From the Desk of Ian Conner
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elcome to our Spring 2022 edition of the UPMC Eye Center Alumni Outreach newsletter! As the winter finally thaws and the days stretch longer, we want to share with you some of our exciting developments here in Pittsburgh.
As you know, we are blessed with a diverse and growing faculty across the entire spectrum of ophthalmic clinical specialties and research. We are proud to share some of their recent accomplishments, including awards, grant funding, and publications. This fall, we were blessed to have the opportunity to participate in the annual Pittsburgh Mission of Mercy clinic, held over three days in October at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Over 300 community members were served with free eye care during the event, which we hope to grow in future years. Finally, we are pleased to include a conversation with one of our best known and beloved alumni, John Sheppard. John generously shares his story, including some valuable insights gained from his time in ophthalmology.
Ian Conner, MD, PhD
We hope to see many of you in person in the year ahead. Make sure to check out the “Save the Dates” page for upcoming events. All the best, Ian Conner, MD, PhD Chief of the Glaucoma Service Director of the Glaucoma Fellowship Associate Program Director of the Residency UPMC Eye Center
In This Issue From the Desk of Ian Conner
1
2021 Faculty Awards
8
Vision Care Joins Mission of Mercy
2
Ophthalmology Alumni Spotlight
9
2021 Faculty Grants
3
Webinar Information
Back Cover
Save The Date
7
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Vision Care Joins Mission of Mercy For three years, Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh has hosted a two-day clinic providing free dental care to the underserved members of the community. This year, free vision care was also offered, courtesy of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh. “It was a tremendous, tremendous success,” said Lawton Snyder, CEO of The Eye & Ear Foundation of Pittsburgh (EEF), which helped organize the vision clinic on October 22-23, 2021. It came about when Dr. José-Alain Sahel and Snyder were approached by Michael Zamagias, Chairman and CEO of TeleTracking and a founding sponsor of the Mission of Mercy (MOM) dental clinic, who suggested they team up and add a vision component. Unsure as to whether it would work with MOM’s overall mission and the large number of patients, it was set up as a pilot project. Since MOM was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19, this year was the first joint clinic. Next year there will be a third clinic, with Dr. Jonas Johnson, Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology, committing to add hearing, ear, nose, and throat. When patients arrived for the dental clinic, they were offered a free vision exam. Of the estimated 1,000 patients seen at the event, a third opted to have their eyes checked. Almost 300 pairs of glasses were ordered, and 100 patients need follow up for more serious vision issues. Appointments were made for dozens of patients at the Eye Center. “That would mean that we touched the lives of about half of the patients who expected to be seen only for dental services,” Dr. Waxman – who coordinated and planned the eye clinic — said in an email thanking 40 volunteers. “Imagine how many people we could reach if we had advertised. This success will help us, and you, in preparing for an even larger scale event next year, and work on local initiatives throughout the year.” By all accounts, the clinicians, students, and volunteers were enthusiastic, and patients were grateful. One volunteer noted the clear need for vision care and how amazing it was to watch people pick out glasses.
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“One gentleman told me he had not had an eye exam since 1987 and did not expect to have one since he was only anticipating dental care,” said Dana McGinnis-Thomas, Department of Ophthalmology Patient Navigator. “He was thrilled.” EEF board member Nancy Washington recalled the cheer and kindness shown by the doctors and staff, even after hours of backto-back examinations. She won’t forget the little boy who was translating for his mother who spoke only Spanish. The sight of Dr. José-Alain Sahel conversing in French with a woman from Haiti still makes her smile. Snyder described a 10-year-old boy who had masking tape on the hinges of his glasses. When told he would be getting a new pair of glasses, he was bouncing with joy. Thanks to EEF donations, the vision clinic had all the needed in equipment. Six eye lanes of $34,000 in equipment were set up. ZEISS Corporation loaned imaging equipment worth $40,000. Glasses were donated by the Essilor Corporation at Dr. Sahel’s request. There is nothing like helping people who truly need it. “I hadn’t felt so good about something in a long time,” Snyder said.
