Click keywords for a filtered list of faculty (alphabetically by first name) conducting research on specific topics.
Pediatric Ophthalmologist and Strabismus Specialist: Dr. Alejandra de Alba is a pediatric ophthalmologist who specializes in strabismus (abnormal eye alignment). Her expertise in patient care and interests in research include…
Molecular Mechanisms that Mediate Glial Barrier Function: Glial barriers form at the boundary of healthy nervous system tissue where they control exchange of substances with the surrounding fluids, form a protective barrier to seal off damaged areas…
Effective Therapies for Inherited and Age-Related Macular Degenerations: Research in the Lakkaraju laboratory builds on fundamental insights from retinal cell biology to develop effective therapies for inherited and age-related macular…
Understanding multiple sclerosis (MS) and related disorders: Division Chief of one of the largest research groups in the world, Dr. Green is dedicated to understanding multiple sclerosis (MS) and related disorders…
Treatment of Eye Tumors and Disorders of the Retina and Vitreous: Dr. Armin Afshar is a vitreoretinal surgeon and ocular onologist on the UCSF faculty, with an academic career blending clinical practice, research, teaching and administration…
Cataract Surgery and Resident Education: Dr. Naseri has two primary research interests: cataract surgery and resident education. His work within cataract surgery has been focused primarily on the prophylaxis of endophthalmitis…
Epidemiologic methods for disease elimination with a focus on trachoma: Dr. Arnold is an infectious disease epidemiologist and biostatistican. His research group focuses on clinical trial methodology, causal inference, and serologic surveillance…
Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatment and New Retinal Therapies: Dr. Bhisitkul is a vitreoretinal specialist who in collaboration with UCSF’s bioengineering group has developed a novel thin-film drug delivery system that can produce long term…
Therapeutic Approaches to Genetic Disease: Dr. Conklin uses induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, both from patients and engineered to have particular mutations to model human disease. His lab is developing…
Chronic Inflammatory Eye and Orbital Diseases: Dr. Bryan J. Winn is an ophthalmologist who specializes in oculoplastic surgery: treating disorders of the eyelid, tear drainage system, and orbit (cavity containing the eye)…
Infectious Disease and Strategies for Trachoma Elimination: Dr. Oldenburg is an infectious disease epidemiologist who uses randomized controlled trial designs to evaluate antibiotic-based interventions to prevent childhood…
Diagnosis and Treatment of Glaucoma: Dr. Sun is a glaucoma specialist whose research focuses on big data and pragmatic clinical trials to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma and other ocular conditions…
Visual Recovery and Adaptations to Early Visual Loss: Dr. Hoyt's major research interests have been in the areas of visual deprivation states, brain injuries in children, and strategies for visual recovery and/or adaptations to early visual loss…
Devices and Technologies that Address Unmet Needs in Ophthalmology: Dr. Schwartz is a vitreoretinal surgeon whose research has focused on the development devices and technologies that address unmet needs in ophthalmology. In collaboration with…
Neural Adaptations that Occur in the Childhood Disease of Strabismus: Dr. Adams is a visual neuroscientist specializing in binocular vision in humans and non-human primates. He uses psychophysical, behavioral, electrophysiological, and anatomical techniques…
Light Exposure on Behavior, Neural Development and Vascular Maturation: Dr. Copenhagen's research focuses on understanding where and how visual experience exerts its actions on the refinement of the neural retina and the ocular vasculature…
Cornea, Ocular Infectious Disease and Surgical Techniques: Dr. Hwang’s research interests include development of new surgical techniques in corneal, refractive, and cataract surgery; clinical trials in cornea and ocular infectious disease…
Retinal Repair Following Inherited and Age-Associated Degeneration: Dr. Lamba leads an NIH-funded lab focused on using human pluripotent stem cells for retinal repair following inherited and age-related degenerations for cell replacement or disease modeling…..
Studying the biological functions of the extracellular matrix and its role in human disease: The Gould lab uses diverse and cutting edge approaches (genetics, cell biology, physiology, biochemistry, advanced imaging etc.) to understand pathogenic mechanisms….
