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Department of Ophthalmology   

Thomas Mauger, MD, Chair

The Department of Ophthalmology sees more than 60,000 patients a year, mostly in the William H. Havener Eye Institute at the Ohio State University Hospital Clinic in Cramblett Hall. The Department also has sites in Dublin and at Ohio State University Hospital East. Faculty are involved in multicenter clinical trials funded by the National Eye Institute, as well as by industry. Basic science studies include investigation of the biomechanical properties of the cornea and sclera, and fundamental studies of cerebral spinal fluid outflow facility and its impact on idiopathic intracranial hypertension. In addition, the Department’s Molecular Genetics Program studies uveal melanoma. Scientists are investigating the MET gene, which they believe is a crucial factor for the high selectivity of eye melanomas and other cancers that spread to the liver. They hope to identify molecular markers to monitor for metastatic disease. If they can identify at-risk patients, early intervention should lead to better prognosis.


Ongoing Research Programs

  • Molecular Genetics of Uveal Melanomas – The Ophthalmic Oncology Division, under the leadership of Frederick Davidorf, MD, has long studied the prognosis of malignant melanoma of the choroid – the most common primary intraocular tumor found in adults – and has identified potential therapies and prognostic factors that could influence the course of this cancer. Molecular studies reveal striking genetic differences in tumor subtypes, even those with similar histopathological characteristics, which may explain
    why one patient with malignant melanoma is treated and cured while another patient dies of metastatic disease. Scientists hope their MRI imaging studies will provide a non-invasive modality to distinguish malignant from nonmalignant lesions and help monitor therapy – a multidisciplinary approach to managing malignant melanoma of the uvea that may lead to targeted therapy in high-risk patients.
  • Glaucoma Research, Memantine – The Department’s Glaucoma Division has completed its four-year participation in a clinical trial sponsored by Allergan to evaluate the safety
    and effectiveness of oral Memantine, which is in a class of drugs referred to as neuroprotectors, for treating glaucoma. In 1999, Allergan began recruitment for the Memantine clinical trial, enrolling 1,136 patients and involving clinics in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. As of September 2006, all patients had concluded their participation in this study and data analysis is under way, with results to be published in two years.
  • The Glaucoma Division also is in the final year of the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study, a 15-year multicenter clinical trial funded by the National Eye Institute-National Institutes of Health. The study has yielded important findings that will help prevent glaucoma and improve glaucoma management, leading to a significant decrease in vision loss from one of the top causes of blindness worldwide.
  • Neuro-Ophthalmology Research – Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a clinical condition of increased intracranial pressure (ICP) that causes severe headaches, tinnitus,
    blurred vision and transient visual obscurations; if left untreated, chronic increased ICP can compress the optic nerve head and permanently damage it, resulting in blindness. In IIH disturbed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), dynamics may result from an increased resistance to CSF outflow at the arachnoid granulations (AGs). Deborah Grzybowski, PhD,
    with graduate students David Holman and Shelley Glimcher, have modeled the outflow of CSF through human AGs using cell culture (in vitro) and whole tissue (ex vivo) perfusion
    models, in hopes that their work will shed light on the mechanism of fluid and protein transport through the human arachnoid membrane, create ways to increase CSF outflow,
    modulate clearance of undesired proteins and provide early disease intervention.
  • Retina Research: ARED Study 2 (PI: Alan Letson, MD; Co-PIs: Frederick Davidorf, MD; Susie Chang, MD; John Christoforidis, MD) – The Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2
    (AREDS2) is a multicenter, randomized clinical trial to assess the effects of oral supplementation of macular xanthophylls (lutein and zeaxanthin) and/or long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (docosahexaenoic acid) [DHA] and eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA]) on the progression to advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Another goal is to assess whether forms of the AREDS nutritional supplement with reduced zinc and/or no beta-carotene works as well as the original supplement in reducing the risk of progression to advanced AMD. Approximately 4,000 AREDS2 participants aged 50 to 85 years will participate who have either: 1) bilateral large drusen or 2) large drusen in one eye and advanced AMD (neovascular AMD or central geographic atrophy) in the fellow eye, and all participants will be offered additional treatment with the study formulation used in AREDS.
  • “Anterior Segment: Rates and Risk Factors for Fungal Keratitis Among Contact Lens Wearers” – After reports suggested an increase in fungal keratitis among contact lens wearers, the Centers for Disease Control launched an investigation into whether this increase is related to contact lens solutions that have been recently pulled from the market. This twopart study – led at Ohio State by Thomas Mauger, MD, principal investigator, along with Richard Lembach, MD, and Reyell Harder-Smith, DO – analyzes whether there is a link between contact lens wear and fungal keratitis. In part one, a
    retrospective review of all fungal keratitis cases since 2001 was performed and a chart review was conducted to determine what percentage of fungal keratitis cases was associated with contact lens use; part two is a prospective surveillance to determine whether there is a significant increase in contact lens-related fungal keratitis compared with historical experience.


Research Accomplishments of 2007

  • Through the philanthropy of Patti and Warner Blow, the Ophthalmic Oncology Division developed a multidisciplinary tumor service that includes clinical ophthalmology, human cancer genetics, medical oncology and basic molecular genetic research. Patients with choroidal melanomas have routine ophthalmological evaluations by the retina faculty, and systemic evaluations are conducted by Tom Olencki, DO, and Kari Kendra, MD, PhD, medical oncologists specializing in malignant melanomas. In the pretreatment evaluation, all ocular melanoma patients have imaging studies performed using high-resolution (3T, 7T) MRI technology available at Ohio State through the Department of Radiology.
  • Mohamed Abdel-Rahman, MD, PhD, directs molecular genetic research for the uveal melanoma study with assistance from Getachew Boru, PhD, and Andrew Kin. Notable
    milestones include finding several genetic markers that can identify aggressive uveal melanomas and can thus be used for early diagnosis of these tumors and as potential targets for therapy. Researchers in the Ophthalmic Oncology Division have also identified the higher frequency of some cancers (including colon cancer) in patients with uveal melanomas and their first-degree relatives; the scientists are examining genetic  alterations that could explain these findings.