Expansive vision

Stanford ophthalmology is growing

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Visionary: Sight solutions

It’s a good time for ophthalmology at Stanford.

Stanford’s ophthalmology department, the Byers Eye Institute, established a new center for vision research this summer. The Mary M. and Sash A. Spencer Center for Vision Research will focus on developing new treatments for debilitating and common eye diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration.

The center will help support the research of the Byers Eye Institute by creating interdisciplinary teams of experts in genetics, imaging, stem cells and neurobiology, as well as ophthalmology. It will also focus on developing new diagnostic and screening methods.

The Byers Institute treats patients from around the world who seek the latest therapies for eye disorders such as uveitis, ocular oncology, cataracts and corneal diseases. The institute’s faculty has grown 50 percent in the past year to 45 members (and is still recruiting), and its laboratory research and clinical trials are internationally known for their innovation.