Rare Ventures Launches to Bolster Rare Disease Innovation
When José-Alain Sahel, MD, FARVO, Eye & Ear Foundation Endowed Chair of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Director of the UPMC Vision Institute, approached Sam Reiman of the Richard King Mellon Foundation about the urgent need for new pathways to treat rare eye disease, ultimately setting in motion a collaboration that has now been integrated in Rare Ventures™, a Pittsburgh-based venture philanthropy platform designed to move discoveries from the lab to patients faster.
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Congratulations to Gaurav Prakash, MD, FRCS (Glasgow), FICO, on the publication of two recent studies advancing the early detection and diagnosis of corneal disease!
His latest publications introduce a novel geometric framework for detecting subthreshold disease and exploring new approaches to identifying early post-LASIK ectasia, helping to improve our understanding of corneal health and disease progression.
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Congratulations to Jeff Simons, MD, MMM, on receiving the Distinguished Service Award from the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS)!
The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) is a recognition of volunteer service beyond the level of an Honor Award (10 volunteer service points over a minimum of five years). Members who attain 50 honor points, including the 10 points received for an Honor Award, receive the Distinguished Service Award.
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Congratulations to Ian Sigal, PhD, MASc, on continued NIH R01 support for AXON: Axonal BiomechaniX to Unveil Injury Mechanisms in Glaucomatous Optic Neuropathy!
This innovative research aims to uncover how biomechanical forces contribute to optic nerve injury in glaucoma, advancing our understanding of vision loss and informing future treatments.
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Congratulations to Thanos Tzounopoulos, PhD, and his research team! Their groundbreaking study has just been published in Science Advances, highlighting a promising new approach to hearing loss, tinnitus, and hyperacusis.
The research identified a neuromodulatory signaling pathway— zinc signaling in the brain—that can partially restore neural responses and perceptual thresholds following noise-induced hearing loss, while being necessary for the neural hyperactivity associated with tinnitus and hyperacusis. These findings reveal the therapeutic potential of targeting zinc transporters to promote adaptive plasticity while mitigating maladaptive changes in the auditory system.
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First Artificial Iris Implant at UPMC
The first artificial iris implanted in a patient was done at UPMC in December 2025, thanks to Ian Conner, MD, PhD, Division Chief of the Glaucoma and Cataract Service, who was committed to making it happen.
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George Liu, Bridging Neurotology and AI
The newest Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, George Liu, MD, was drawn to Pittsburgh mostly for two things: the Department and the city itself.
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New Retinal Cameras for Armstrong County
Armstrong County now has two new retinal imaging cameras thanks to a donation by the Richard G. and Barbara A. Snyder General Charity Fund. The cameras are part of the Eyes on Wheels Diabetic Retinopathy Screening (DRS) Program, which uses web-connected retinal cameras in primary care clinics and community organizations to expand access to screening.
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Improving Dysphagia Care for Individuals with IDD
The Laryngology and Speech-Language Pathology Divisions are working together to address an often-unmet need: supporting caretakers of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who need swallowing help.
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