2021 Faculty Grants Dr. Andrew Williams received the Research to Prevent Blindness and American Academy of Ophthalmology Award for IRIS® Registry Research in 2021. The grant supports selected investigators to use the IRIS Registry database and its analytic capabilities to further populationbased research in ophthalmology and blindness prevention. Clinical researchers are selected based on the potential of their original research to improve patient’s lives through research and innovation. Dr. Williams will use the IRIS Registry database to examine the clinical implications of loss of follow up in glaucoma. He hopes that understanding the extent of the problem of loss to follow up will help to inform future interventions to ensure glaucoma patients continue to receive needed care.
Dr. Ian Conner received a grant from the NIH for the Department’s participation in a trial to identify the optimal application of SLT therapy beginning at the time of diagnosis. Specifically, the goal of this study is to understand if SLT performed at low energy is as effective as SLT performed at standard energy, and also to see if repeating SLT at low energy once a year will prevent or delay the need for daily eye drop medications better than waiting for SLT to wear off before repeating it.
Dr. Robert Shanks received NIH funding to study the emergence of a subgroup of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria that cause more pathogenic ocular infections. The funding will allow Dr. Shanks along with the Charles T. Campbell Laboratory of Ophthalmic Microbiology and Anthony St. Leger to evaluate the microbiological and immunological mechanisms driving the pathogenic process caused by these bacteria. These studies may lead to improved clinical diagnosis and personalized medicine approach to improve patient outcomes within the rabbit optic nerve head.
Dr. Takaaki Kuwajima received the Alcon Research Institute Young Investigator Award for his research on optic nerve regeneration. The funded project is focused on the investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying RGC protection and axon regeneration by a novel combination therapy of FDA-approved drug, statins and an ECM-based reagent, MBV in the rodent optic nerve injury model. When completed, his results could help to give us a better understanding of how regenerative outcomes are enhanced, leading to development of a practical and effective regenerative approach for treatments of ocular trauma in humans.
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2021 Faculty Grants (continued) Dr. Kun-Che Chang received the Hillman Challenge Grants-Young Investigator from the Hillman Foundation to study the regulatory mechanism of retinal ganglion cell development and develop stem cell therapies for retinal ganglion cell loss. This work will result in a new strategy of cell replacement therapy for glaucoma and optic neuropathy.
Dr. Boris Rosin received the Career Development Award from the Foundation Fighting Blindness. The project will explore strategies for improving the outcomes of gene therapy for Inherited Retinal Disease (IRD) by means of activation of Central Nervous System visual pathways in a naturally occurring murine IRD model.
Dr. Eric Romanowski received a grant from Alcon Research LLC. to study the antiviral efficacy of topical formulations of povidone-iodine against adenovirus eye infections. Adenoviruses are the most common cause of epidemic viral conjunctivitis (“pink eye”) worldwide. As there is no FDA approved antiviral treatment for these infections, the development of an effective topical antiviral would reduce patient suffering and vision altering corneal opacities as well as reducing the potential spread of the infections within families and the community. Dr. Romanowski also received a grant from Oyster Point Pharma to investigate the antibacterial activity of bacteriophages (viruses that infect and kill bacteria) on bacteria isolated from patients with blepharitis (infections of the eyelids). Bacteria isolated from blepharitis patients are frequently resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat these infections. Bacteriophages represent a potential novel treatment for patients with blepharitis. Dr. Romanowski received an additional grant from American Genomics, LLC to study the antibacterial potential of a new ocular anesthetic to be used in eye surgeries and injections. Currently, patients undergoing eye injections receive several eye drops including an antiseptic, which is irritating, and an anesthetic afterward. Should this novel anesthetic demonstrate antibacterial activity, it could serve a dual purpose as an anesthetic and antiseptic and therefore potentially eliminate the need for the irritating antiseptic drop.
