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UIC Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
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Winter 2018
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PUBLICATIONS
To learn more about our faculty and their work, check out our annual report!
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Dear Colleagues and Friends,
As we make our way into 2018, I wish you and your families health and happiness, and I extend to you my utmost gratitude for all the tremendous work you have accomplished. A new year brings new opportunities - to research cutting-edge innovations; to enhance the patient experience by utilizing the most advanced technologies and customer advocacy; and to support the growth of our Department as we continue together in the fight to cure eye disease. I look forward to hearing of all your accomplishments throughout the year, and we will continue sharing your stories and successes here, in the EyeNews Report.
Kindest Regards,
Mark Rosenblatt, MD, PhD, MBA
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US News Best Hospitals Nominations
Please take a moment to vote for IEEI!
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2017 Inventor of the Year Award
Recipient of the 2017 UIC Inventor of the Year Award - Sandeep Jain, MD.
The Inventor of the Year Award honors an outstanding inventor or team of inventors at the University of Illinois at Chicago who have contributed to the development of intellectual property that significantly impacts their field and society. The award is given based on the criteria of creativity, novelty, and the commercial benefit to society.
Dr. Jain has worked tirelessly to bring new treatments for ocular diseases through the commercialization process. His innovative technology, brimonidine eyedrops, received Orphan Drug designation by the FDA, and he is currently spearheading the protocol development necessary for this technology to enter Phase II clinical trials. Earlier this year, Dr. Jain received a UIC Proof of Concept award to aid in further development of his DNase I eye drop technology, a treatment for ocular GVHD and for dry eye disease. Because of his hard work and commitment, this new technology is set to enter Phase I/II clinical trials. Finally, Dr. Jain has formed a startup company, ADVAITE, and recently submitted a Small Business Technology Transfer application to the NIH to support further development of treatments for ocular diseases.
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Dr. Ahmad Aref is quoted by
Reuters
in an article on a study that found drinking hot tea can reduce the risk for glaucoma.
Environmental factors could play a role in glaucoma risk as well, explained Aref, who was not involved in the study.
"It's a tough disease because we don't have a way to bring vision back once it's lost," Aref said. "All we can do is prevent it from getting worse, and we want to help patients do that."
Read the full article here.
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Grants for New and Ongoing Research Projects
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Deepak, Shukla, PhD, Innate and Adaptive Responses to HSV-2 Conjugated ZOTEN. An R21 funded by NIAID.
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Jason McAnany, PhD, Apparatus and Method for Noise-based Visual Sensitivity Measurement. Proof of Concept Award from UIC/Illinois Ventures.
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Talisa de Carlo, MD, (first-year resident) Demonstration of Leakage in Eyes with Diabetic Retinopathy Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography. Research grant from the VitreoRetinal Surgery Foundation.
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University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Ophthalmology. Continuation of Unrestricted Grant from Research to Prevent Blindness.
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The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in collaboration with Division of
Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, sponsored "The Chronic GVHD: Intersecting Aspects in Systemic and Ocular Surface Disease Meeting". The meeting was directed by Drs. Sandeep Jain and Damiano Rondelli. The Chronic GVHD Meeting received funding from the National Eye Institute/NIH through a R31 conference grant awarded to Sandeep Jain, MD. This meeting brought together clinicians, researchers and educators from all Chicago area Ophthalmology Departments and Hematology/Oncology programs as well as internationally renowned experts, for presentations and discussion of new advances and changing clinical practice in chronic GVHD.
The meeting addressed a difficulty that is intrinsic in the area of dry eye and ocular surface disease due to chronic ocular GVHD - the difficulty in disseminating information and developing new management strategies in a fast-changing discipline (science and clinical treatment of ocular GVHD) where the stakeholders come from multiple disparate pools (clinician, clinical trainees and researchers in ophthalmology, hematology, oncology and immunology). The meeting facilitated exchange of ideas across multiple clinical centers in the Chicago metropolitan region, and between the Chicago regionand scientists and clinicians elsewhere in the country. 20 senior established clinician scientists and 20 early career clinician scientists were invited for the meeting.
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L to R: Dimitri Azar, MD, MBA, Joelle Hallack, MS, PhD, Sandeep Jain, MD, Mark Rosenblatt, MD, PhD, MBA
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The meeting was attended by more than 150 participants and was very well received. "The conference was impeccably organized. I loved the idea of alternating BMT and ophthalmologist speakers. The quality was truly amazing. You are doing a great service not only for the patients and those who care for them but the scientific communities at large. Congratulations on a highly successful meeting. I look forward to 2019" commented Dr. Bruce Blazar, Regents Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation at the University of Minnesota and a member of the National Academy of Medicine. "I would like to thank you and your staff on behalf of our whole NIH team for the outstanding and invigorating conference in Chicago. This conference plays a major role in building the cohesion and ideas among our interdisciplinary community", said Dr. Steven Z. Pavletic, a Senior Clinician of Microbiology & Immunology and Head of the Graft-versus- Host and Autoimmunity Section in the Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Branch at the National Cancer Institute/NIH.
