We know that when clinicians and researchers work together, the resulting breakthroughs advance the future of eye care. The Eye and Vision Research Institute (EVRI) is capitalizing on the world renowned reputation of two vital entities: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai with its rich history of cutting edge science and a full spectrum of laboratories, institutes and centers across all disciplines, and New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, the oldest specialty hospital in America with a legacy of breakthroughs in clinical research and ocular imaging, augmented by deep expertise in clinical care.
Together, EVRI provides a singular place for faculty, researchers, post-doctoral fellows, and biostatisticians with overlapping research interests to share innovations in basic, translational, and clinical research. Our research partners are:
- Black Family Stem Cell Institute
- Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine
- Department of Neurology
- Friedman Brain Institute
- Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology
- Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute
Our Approach
- Our basic research aims focus on neuronal regenerative biology with an emphasis on photoreceptors and retinal ganglion cells, as well as the biology of aging as it relates to retina and optic nerve diseases, such as glaucoma. The overlap in these areas allows for multiple teams of bench researchers to work together to make valuable associations that advance both areas of research.
- Scientific studies of the human retinal diseases have often been limited by a lack of vitreous humor tissue samples. NYEE’s high surgical volume, which includes around 2,000 vitrectomies a year, will be a vital source of tissue samples and form the basis of EVRI’s vitreous bank. The establishment of a vitreous bank opens doors to a wealth of data and the capacity for molecular diagnostics of visual disorders, such as macular degeneration and other retina conditions.
- In addition to the vitreous bank, our multidisciplinary team of experts will utilize BioMe, Mount Sinai’s rich and expansive biobank, to inform groundbreaking investigations in outcomes research, pathogen discovery, and novel therapeutics.
- Drawing on the expertise and state-of-the-art ocular imaging technology of NYEE’s Einhorn Clinical Research Center, the Institute’s Optic Nerve Reading Center will be a valuable asset to glaucoma and neuro-ophthalmic clinical studies aimed at diagnosing diseases of the cornea, retina, optic nerve, and glaucoma.
- As national leaders in uveitis and neuro-ophthalmic research, with deep expertise in clinical trials methodology, our subspecialists will tap into the vast network of clinical resources and cross Departmental research initiatives at the Mount Sinai Health System to boost our roster of NIH-funded clinical trials and enrollees.
- Leveraging the rich resources available in the Nurses Health Study, Health Professional Follow-up Study and the Women’s Genome Health Study, the Institute's researchers will focus on the discovery of primary prevention strategies in the open-angle glaucomas. Ongoing studies have highlighted environmental risk factors for exfoliation syndrome, the most common form of secondary open angle glaucoma, and the role nitric oxide signaling plays in the pathogenesis of primary open angle glaucoma. And earlier work has contributed to resolving the complex genetic architecture of primary open-angle glaucoma.