By José-Alain Sahel, MD
The Eye and Ear Foundation Endowed Chair, Department of Ophthalmology
A year of growth.
2024 was our first full year in our new beautiful UPMC Vision Institute at Mercy Pavilion. As we had hoped, we have been treating fast-increasing numbers of patients at all our sites, providing cutting-edge care to all. We have seen 21% more patients than the previous year.
Our federal research funding has reached an all-time high.
Earlier in 2024, the campaign launched by the Eye & Ear Foundation shortly after I joined Pitt and UPMC has met all its objectives and beyond. This is an excellent time to celebrate what we have achieved thanks to the unprecedented support of the Eye & Ear Foundation team, board and donors, the local Philanthropies working synergistically with our Institutions, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and the Medical Center.
Without you, none of the following would have happened:
- We grew the Fox Center for Optic Nerve Regeneration into one of the strongest in the world, leveraging existing support into major funding and recruiting leading talent. Important recruitments are reaching the final stage and a major ARPA-H grant supporting eye transplantation research started in November 2024, co-led by Stanford and Pitt.
- We are bringing our corneal stem cell program, the brainchild of the late Jim Funderburgh, to the clinical stage.
- We have preserved and expanded our ocular infections and immunity expertise around the Campbell Laboratory. The lab has obtained all accreditations.
- We established a platform assembling the most advanced high-resolution imaging of all eye structures, with multidisciplinary expertise in optics, engineering, artificial intelligence, biomarkers for the progression of genetic, inflammatory, and genetic diseases.
- We launched the most innovative vision restoration programs, including prosthetic vision, cortical stimulation, gene therapy, and optogenetics, and performed first-in-human trials.
- We are developing novel patient-centered methods to assess the impact of visual impairment in real life and the transformative benefit of vision restoration, based on the quantification of daily activities in the StreetLab laboratory, the driving simulator, and incorporating the patient voice using narrative research methods.
- We provide fully integrated vision rehabilitation with leading, caring experts using our novel life-skills apartment, all novel technologies, including augmented reality.
- We are assessing and improving constantly the quality of care, using constant monitoring of multiple metrics and a digital twin approach.
- We offer the most advanced surgeries, including multidisciplinary, using high resolution, three-dimensional imaging for retinal surgery, novel lasers for cataract and refractive surgeries, novel drainage systems for glaucoma. Multidisciplinary teams are involved in very complex surgeries, bringing the best possible care to our patients.
- We are ensuring access to care is possible for all, continuing and expanding our community initiatives such as the Guerilla Eye Service, Mission of Mercy, Street Medicine, the EyeVan offered by the Brother’s Brother Foundation, and the constant commitment of our patient advocate. In parallel, we are analyzing the impact of social determinants of health and developing solutions to improve the follow-up of patients affected with complex, chronic conditions.
- At the Ron Salvitti Surgical Training Laboratory, we are training the current and next generations of surgeons in the most advanced techniques.
- For the past three years, we have offered community ophthalmology technician training programs and jobs. We have also trained Hillman Scholars from underserved communities to conduct scientific projects, and several of them have successfully applied to elite college programs.
- In its second year, our Gene Therapy Bootcamp has exposed a wide range of individuals to the most advanced methods, contributing to the building of a workforce in our region, and now growing into a national program.
