The glaucoma research team includes Drs. Camras, Toris, and Zhan. For many years, one area of their intensive research efforts has included protaglandins, which have become theleading treatment for glaucoma throughout the world. Four prostaglandin analogs currently are commercially available to treat glaucoma. the group has evaluated the mechanisms by which prostaglandins reduce eye pressure and induce iris color darkening. They use a fluorophotometric method to determine how prostaglandin analogs and other drugs affect eye pressure. They have compared the efficacy, safety and mechanism of action of different prostaglandin analogs. They developed a unique model for iris color darkening in rabbit eyes in which input from a particular part of the nervous system is severed. This model has been useful in studying mechanisms by which prostaglandins cause iris color darkening. In collaboration with the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Department of Internal Medicine, Dr. Toris is studying diabetes and its effects on fluid trasport and pressure in the eye.
Dr. Thoreson's laboratory is among the most productive of those utilizing electrophysiologic methods to study early mechanisms in vision. Dr. Thoreson and his colleagues have made significant progress in unraveling the mechanisms employed by rods and comes to signal their responses to other retinal neurons.
Dr. Ahmad has emerged as a leading researcher in the study of ocular stem cells. Following his team's discovery of neural stem cells in adult ciliary epithelium, his team has also found that corneal stem cells can serve as a potential source of neural progrenitors that give rise to both neural and glial cells.
Drs.Shinohara and Singh have studied retinal development and cataract formation when they were previously at Harvard Medical School. They are currently studying a novel growth factor called lens epithelium-derived growth factor (LEDGF). Although initially discovered in the eye, LEDGF is found throughout the body. Among other properties, LEDGF helps cells survive stressful conditions and thus holds promise as a possible therapeutic adjuvant for treating a variety of different eye diseases.