The next chronic GVHD meeting is scheduled for Saturday October 26, 2019.
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Above:
Co-director Sandeep Jain, MD, leads a panel discussion.
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Welcome Resident Class of 2022!
The Department is pleased to introduce our incoming ophthalmology residents, beginning their training at the IEEI in July 2019. These talented individuals stood out from an impressive field of applicants, and we look forward to seeing their future accomplishments. Welcome to the Class of 2022!
Andrea Arteaga Useche
Universidad Central de Venezuela - Escuela "Luis Razetti"
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Ricky Cui
Mayo Medical School
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Shawn Gulati
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine |
Kevin Heinze
University of Michigan
Medical School |
Yekaterina Joltikov
Sackler School of Medicine - New York
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Aaron Kaufman
Boston University
Medical School |
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Global Ophthalmology News
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The Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary's Division of Global Ophthalmology, under the direction of the Vice-Chair of Global Ophthalmology R.V. Paul Chan, MD, is now a proud member of The International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). The IAPB was established in 1975 as a coordinating umbrella organization to lead international efforts in blindness prevention activities. As a member, we are now part of the largest global eye health alliance. IAPB's mission is to achieve universal access to eye health through member collaboration that will maximize eye health care coverage at global and country level as well as promoting knowledge and awareness of the eye health sector.
For any questions about our membership and opportunities available through IAPB, please contact the Division's Administrative Manager, Jenny Baker.
Access our IAPB member page
here.
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Alumni Spotlight: Lisa Njim, MD, JD
This Alumni Spotlight proudly features Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary 08' Resident Alumnus, Lisa Njim, MD, JD, the recently appointed President Elect of Women in Ophthalmology (WIO). Dr. Lisa Nijm works as a board-certified ophthalmologist and corneal specialist at Warrenville EyeCare & LASIK in Warrenville, IL. After graduating from Benedictine University, Dr. Nijm went on to pursue a post-graduate education that uniquely combined her interests in patient care and health care policy advocacy. She pursued a 6 year dual M.D., J.D. degree at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and School of Law, a program designed to train physicians who believe a legal education will augment their primary career goals in medicine. In medical school, Dr. Nijm decided to become an ophthalmologist to be able to help patients improve their vision. She often quoted her father, Dr. William Nijm, a long-time internist in Warrenville, that she "will leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of curing disease and alleviating pain."
After completing residency here at the University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary and a top ranked corneal fellowship at the University of California at Davis, Dr. Nijm worked in underserved regions of central Illinois. She started a subspeciality clinic to serve corneal patients in Lincoln, IL and became the first surgeon in Central Illinois to perform Intralase (all laser) LASIK surgery, bringing state-of-the art care to patients in this underserved area. Dr. Nijm then decided to open her own practice in the Warrenville, to provide compassionate, expert eye care to patients in her hometown.
Given the changing environment of health care, Dr. Nijm also pursues opportunities to help outside of the office by devoting a substantial amount of time to advocate for her patients through organized medicine on a state and national level. With her unique background, Dr. Nijm wishes to utilize her knowledge and experience to help legislators shape health care policies that would be beneficial to patients, and preserve the physician-patient relationship.
Congratulations to Dr. Njim for receiving the esteemed role as President Elect of WIO, an organization dedicated to supporting women ophthalmologists!
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The 2017 Alumni Reception at the American Academy of Ophthalmology's annual meeting was a great success! Thank you to everyone who joined us in New Orleans this past November, and a special thank you to our IEEI 97' Resident Alumnus Dr. Joe Garber for his special presentation about our mentorship program! We had a wonderful evening with you, and we look forward to an even better Reception at this year's AAO meeting in Chicago!
Enjoy the following photos from the night! Additional photos can be found
here.
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11th Annual Illinois Eye Review
Saturday, February 24 - Friday, March 2, 2018
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11th Annual Retina Symposium
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Pediatric Ophthalmology for the
Non-Ophthalmologist Symposium
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2018 Alumni Reception at the AAO
October 28, 2018
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For more information and our full list of courses and events, visit:
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Exciting News Begins with You!
Our dedicated news team needs your exclusive insight! Honored with the task of sharing your remarkable stories, we are calling you to "Submit the News that Deserves the Views."
Wondering what is newsworthy? We want all of your patient stories, donor stories, alumni updates, milestones, staff highlights, research awards, conference updates, and everything else that deserves the spotlight. Just click on the News Submissions link and send us your story!
You can also find our News Submissions link on our Department website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
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Thank you to all of our patients and donors for their invaluable support in our mission to improve the quality of treatment for people suffering from vision loss.
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Proud Community Partner of the
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