Pediatric Optometrist who Cares for Children of All Ages: Dr. Elise Harb is a pediatric optometrist who cares for children of all ages. She assesses their visual development and ensures they have the vision needed to learn in school…
Synapse Formation and Function in the Visual System: Dr. Ullian, Professor of Ophthalmology, studies molecular mechanisms that regulate synapse formation and function in the visual system. He has used cell culture systems to screen for genes…
Renowned Retina Specialist, Surgeon and Inventor: Dr. de Juan is a renowned retina specialist and surgeon. His research focuses on medical and surgical treatments for ocular disorders, including advances in ocular drug…
Mechanisms of the anatomical and functional changes to the retina following photoreceptor loss: The Dunn lab aims to advance understanding of retinal synaptogenesis and signal pathway regulation that could enable future therapies….
Technology for Peripheral Retinal Imaging: We are developing new techniques and technologies to examine the peripheral retina in an effort to detect early changes in retinal disease…
Infectious Eye Diseases and Dry Eye Conditions: Seitzman's research focuses on infectious eye diseases and dry eye conditions. In particular, she is interested in how modern DNA sequencing techniques and advanced imaging methods…
High resolution retinal imaging in inherited retinal degeneration: Dr. Duncan's translational research uses adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) imaging of human photoreceptors to studying changes in cone structure and function…
Reducing the Global Burden of Blindness: Dr. Keenan is an epidemiologist and ophthalmologist with clinical specialties of cornea and uveitis. His research focuses on strategies to reduce the global burden of blindness, with…
AI tools for glaucoma diagnosis and management: Dr. Shan is a glaucoma specialist and medical engineer whose research aims to leverage computational innovations such as artificial intelligence to broaden access to glaucoma care and vision…
Diagnosis and Management of Infectious and Non-Infectious Inflammatory Eye Conditions: Dr. Gonzales's interest involves the diagnosis and management of infectious and non-infectious inflammatory conditions of the eyes (uveitis)…
Neural Mechanisms Underlying Visual Loss: Jonathan C. Horton, MD, PhD specializes in neuro-ophthalmology, pediatric ophthalmology, strabismus, and the treatment of double vision…
Prevention and Treatment of Myopia and its Complications: Dr. Jonathan Li is a comprehensive ophthalmologist subspecializing in the field of myopia, focusing on childhood myopia control as well as refractive and cataract surgery. He is the first…
Ophthalmic plastic (eyelid, lacrimal, orbit) clinician and researcher: Dr. Jonathan Lu brings expertise in clinical care and research on orbital inflammation, artificial intelligence, thyroid eye disease, and ocular oncology…
Anterior Segment Disease and Refractive Surgery: Dr. Julie Schallhorn is an ophthalmologist who treats cataracts and diseases of the cornea. Schallhorn's research focuses on the study of anterior segment disease and refractive surgery…
Medical and Surgical Treatment of Children: Dr. Oatts's research focuses on the most accurate ways to measure eye pressure in children…
Mechanisms of Glaucoma and Ocular Growth: The Nair lab studies the genetics and biology of ocular diseases with a primary focus on glaucoma and relevant phenotypes. Glaucoma is a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by…
Strabismus, Amblyopia and Other Eye Disorders: In addition to treating patients, Shirazi is a researcher with the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group, a collaborative network of ophthalmologists and optometrists funded by…
Retinal Development and Regeneration: We investigate the gene regulatory networks that control retinal neuron development. Insights from this work inform novel therapeutic strategies to restore vision using stem cells…
Treatments for Strabismus and Keratoconus: Dr. Maanasa Indaram is a pediatric ophthalmologist and adult strabismus specialist. She is the Medical Director of UCSF’s Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus…
Curriculum innovation in medical education: Dr. Yung's research primarily focuses on medical education. She has developed and validated numerous curricular innovations in ophthalmology for residents and medical students…
Diabetic Eye Care & Medical Retinal Specialist and Cataract Surgeon: Dr. Manvi P Maker is a medical retinal specialist, with specialized training from Harvard's Joslin Diabetes Institute, Beetham Eye Institute…
Translational neuro-ophthalmologist: Dr. Marc H. Levin is a physician scientist with expertise in elucidating mechanisms of ocular physiology and disease in order to identify, validate, and translate new therapies, with focus on neuro-ophthalmologic disorders…
Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Corneal Injury, Inflammation, and Repair: Dr. Chan is focused on the role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in modulating various aspects of corneal repair after injury including inflammation, neovascularization, and fibrosis. She is…
The Molecular Basis of Ciliopathies: The Nachury lab studies the primary cilium, a hair-like projection of the cell that is required for vision, olfaction and developmental signaling….
Diagnostic and prognostic markers of ocular neoplasms: Dr. Pekmezci's translational research focuses on the molecular and immunohistochemical markers used in the diagnosis and prognostication of retinoblastoma, ocular surface neoplasm and uveal melanoma….