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2021 Faculty Grants (continued) Dr. Ian Sigal received a grant from the NIH to study the blood vessels of the back of the optic nerve head and how they are affected by intraocular pressure. The project is a collaboration with Drs. Jakobs and Rizzo of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear. Dr. Sigal was also awarded a prestigious Stein Innovation Award by Research to Prevent Blindness. The award supports high-risk projects with the potential to transform treatment of a disease. The project goal is to develop a novel therapeutic approach to glaucoma through modulating the mechanical properties of the tissues. Dr. Sigal was awarded a Hillman Foundation grant to develop Super-resolution ultrasound techniques to measure blood flow in the optic nerve head. This project is a collaboration with Drs. Kang Kim from Bioengineering and Ian Conner, a glaucoma clinician in Ophthalmology.
Dr. Shivalingappa (Shiva) Swamynathan received an NIH RO1 grant to study the ocular surface functions of SLURP1, which they previously identified as an immunomodulatory peptide that is abundantly expressed by the cornea and secreted into the tear film. In this project, they will test if SLURP1 suppresses corneal angiogenic inflammation and neutrophil recruitment by regulating the TGF-beta and urokinase activities that promote NF-kappaB-mediated production of pro-inflammatory molecules. By elucidating promising new information related to the immunomodulatory functions of SLURP1, anticipated outcomes of this project offer the potential for validating a novel therapeutic target for inflammatory disorders of the ocular surface that account for a significant burden on our healthcare system.
Dr. Gary Yam received a grant from the Hillman Breakthrough Research on the Funderburgh Corneal Regeneration Project to develop stromal cell-based therapy for corneal scarring. With the seminal discovery of corneal stromal stem cells, Yam and Funderburgh’s group has demonstrated the therapeutic success to repair scarred corneas and restore vision in preclinical models. This funding enables them to establish GMP protocols in manufacturing clinical-grade cells, develop quality control models to assure the safety and efficacy of cell products, and launch clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh. This innovative therapy will have a broad impact on patients with corneal scarring who are inaccessible to viable treatment options due to the global shortage of transplantable donor corneal tissues.
Dr. Susana da Silva received a grant from the Hillman Foundation Challenge Grants in the Young Investigator category. Leveraging the chick as a unique model for studying basic mechanisms underlying fovea development, this study aims at profiling the developing chick high acuity area at both transcriptomic and epigenomic levels with single-cell resolution. Given the molecular conservation of early retinoic acid signaling in both chick and human fovea, datasets obtained in this project can provide insights into understanding why the fovea is so prone to neurodegenerative diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, and aid in the development of cell-based or gene-based regenerative therapies of the human fovea.
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2021 Faculty Grants (continued) Dr. Anthony St. Leger received a Hillman Challenge Grant for his study that aims to genetically engineer an ocular bacterium to deliver naturally derived therapeutics to the ocular surface. For this work, the lab is focusing on delivering interleukin (IL)-10--a factor that suppresses excessive inflammation and promotes wound healing--to the ocular surface. When completed, this project will be a proof-of-concept that ocular bacteria can be genetically engineered to promote ocular surface health and homeostasis. Dr. St. Leger also received R01 funding from the NIH for his study that aims to understand how ocular surface commensal bacteria colonize the eye and induce protective immune responses. The focus is on Corynebacterium mastitidis (C. mast), which is known to colonize the eye and induce an immune response. Dr. St. Leger and his team have created a C. mast mutant library, so that they will be able to identify specific genes that are responsible for colonization and stimulating the immune system. They will be able to use the data from this grant to better understand what makes an ocular bacterium an eye colonizer or a transient passenger. Dr. Yiqin Du received a grant from the PSF/MTF Biologics Allograft Tissue Research Grant for her research to differentiate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into functional cells for wound healing. This research is in collaboration with Dr. Mario Solari at Plastic Surgery who is the principal investigator to combine the unique stem cell biology and tissue engineering techniques and to make specific allograft tissues to promote scarless wound healing.
