Retinal Imaging and Laser Laboratory

Dr. Dirk Uwe Bartsch is director of imaging and lasers at the Jacobs Retina center. His laboratory has helped to develop scanning laser instruments to improve our ability to image and detect disease in the retina. He works with the entire Jacobs Retina team on many studies including clinical trials. He has been the recipient of major grant awards from the Whittaker Foundation and from the National Eye Institute.

He is currently working on new studies of diabetic retinopathy and on new ways to measure retinal damage in HIV disease. He is also working to develop higher resolution instrumentation to further improve our ability to view the retina and ultimately to image individual cells in the living human eye.

Retinal Transplantation Research and Nanotechnology

Dr. Gabriel Silva is a bioengineer who recently joined our faculty and the UCSD community. His research effort is housed in the Jacobs Retina center and he has joint appointments in the Ophthalmology department as well as in the Bioengineering department of the engineering school here at UCSD.

He is working on regenerating retinal tissue that has been damaged in patients with macular degeneration and hereditary diseases like retinitis pigmentosa. This is being done by developing self-assembling gels, which express signaling molecules that allow stem cells and related cells to be directed to and repopulate damaged areas.

Retinal Pharmacology and Advanced Therapeutics Lab

Dr. Lingyun Cheng works closely with Dr. Karl Hostetler and members of the School of Engineering and Chemistry (Dr. Michael Sailor) on new drugs and delivery systems which can be applied to or within the eye to treat retinal disease. He co-directs the ocular pharmacology laboratory at the Jacobs Retina Center. Dr. Cheng has published many articles on new ways to package drugs prior to placement in the eye and to provide long lasting treatment for many months of a variety of retinal diseases. He is an expert in the evaluation of retinitis, macular holes and other important retinal conditions.

Retinal Gene Therapy Laboratory

Dr. David Williams is on the Staff of the Jacobs Retina center and is a Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscience at UCSD. He has made important inroads into Gene therapy for Ushers syndrome and in the future, we hope to be treating these patients with the gene therapy agents he is currently working on.

Clinical Trials

At the clinical trials and treatment center on the first floor, we study new treatments for retinal disease. Patients are followed closely and cared for by the clinical trials coordinators, Denie Cochran, Luzandra Magana, Megan Loughran, and Debbie Powell. We specialize in visual function and diagnostic testing procedures to facilitate the best possible clinical trial outcomes.

We work directly with Dr. Freeman, his associates and a variety of prominent pharmaceutical, laser and imaging companies to evaluate vision function while patients are being evaluated with new advanced treatments. We are currently studying new drugs for Macular Degeneration (both wet and dry) Diabetic eye disease, Non Infectious Uveitis, Macular edema and ocular tumors. Upcoming trials include Stem Cell therapy for Retinitis Pigmentosa, and longer lasting treatments for diseases such as Macular Degeneration and Diabetic Macular Edema.

The clinical research center is equipped with the latest diagnostic equipment, some of which is available nowhere else in the United States. It is a comfortable setting where personal care is emphasized.

We are constantly improving our diagnostic and therapeutic treatments for patients with our collaborations in basic science research at our center, throughout UCSD and the San Diego and wider biotechnology community. We are on the forefront of a new era in treatments for eye diseases. Call us to make an appointment today!

New Treatment Testing

Our clinical studies and treatment testing are currently ongoing in the following areas:

• Wet Macular Degeneration
• Dry Macular Degeneration
• Diabetic Retinopathy
• Retinal Vein Occlusion
• Infectious Retinitis
• Retinal Detachment
• Retinal Tumors
• Uveitis Intraocular Inflammation

Genetic Retinal Diseases

Dr. Ayyagari and her research group are performing studies on molecular genetics and therapeutics of retinal degenerations.  This includes retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other retinal diseases with genetic basis.  These studies involve cloning disease genes, understanding the molecular mechanism underlying the disease process, identification of potential therapeutic targets and developing therapies.  She also heads molecular diagnostic testing at the Shiley Eye Center.   She is funded by the National Eye Institute, the Foundation for Fighting Blindness, and Research to Prevent Blindness.  Dr. Ayyagari is participating in laboratory and clinical studies of these diseases with the Jacobs Retina Center group.  She has published extensively in this area, and is an international recognized expert in this field.

Dr. Ayyagari has a joint appointment in the Department of Pathology, UCSD.  She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Foundation for Fighting Blindness, National Diagnostic Genotyping Network (NEI), and Indo-US Joint Working Committee (NIH).