Diagnosing Complex and Unusual Eye Diseases: As director of one of the world’s top eye pathology laboratories, UCSF Ocular Pathology, Dr. Bloomer consults with ophthalmologists across the country to diagnose complex…
Ocular Surface Electrophysiology: Dr. Pasricha's research applies ocular surface electrophysiology to study ion transport and develop novel diagnostic tests and transporter-targeted therapeutics for dry eye disease…
Medical Education Research: Dr. Parikh is interested and involved with medical education research, specifically dealing with the field of ophthalmology, both in undergraduate and graduate medical education…
Ocular Inflammatory Diseases and Uveitis: Dr. Acharya is the Elizabeth C. Proctor Distinguished Professor at the F.I. Proctor Foundation and Departments of Ophthalmology, Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF and the Director of the Uveitis and Ocular…
Enhancing Glaucoma Management and Expanding Ophthalmology Workforce Diversity: Dr. Knight is developing clinical tools to meet the unmet need of 24-hr IOP monitoring and addressing disparities in eye care by recruiting a more diverse ophthalmology workforce…
Diagnosing Glaucoma Early to Prevent Vision Loss: Dr. Robert Stamper is an ophthalmologist who specializes in glaucoma and cataract surgery. He serves as director of the UCSF Glaucoma Clinic. Stamper's research…
Surgical Simulation and Cataract Surgery Teaching Methodology: Dr. Saras Ramanathan is the Division Chief of Comprehensive Ophthalmology who specializes in the surgical treatment of cataracts, particularly complex cases…
Mathematical models of trachoma, healthcare associated infections, and antimicrobial resistance: My research focuses on mathematical models of trachoma elimination, SARS-CoV-2 emergence, epidemiology of healthcare associated infections and ecological drivers of antimicrobial resistance…
Pediatric anterior segment and cornea transplantation: Dr. Simon Fung specializes in cataracts and corneal diseases in children and adults. His research focuses on complex corneal diseases, advanced diagnostics, and innovative treatments…
McLeod Research: Research interests include the study of improved strategies for diagnosis and management of eye infections and advanced cataract and refractive surgery technology….
Strabismus: Dr. Namgalies's research focus is strabismus – or eye misalignment. In children Strabismus can cause amblyopia, or poor visual development, in the eye that isn't straight. This can…
Management of Glaucoma and Diabetic Retinopathy: Litvin's research focuses on developing and applying novel diagnostic techniques in the management of glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, a condition in which…
Trachoma, Childhood Mortality, and Corneal Ulcer Treatment and Prevention: His research group has considerable experience with individual and community-randomized trials of trachoma, childhood mortality, and corneal ulcer treatment and prevention…
Ocular Infection and Inflammation, Microbiomes, and Antimicrobial Resistance: Dr. Doan is the Director of the Ralph and Sophie Heintz Laboratory. Her current research uses genomic technologies to characterize microbiomes, antimicrobial resistance, and…
Treatment of Pediatric Eye Disorders and Surgical Education: Dr Tiffany A Chen is a specialist in pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus. She provides clinical care for all pediatric eye disorders including amblyopia, strabismus…
Trachoma, Ebola Virus Disease, Measles, and Other Communicable Diseases: Dr. Porco is a mathematical epidemiologist and biostatistician who has contributed to projects involving trachoma, Ebola virus disease, measles, and other communicable diseases…
Advanced Optical Methods for Studying Eye Disease: Dr. Kim is a clinician-scientist with a background in biological and optical engineering, vascular development, and ophthalmology. He is passionate about innovation and his research centers on studying…
The molecular and cellular basis of neural circuit wiring and rewiring: Dr. Duan’s goal is to reconstruct neural circuits and restore normal function in the setting of neuronal injury. Trainees will develop skills in imaging using confocal microscopy…
Novel Microfluidic Meshworks for Use in Glaucoma Drainage Implants: Dr. Han is a glaucoma specialist whose research addresses the need for improved and fibrosis-free surgical implants for glaucoma. In collaboration with bioengineers and material sciences…
Studying the structure-function relationship between collagen and its biosynthetic molecules: My research goal is to investigate how the cells produce structurally and functionally certified collagens….
Cellular and Synaptic Mechanisms of Glaucomatous Neurodegeneration: The Ou laboratory studies the cellular and synaptic mechanisms of glaucomatous neurodegeneration. We are particularly interested in understanding the earliest steps of inner retina…
