Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences

Media Assistance: Jim Dryden Assoc. Dir. of Broadcast Services jdryden@wustl.edu (314) 286-0110

Long recognized as a leader in the Visual Sciences, the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis has established a tradition of excellence in academic medicine and research that stems from the early years of the 20th century and continues to guide us into the 21st. The Department's Eye Center is a referral and consultation facility that provides outstanding ophthalmic care to the citizens of St. Louis and the central mid-west. Our faculty are among the finest in the country and many conduct internationally-recognized research into the causes and prevention of eye disease.

News Stories & Tip Sheets:

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The way cells die matters to our bodies How cells die determines whether immune system mounts response (http://mednews.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/12011.html) July 17, 2008 -- Every moment we live, cells in our bodies are dying. One type of cell death activates an immune response while another type doesn't. Now researchers at the School of Medicine and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis have figured out how some dying cells signal the immune system. They say the finding eventually could have important implications in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer.

Visual awareness World Glaucoma Day set for March 6 (http://mednews.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/11171.html) Feb. 27, 2008 -- Physicians and glaucoma researchers in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the School of Medicine will join eye-care professionals around the world on March 6, 2008, to observe the first World Glaucoma Day. The global initiative is aimed at raising awareness of glaucoma, a disease of the optic nerve that affects 65 million people worldwide.

Battling blindness Immune cell age plays role in retinal damage in age-related macular degeneration (http://mednews.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/10471.html) Nov. 1, 2007 -- Apte Download Studying a mouse model of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older Americans, scientists at the School of Medicine have found age is key in determining whether damaging blood vessels will form beneath the retina and contribute to vision loss. The scientists, led by principal investigator Rajendra Apte, discovered that specific immune cells called macrophages play a role in the disease process in older mice by failing to block the development of abnormal, leaky blood vessels behind the retina.

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Faculty Experts:

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Michael Kass Professor of Ophthalmology (http://mednews.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/206.html) Kass Download Michael A. Kass, M.D., is an expert on the prevention and treatment of glaucoma in patients at risk for the blinding eye disease. Expertise: Glaucoma, glaucoma prevention, ocular hypertension, opthalmology Media assistance: (314) 286-0110 / jdryden@wustl.edu

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Related News Clips:

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The Cataracts Are Gone -- and So Is the Need for Glasses U.S. News & World Report Dec. 17, 2007 -- For the millions of baby boomers who will eventually need cataract surgery, here's some cheering news: New types of implantable lenses promise to restore your youthful vision. Unlike the standard single-power lenses doctors have been implanting for 30 years, the newer multifocal intraocular lenses and accommodating lenses allow patients to see near, far, and in between--and even to shed their glasses. WUSTL ophthalmology professor Jay Pepose talks about one of the options.

Scientists learning to eavesdrop on the language of cells Kansas City Star and 14 others July 28, 2005 -- Thanks to recent technological advances, scientists are learning to eavesdrop on the "language" of cells and decipher their "grammar." Much is still unknown, but the research could lead to new treatments for cancer, Parkinson's, epilepsy and many other diseases. Cells communicate with one another by exchanging tiny chemical messengers called "transmitters" and "transporters." Familiar examples are the hormones adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, estrogen and testosterone. WUSTL Center for Genome Sciences director Jeffrey Gordon and WUSTL ophthalmologist Russell Van Gelder comment.

Weapons in the war on glaucoma The New York Times and 1 others June 22, 2004 -- Daily eye drops might prevent or delay glaucoma in black Americans at high risk of developing this blinding eye disease, according to a new School of Medicine study. The findings make an urgent case for screening blacks early for warning signs of glaucoma. Open-angle glaucoma affects more than 2 million Americans and is the leading cause of blindness among African-Americans. Michael Kass, M.D., professor of ophthalmology at the School of Medicine, had shown in a previous study that prescription eye drops that lower pressure in the eye could warn off glaucoma in white Americans. The new study is the first to focus on blacks.

St. Patrick's real life more fascinating than the myths The New York Times and 9 others April 26, 2004 -- "It seems that I've become something of a celebrity in recent years," the Romano-British churchman Patricius observed near the end of his long career, perhaps foreseeing the extravagant emerald mantle that would be wrapped about him by the cult of St. Patrick. In this lively and lucid biography, Philip Freeman, who teaches classics at Washington University in St. Louis, draws on the saint's surviving letters, including the eloquent "Confession," to glean personal details of Patrick's life and fit them into what is known of early Irish history. "Driving the snakes out of Ireland, entering contests to the death with pagan Druids, using the shamrock as an aid to explaining the Trinity -- all these are pious fictions created centuries later by well-meaning monks," Freeman writes. "The true story of Patrick is far more compelling than the medieval legends." Patrick was neither Ireland's first Christian nor the country's first bishop. Patrick apologized for his lack of learning, for writing Latin "as if it were a foreign language," but he enriched his faith by bringing to it a race of stern confessors and exuberant artists.

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