Dr. Debasish Sinha received a grant from UPMC Enterprises for his project titled “Cryba1 Gene Therapy for Nonexudative Age Related Macular Degeneration”. The main goal of this project is to is to develop Cryba1 (encodes for bA3/A1-crystallin), into a novel gene therapy for dry AMD. Previous data clearly show that bA3/A1-crystallin can rejuvenate the impaired lysosomal function observed in AMD-like animal models and is a viable strategy for treating dry AMD. Dr. Sinha also received funding from the Wiegand Entrepreneurial Research Award for his project titled “Targeting Lipocalin-2 (LCN-2) as a therapy for age-related macular degeneration (AMD)”. Previous publications and unpublished results indicate an importance of LCN-2 in retinal degeneration and inflammation activation as seen in atrophic AMD. LCN-2 is highly upregulated in RPE samples from human AMD donors at the early stages of the disease, therefore in this project, Dr. Sinha and his team will target LCN-2 for the treatment of AMD. Dr. Sinha also received R01 funding from the NIH for his project titled “Targeting lysosome/ RPE heterogeneity in AMD pathology as a novel therapy”. The major goal of this project is to establish the novel concept of lysosome/autophagy dysfunction as a key driver of RPE heterogeneity in atrophic AMD. Dr. Sinha also received a grant from Generian Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the project titled “Testing GT300 in an AMD-like animal model”. Dr. Sinha and his team utilized their Cryba1 cKO mouse model for this project. They tested the efficacy of GT300, a novel therapy from Generian, in reducing or delaying the progression of the early AMD-like phenotype that develops in the Cryba1 cKO.
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Save The Date ARVO Alumni and Friends Reception
May 1, 2022 • 6:30 – 8:30 pm Hyatt Regency Denver at the Convention Center To see a list of presentations that will be given by Department faculty please click HERE. RSVP by April 22, 2022 by contacting Lauren Wally at wallyl@upmc.edu or (412) 864-3283
Vision Research Day/Resident & Fellow Graduation June 3, 2022 Guest Speaker – Don Zack Hotel Indigo
AAO Alumni and Friends Reception October 2, 2022 • Chicago, IL Marriot Marquis Chicago McCormick Place 5:30 – 7:30 pm
2021 Department of Ophthalmology Publications Faculty in the Department of Ophthalmology published over 200 academic studies in 2021 across a variety of specialty areas. For a full list of publications by our faculty please visit HERE.
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2021 Faculty Awards José-Alain Sahel, MD
Evan L. Waxman, MD, PhD
Science Breakthrough of the Year in Life Sciences, Falling Walls Foundation (Berlin).
2021 Straatsma Award for Excellence in Resident Education from the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology and the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Boris Rosin, MD, PhD Foundation Fighting Blindness - Career Development Award for his work in harnessing the central nervous system in the treatment of inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs).
Emily DePew, OD and Ellen Butts, OD Listed by Newsweek among the 50 best optometrists across the country.
Ian Sigal, PhD RBP Stein Innovation Award – Research to Prevent Blindness – to support the development of novel biomechanics-based therapeutic approaches to glaucoma. Exploratory Award – Hillman Innovation Award – Super-resolution ultrasound imaging of blood flow within the rabbit optic nerve head. Andrew Williams, MD Research to Prevent Blindness and American Academy of Ophthalmology Award for IRIS® Registry Research in 2021. The grant supports selected investigators to use the IRIS Registry database and its analytic capabilities to further populationbased research in ophthalmology and blindness prevention. Mentoring for Advancement of Physician Scientists (MAPS) award from the America Glaucoma Society. The MAPS award is given annually to further the careers of young clinician-scientists as potential leaders in the specialty of glaucoma care. This grant will support Dr. Williams’ proposed project to address the problem of “no show” visits in glaucoma.
Kun-Che Chang, PhD New Investigator Award – Hillman Innovation Award – Molecular Signals that regulate RGC specification in stem cells.
Susan da Silva, PhD New Investigator Award – Hillman Innovation Award – Multiomic Profile of the Developing Chick HAA: Finding Enhancers of Cyp26a1 and Cyp26c1.
Tony St. Leger, PhD Exploratory Award – Hillman Innovation Award – Assessing the ability of C.mast to produce and secrete functional human IL-10.
