J. Mark Petrash, Ph.D. (Director)

DEPARTMENT OF Ophthalmology & Visual Science
Keywords: ophthalmology, cell biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, clinical research

The Vision Research Center in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Washington University provides essential services for faculty members with research interests in vision. The center facilitates interactions between investigators and makes it possible for them to advance their ongoing research, most of which is supported by individual research grants from the National Eye Institute.

Many age-related eye diseases that result in vision loss are studied within the Vision Research Center. Examples of ongoing research include: the photobiology of cataract formation; the role of proton pumps in aqueous humor and cerebrospinal fluid production/autoimmune optic atrophy; the etiology and pathogenesis of uveitis; the role of neurochemical receptors in visual phototransduction; the transplantation of photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium in hereditary diseases of the retina; the role of oncogenes in ocular melanoma; immunity to cytomegalovirus retinitis; the epidemiology and treatment of glaucoma; the regulation of lens crystalline gene expression; viral gene expression in retinal and neuronal tissues; the immunologic rejection of penetrating keratoplasty; the reactivation mechanisms of herpes simplex virus within the cornea; the role of aldose reductase in abnormalities associated with diabetes; the protection of the retina and optic nerve from ischemic injury by polyamines and NMDA receptors; and visual and motor information processing in the child.

Many of these research programs have immediate clinical applications. These opportunities are being pursued aggressively to extend our knowledge from basic science to the treatment of clinically significant ocular diseases.