- Several of us obtained major national and international awards and leadership positions:
- José-Alain Sahel, MD: Michaelson Prize; lecture and symposium from the Macula Society; the Black Pearl scientific award from the EURORDIS organization (over a thousand patient associations); the Fishman Award and lecture; several named lectures; and most importantly, the Wolf Prize in Medicine (with Botond Roska, Basel), one of the most important international recognitions
- Marlene Behrmann, PhD: John and Clelia Sheppard Chair in Ophthalmology; Dorothy J. Killam named lecture, Montreal Neurological Institute; 52nd Sir Frederic Bartlett Lecture, British Experimental Psychology Society
- Ellen Butts, OD: Young Optometrist of the Year 2024 from the Pennsylvania Optometric Society
- Jay Chhablani, MD: Invited as “Visiting Professor” at the University of Toronto; invited to deliver “Purnell Lecture” by the Department of Ophthalmology, Case Western University; accepted as a member of the prestigious Gonin Club, an exclusive and highly selective society that includes only the most distinguished retinal specialists worldwide
- Kun-Che Chang, PhD: Invited lectures at the RReSTORe Consortium Collaborative Grant awardee presentation at the University of Washington, Seattle; academic seminar at the Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan; Vision sciences seminar at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado
- Xing Chen, PhD: NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (DP2) from the Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program for Early-Stage Investigators; Wiegand Entrepreneurial Research Award; Invited lectures at the Joint I-BEAM BME & ECE seminar at Boston University; The Brain and The Chip, Elche, Spain; NPBH 2024 workshop on neuromorphic principles in biomedicine and healthcare in Baltimore; Optical Fall Vision meeting in York, UK; Bruce & Barbara Wiegand Entrepreneurial Research Award event, Pittsburgh; i2Eye meeting, Pittsburgh; Simian Collective, Pittsburgh; CMU Neural Engineering seminar series, Pittsburgh; Cognitive Psychology colloquium, Vrije University, Netherlands; Engineering Minds seminar, Rice University
- Deepinder Dhaliwal, MD, L.AC: Named President, International Society of Refractive Surgery; President-elect, Cornea Society; Past President and current Executive Committee and Board Member, Eye and Contact Lens Association; Recognized on the Ophthalmologist Power List 2024: Top 100 in the World; Visiting Professor, Northwell Health, NY; Cornell University; Jack M. Dodick Distinguished Visiting Professorship, NYU; Kramer Lecture, UCSF Ophthalmology Update; Program Co-Chair, World Cornea Congress IX; Invited member, TFOS DEWS III Management and Therapy Committee
- Andrew Eller, MD: Muse Award
- Marie-Helene Errera, MD, PharmD, PhD: Named member of the American Uveitis Society; Named Associate Editor for the Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection, Impact factor 2.9; Guest speaker to a virtual lecture at JIMSO (in Mauritius); Lectured at AAO in Chicago; Other lectures: American Uveitis Society, Fall meeting during AAO; i2Eye conference in Pittsburgh; Free papers presentation at the Winter American Uveitis Society; Rheumatology Ground Rounds at Children’s Hospital, Pittsburgh; Received a Hillman grant with Yuanyuan Chen, PhD and Shaohua Pi, PhD for Next-generation OCT-augmented tissue-based drug discovery for treating retinitis pigmentosa
- Matthew Pihlblad, MD: Invited lectures at WSPOS & the International Orthoptic Association and the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting
- Boris Rosin, MD, PhD: Gave the keynote lecture at the Chilean Ophthalmological Society Conference
- Ethan Rossi, PhD: Promoted to Associate Professor with tenure; invited lectures at Foundation Fighting Blindness VISIONS 2024 and 2024 International Society of Eye Researchers Biennial Meeting
- Robert M. Q. Shanks, PhD: Barbara and Bruce Wiegand Entrepreneurial Award; Director of the Charles T. Campbell Ophthalmic Microbiology Laboratory
- Marshall W. Stafford, MD: UPMC 2023-2024 Excellence in Patient Experience Award
- Andew M. Williams, MD: Award for Commitment and Excellence in Services (ACES) by UPMC; The Glaucoma Foundation and Research to Prevent Blindness Patricia Hill Fellowship was awarded to Dr. Bushra Usmani for her work with his lab with Dr. Williams as her mentor; Invited lecturer to Glaucoma Subspecialty Day at the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting
These are only some examples of the initiatives made possible by your support. This also demonstrated that the investment in our teams was leveraged and amplified multiple times.
Are we done now?
You know that the answer is no! These programs must continue and unfold. As long as people continue to be affected by blinding conditions, we must extend our efforts and launch new initiatives. Among many examples, we need to design and run innovative clinical trials for untreatable conditions, e.g., ultra-rare gene defects, advanced glaucoma, retinal degenerations, optic nerve trauma, and tumors, and ensure that our city is a place where all can benefit from such breakthroughs.
Thanks for your continued partnership.