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Media contact: Joy Bell, 404-778-3711

2008 News Releases

• Clinical Trial Aims to Help Those with Macular Degeneration Find New Way of Seeing

  (ATLANTA) December 4, 2008 | The brain’s remarkable ability to reorganize itself to compensate for vision loss, the ability called plasticity, may be the key in helping those with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) see better. This theory is the impetus behind a study between Emory Eye Center and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Psychology). Patients who have retinal damage because of AMD sometimes begin to see by using other parts of the intact retina.

• Emory Eye Center Ranks in Top Ten in All Categories of Ophthalmology Times Annual Survey

  October 23, 2008 | Emory Eye Center has ranked in all four of the Top Ten slots with other distinguished U.S. academic eye institutions in the annual survey of ophthalmology programs conducted by Ophthalmology Times. In the October 15 issue, Emory Eye Center placed in all four of the ranking designations, the first time Emory has ranked in every surveyed category. The categories and Emory Eye Center’s 2008 placements include:

• Best Overall Program (tied at 8th with University of Iowa)

• Best Clinical (Patient Care) Program (6th)

• Best Research Program (9th)

• Best Residency Program (10th)

• Emory Eye Center to Participate in a Clinical Research Study to Investigate a Promising New Treatment for Retinopathy of Prematurity

  October 23, 2008 | Emory Eye Center along with 10 other sites across the country will participate in a Phase I research study to establish a safety profile for an anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) drug, Avastin ® (Bevacizumab), for premature babies with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

• Men with Intracranial Hypertension Experience Vision Loss More Often Than Women

  October 22, 2008 | Men who suffer from idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), a cause of increased pressure around the brain, are more likely to have vision loss than women with the same disease, says Beau Bruce, MD, MS, assistant professor at the Emory Eye Center and Emory University School of Medicine.

• Diabetic Eye Disease Month Underscores Need for Annual Eye Exams

  Oct. 10, 2008 | November is both American Diabetes Month and Diabetic Eye Disease Month. More Americans than ever have diabetes. In fact, 8 percent of the population has diabetes - 23.6 million children and adults. Of those individuals, only about 18 million have been diagnosed. Additionally, some 57 million Americans are pre-diabetic.

• Emory Eye Center Awarded Grant from Research to Prevent Blindness

  Aug. 14, 2008 | Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) has given Emory Eye Center a $110,000 unrestricted grant to fund research. RPB is the world’s leading voluntary organization supporting eye research.

• Emory Eye Center Places in Top Ten of U.S. News & World Report Specialty Rankings

  July 15, 2008 | Emory Eye Center has again ranked among the top ophthalmology centers in this country within the prestigious U.S. News & World Report’s guide to America’s top medical institutions. This year, Emory Eye Center placed #9. The 2008 edition “America’s Best Hospitals” guide, dated July 23, ranks the top hospitals in 16 medical specialties. 

• Emory Eye Center Urges Protective Eyewear for Children Playing Sports

  April 3, 2008 | Emory Eye Center physicians join other eye centers around the country in celebrating Healthy Vision Month in May. Devoted to promoting vision objectives within the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Healthy People 2010 initiative, this year’s Healthy Vision Month urges the use of personal protective eyewear in recreational activities and hazardous situations around the home.

• Emory Eye Center Participates in Nationwide Study Showing that Older Corneas are Suitable for Transplantation Results Could Expand Donor Pool Significantly

  April 1, 2008 | Corneal transplants using tissue from older donors have similar rates of survival to those using tissue from younger donors reports a nationwide study recently concluded at Emory Eye Center and 79 other sites.The five-year transplant success rate for recipients was the same—86 percent—for transplants performed across the nation with corneas from donors ages 12 to 65 years and from donors ages 66 to 75.

• Study Alerts Eye Doctors of Racial Differences in Treating Vision Disorders

  March 12, 2008 | Blacks are more likely to lose vision due to increased pressure in the brain than other races, reports an Emory Eye Center researcher in the March 11, 2008 issue of Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The pressure, called idiopathic intracranial hypertension, was identified as causing the disorder, says Beau Bruce, MD, MS, a neuro-ophthalmology fellow at the Emory University School of Medicine and lead researcher for the study.

• Emory Eye Center to Lead Nationwide Study to Compare Two Drugs That Treat Macular Degeneration

  March 4, 2008 | Emory Eye Center will be the lead center among 47 other eye institutions across the country in a National Eye Institute (NEI) / National Institutes of Health funded study to compare two drugs made by the same company that treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

• Emory Eye Center Faculty To Present at Foundation Fighting Blindness Seminar

  February 26, 2008 | Four Emory Eye Center faculty members will present information on retinal diseases and treatments at a Foundation Fighting Blindness half-day seminar on Saturday, March 29, in Atlanta. The event is free and open to the public.  “Macular Degeneration, RP and Related Diseases” will focus on treatments and therapies, research advances and low vision resources to help in day-to-day activities.

• Emory Eye Center First U.S. Site to Conduct Keratoconus and Ectasia Trials

  January 7, 2008 | Emory Eye Center will be the first U.S. site to conduct an innovative clinical study on patients with keratoconus, a bulging or steepening of the cornea that can lead to, in some cases, scarring of the cornea, or corneal ectasia, a similar condition that can occur after refractive surgery.