Deepinder Dhaliwal, MD, L.Ac Named one of the Top 100 most influential people in Ophthalmology by The Ophthalmologist. The 2022 List includes genuine giants of clinical practice and vision research. 8 THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
Alumni Spotlight John Sheppard, MD Resident 1983-1986 City: Norfolk, VA
Family: I was born and raised in Pittsburgh. Mom & Dad were also natives and married in Mt. Lebanon. I spent two college summers working at Eye & Ear Hospital, one with Ophthalmology Chair Ken Richardson as a graphic artist (no Power Point in the 70’s) and one for ENT Chair Eugene Myers as a writer. My wife of 42 amazing years, Clelia, is Italian. When we moved to Pittsburgh, she had never been to the States before. We discovered immediately that Pittsburgh boasts a higher percentage of Italian heritage individuals than any city in the country so she adapted immediately. We enjoyed three great years in Pittsburgh living a block from my old high school and a mile from my parents. Clelia now runs a theater and a gallery in Cape Charles and is very active in the arts. We have four children, and they’re living all over the states.
Hobbies: I love music. I play keyboards and rock and roll in 3 different bands. One of the bands we named iDox. We do fundraisers for corneal and organ donation awareness, food charities, vision foundations and eye banks. We don’t get paid very well, and we still have to move our own equipment most of the time, just like in college.
Career: My career was circuitous due to a Navy scholarship. I did a pediatric internship because medical school convinced me to embrace primary care. That was by far the most interesting medical rotation at Brown. The Navy allowed me to deliver primary care for four years in Italy with the 6th Fleet, where I realized I was not a pediatrician, I was an ophthalmologist. We flew from Italy back to the States for a blitzkrieg interview tour with many prestigious programs at the time. I chose Pittsburgh because of the well-rounded approach to all forms of ophthalmologic disease, the all star faculty, and the community outreach. I was very much attracted to the Campbell Lab too: as a Navy physician, I developed a strong interest in infectious diseases. After residency, I enjoyed a 30 month fellowship in Cornea, Uveitis, and Third World Disease at San Francisco’s Proctor
Foundation. I truly enjoyed that. Thereafter we chose Virginia because it was the closest warm beach town to Pittsburgh with an ophthalmology residency program: Pittsburgh was just too cold and there was no ocean. Mom & dad were temporarily crushed, but visited us frequently, then eventually moved in with us. When I started in Norfolk, Virginia, we were socially totally alone. We both worked very hard. I built our group from two doctors to 40 doctors, 400 employees, 10 locations, and a six room OR. I’m very excited about our Virginia practice. We built a world-class facility and team. We have dozens of clinical trials going now. with a full-time research staff. Our new ASC is second to none. We’ve had a series of mergers with private equity, the first of which was with Cincinnati Eye Institute to form CVP. We became the biggest ophthalmology practice in the country. Two and a half years later, we were blessed by another private equity transaction with Eye Care Partners: the biggest optometric group in the country. So now we’re the biggest in both worlds, the John Sheppard, MD largest integrated eye care delivery network. We truly make an effort to grow vertically at ECP. Ironically only about 500 ophthalmologists graduate every year in the United States, yet the Medicare population has doubled twice since I graduated from residency training. We can bring quality care to everyone in the country, including rural and disadvantaged areas, with a genuine spirit of collaboration between our professions. With this efficient clinical and management model, I’m still able to concentrate on corneal disease and uveitis.I still see a lot of kids with those problems, a continuation of my interest in pediatrics. It’s truly been very rewarding. We have a translational research laboratory at Eastern Virginia Medical School here in Norfolk. It’s called the Thomas Lee Center for Ocular Pharmacology. I was also the Continued on next page.
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Alumni Spotlight (continued) Ophthalmology residency program director for 19 years, an all-volunteer position. Now I’m busy with several positions in the large ECP conglomerate. I’m the regional medical director for the MidAtlantic and Chair of the Community Outreach and Charitable Giving committee for the Medical Executive Board, not to mention President of Virginia Eye Consultants and Medical Director of the Lions Eye Bank. I’m consulted with nearly 100 companies and remain active with pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and device strategic development.
Most important thing to you about having attended Pitt for Ophthalmology? The well-rounded experience and attitude of the faculty. They were either just very shamelessly dedicated to bettering our profession through hands on personal training, or there was some really high-powered research going on with the cornea department and the Campbell Lab. Just a lot of pluses on the checklist. I was privileged. They let me do three transplants as a resident, unprecedented at the time, because they knew I was doing a cornea fellowship. On three different Saturdays, three attendings came in and did a transplant with me on their own time. I really appreciated that: thank you Jay Linn, Peter Berkowitz and Gerry Gordon.
