Research Programs

The Rush Department of Ophthalmology is strongly committed to clinical and basic science research. The department actively engages in a variety of National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute, FDA and industry clinical trials. The Rush faculty lead the Chicagoland universities in the number of clinical trials both at Rush and within the individual private practices. Being leaders in clinical research is vital to enhancing the educational mission of the department at the resident and fellowship level, as well as within the citywide continuing medical education programs. The department receives funding from the NIH, the Illinois Society to Prevent Blindness, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Optobionics, Alcon Surgical, and Bausch & Lomb. Research activities are coordinated by Mathew W. MacCumber, MD, PhD, the associate chairman for research, and Bruce Gaynes, OD, PharmD, research coordinator. Two clinical coordinators perform the requirements of the various studies. Throughout the training period, support is available for resident and medical student research projects.

Current Multicenter Clinical Trials at Rush:

• The Artificial Retinal Implant Program
• Diabetes Retinopathy Clinical Research Network (DRCR)
• The Diabetic Macular Edema Vitrectomy Study
• Fluocinolone Implant in the Management of Diabetic Retinopathy and Uveitis
• The Intravitreal Steroid Injection Studies
• The Longitudinal Study of the Ocular Complications of Aids (L-SOCA)

The Artificial Retinal Implant Program
The Rush Department of Ophthalmology Retina Section is collaborating with Optobionics, Inc. in a landmark evaluation of a subretinal artificial vision prosthesis. In January 2000, the US government's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized Optobionics and Rush surgeons to implant an Artificial Silicon Retina device in 10 patients blind from retinitis pigmentosa in a two-year safety and feasibility study. The ASR device has been developed by Alan Y. Chow, MD, assistant professor of ophthalmology at Rush, and CEO of Optobionics. John S. Pollack, MD is the principal investigator of the project at Rush. Encouraging results in these 10 patients have been reported in the Archives of Ophthalmology. Presentation of data to the FDA has allowed an expansion of the trial to 20 additional patients at Rush, Emory University and Johns Hopkins University in fall 2004. Rush joins an elite team of vision prosthetic researchers in this country and abroad. The hope to someday develop a true vision prosthetic for patients blind from retinal degenerations may be in the grasp of researchers in the near future. The surgical research program has been featured in numerous lay press reports, including two 1-hour NBC Dateline shows.

Basic Science Research
The Rush Department of Ophthalmology engages in multiple basic science research laboratory studies within the Cohn Research Building.

Jerome R. Kuszak, PhD, is one of the world’s experts in lens physiology and cataract development. Under his leadership, the structural basis of lens opacification (cataract), lens structure/function relationships as a consequence of aging, cataract formation and ocular/systemic diseases, and fiber cell elongation/migration in normal lens and models of cataract are being investigated.

Shunbin Xu, MD, PhD, and his team are conducting adult stem cell research for retinal transplantation and for the management of a variety of retinal degenerations.

W. Frank Hughes, PhD, professor of anatomy, is actively studying responses of the retina to transient circulatory arrest (ischemia) in animal eyes. Attention is presently focused on responses of the retinal microcirculation during the postischemic period. The research may provide information specifically relevant to diseases of the eye that are complicated by angiogenic/vasoproliferative agents, e.g. in diabetes, age-related macular degeneration, vein occlusions, hypertensive disease, and retinopathy of prematurity.

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