over 50 families participating in the study and is doing a genome search in collaboration with Dr. Swaroop and Dr. Debra Thompson of the University of Michigan to find additional genes that may contribute to this disease. She also has published numerous articles on albinism, oculocutaneous albinism and X-linked albinism.
Retina and Glaucoma
Studies by departmental faculty in the area of ocular imaging are also focusing on retinal disease and glaucoma. The department is at the forefront of ocular blood flow research headed by Dr. Teresa Brevetti. Dr. Jeffrey Freedman has conducted a series of studies to identify the most effective anti-fibrosis medications to improve outcomes following corneal implant surgery, as well as conducting work that attempts to define factors contributing to the development of glaucoma by individuals who have undergone corneal transplantation. Dr. Shrier, our Director of retinal Services, is participating in the Accord National Diabetic Eye Study.
Visual Psychophysics
Ivan Bodis-Wollner, MD, DSc, who is board certified in both neurology and ophthalmology, has conducted studies looking at eye movements and visual stability impairment in neurodegenerative disorders. Quick, darting eye movements, called saccades, and blinks are executed constantly when one is awake. Yet one is neither aware of their occurrence, nor of a shifting visual scene by S, nor of an interruption of vision by B. While much has been recently learned concerning how frontal and parietal cortical mechanisms ensure visual stability and continuity associated with saccades and blinks, the role of the occipital cortex remains an enigma. Recent data suggest occipital participation during saccades and blinks even without visual input.
Dr. Bodis-Wollner uses techniques of functional MRI (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and discrete wavelet transformation of the perisaccadic EEG to allow both frequency and time resolution. Although different, these techniques converge to determine intrinsic occipital neuronal mechanisms.
Saccadic eye movement and blink-related occipital responses are compared to the effect of visual stimulation without eye movement. Furthermore the potential differential processing of so-called isoluminant color and luminance contrast stimuli will be evaluated during saccades and blinks.
The studies have a significance to the physiology of eye movements, blink and vision, and to short-term, activity-dependent plasticity as one early step in sensorimotor coordination. Potentially they may contribute to clinical neurology in neurodegenerative disorders in which saccades and visual perception suffer, and to research and diagnosis in schizophrenia.
Optic Nerve Regeneration
Dr. Frank Scalia’s main appointment is in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology. His research interests focus on the growth, targeting and functional recovery of regenerating optic nerve axons. Optic nerve regeneration is an important example of central nervous system repair, in which recovery of function requires the restoration of complex circuitry and topographically mapped connections. He is currently studying aspects of this problem in the adult leopard frog, a highly visual animal in which visual function appears to be fully restored after regeneration of the optic nerve. Work in progress includes study of the possible reexpression and regulation, during regeneration in the adult frog, of the ephrin-A family of molecules thought to control retinotopic map formation during development in vertebrate species. Dr. Scalia plans to carry out parallel studies in the mouse to investigate the possibilities for improving the effectiveness of optic nerve regeneration in mammalian specie.
SUNY Eye Institute
All physician staff of University Ophthalmic Consultants are teaching faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center. Downstate has a long and distinguished history of research contributions to the field of ophthalmology. That tradition lives on as current faculty employ the advanced ophthalmic instruments and facilities available to UOC in research projects that further extend our understanding of the structure, function and disorders of the eye and visual system. This work is made possible, in part, by an endowment from the Richard C. Troutman, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology and Ophthalmic Microsurgery Endowment Fund.
A particular focus of current departmental research is determination of the etiology, pathophysiology and treatment of eye diseases across ethnic boundaries. Glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, as well as other diseases, present and respond to treatment differently in different populations. Thanks to the Troutman Endowment, SUNY Downstate is able to collaborate with fellow institutions to find ways to address such disparities as we deliver outstanding ophthalmic care to Brooklyn's diverse population groups.
Current Research Projects
—Investigations of chronobiology and ocular disease, in collaboration with the University of California at San Diego. This work, supported by the National Institutes of Health, involves extensive investigations in the area of sleep, with emphasis on diurnal changes in ocular blood flow during sleep and the role of light deprivation and depression.
—Also in collaboration with Indiana University, investigations describing ocular blood flow in individuals with glaucoma, diabetes, age-related macular degeneration and other ocular diseases. These studies have detected blood flow abnormalities that have not been described previously.
—Investigations in collaboration with Columbia University are focusing on effective interventions to increase treatment compliance among individuals who screen positive for glaucoma.
—Mutational analysis in patients with X-linked retinitis pigmentosa and Lebers congenital amauosis are being performed in collaboration with Dr. Anand Swaroop of the University of Michigan. This ongoing study is an effort to understand the molecular genetics of retinal degenerations.
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450 Clarkson Ave / Brooklyn, NY 11203 |
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