Any funny/interesting stories from your years working or in school? I remember operating as a resident, and one day we had an earthquake tremor all the way from the Memphis fault line. Everything shook. We initially blamed the radiology technicians for moving heavy equipment. Another day I was operating with Tom Friberg when the Challenger space disaster occurred. We paused in silent respect, but he was afraid to operate with me ever again.
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Why have you decided to get involved with the Eye & Ear Foundation? It’s a gesture of gratitude to history and my home town. Our neighbor, Joe Novak who was very active at Pitt, inspired me to work in ophthalmology for my coveted first research job. My first clinical job as a surgical tech and the official barber for all male pre-operative patients was at Mercy Hospital, the location of the new Vision Institute.
What are you most excited about in the future of the department? I believe the integration of clinical excellence, cutting edge inter-disciplinary research and translational trials are the best pathway to transformational discoveries. Industry collaboration is also essential, and well understood in the Department of Ophthalmology. Familiarity and proximity to Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh is catalytic, and the inspirational leadership of so many of our chairmen is both an admirable legacy and a roadmap. I was fortunate to work in some capacity with Ken Richardson, Stuart Brown, Jack Kennerdell, Dick Thoft, Joel Schuman and now José-Alain Sahel. Amazing role models. I still enjoy collaborating, at least spiritually, with Andy Eller, Tom Friberg, Deepinder Dhaliwal, Eric Romanowski and Rege Kowalski. So many have laid this foundation for the future, being built upon a granite bluff above the Monongahela. We all look to leadership dedicated to bettering treatments, diagnostics, and surgical interventions. It’s inspirational to witness the vanguard. The Eye & Ear Foundations is very excited to announce that Dr. Sheppard has established the John and Clelia Sheppard Chair in Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh. This endowed chair will provide much needed funding to allow the Department to recruit world-class faculty and expand upon the innovative research taking place.
We Want To Hear From You!
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ith the release of our new alumni newsletter, Through the Looking Glass, we want to keep in touch with our alumni. Please share exciting personal or professional news with fellow alumni in future editions of our newsletter. Have you recently changed jobs? Got married? Published some exciting research? Welcomed a new member into your family? We want to know about it! To update your contact information or to share personal and professional news, please visit http://ophthalmology.pitt. edu /alumni/alumni-verificationform
Webinar Information
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he Eye & Ear Foundation, in conjunction with the Departments of Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh, has launched a new biweekly webinar series entitled “Sights and Soundbites.” The webinars are presented by department faculty members and highlight their current research initiatives and treatment strategies. These webinars have proven to be an accessible and interactive way to stay connected with patients, donors, faculty, and alumni. If you would like to register to receive webinar invites, please visit www.eyeandear.org/ webinars. To view past webinars, please click on the links below: Ophthalmology •
Understanding Common Eye Infections
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Corneal Transplantation: From Donor to Recipient
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Patient and Community Engagement to Improve Eyecare Delivery in Glaucoma and Other Chronic Eye Diseases
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Using Advanced Imaging to Treat and Prevent Vision Loss
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Contact Lens Safety: Benefits of New Technology
Otolaryngology •
Hearing Aids: Everything You Need to Know
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Taking a Tour of the Skull Base Surgery Center
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The How and Why of Treating Swallowing Disorders
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Salivary Endoscopy for Salivary Stones
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What’s the Buzz? The Neuroscience and Treatment of Tinnitus
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The official registration and financial information of the Eye & Ear Foundation may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.
The Eye & Ear Foundation of Pittsburgh is a nonprofit 501 (C)(3) organization. Our mission is to support the research and academic efforts of the Departments of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh. Donations to support our research initiatives can be made online at eyeandear.org or by returning the enclosed envelope. For more information on the Foundation, our research, or the articles in this newsletter, please contact Katherine Troy, Director of Operations, at katherine@eyeandear.org or 412-864-1300.