Columbia And The Jewish Guild For The Blind In Joint Effort To Improve Vision Rehabilitation

University’s Department of Ophthalmology and Nation’s Foremost Vision Care Agency Launch Long-term Collaborative Effort

NEW YORK, NY (JUNE 20, 2005) – Columbia University Medical Center’s Department of Ophthalmology, located at the Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, and The Jewish Guild for the Blind have jointly announced that they are embarking on a unique collaboration that will establish a “Center of Excellence” designed to improve the quality of clinical vision rehabilitation, advance knowledge of the field, and better train practitioners. To further these mutual interests and to provide seamless integration of vision rehabilitation into clinical care, both institutions are entering into a joint venture to develop programs that will create opportunities for research, both basic and clinical. In addition, these programs will expand and enhance the training of ophthalmologists and other professionals in low vision rehabilitation that will result in increased access to improved patient care.

This partnership emphasizes and combines the extensive resources and talents of Columbia with the innovative models of service delivery provided by The Guild. The synergy created by this broad application of services from both institutions will benefit patients in their care for years to come.

Stanley Chang, M.D., Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and Edward S. Harkness Professor at Columbia University, outlines his vision of this unique approach with the following comment on what this will mean to the University, “This is an effort which we are undertaking with great enthusiasm because it offers both a challenge to, and an opportunity for, our academic Department of Ophthalmology to deal with a very serious and growing problem among every level of our society, adults and children alike.”

One of the first steps of this bilateral effort will be the introduction of a clinical rotation in low vision rehabilitation to resident/Fellowship training. It is believed that this will be the first initiative of its kind in the country. Another special aspect of the collaboration will be to develop a program for providing intensive low vision training that will help ophthalmologists who wish to refocus their professional practice on low vision care and rehabilitation, a non-surgical subspecialty of ophthalmology.

Among the areas of collaborative research will be age-related macular degeneration, approached from a genetic, treatment, and psycho-social perspective, Alzheimer’s disease and its visual correlates, diabetic retinopathy, and childhood vision disorders resulting in blindness. The long-term research agenda also includes epidemiological studies, random clinical trials and exploration into methods that will improve health-related quality of life for people with visual impairment.

Alan R. Morse, J.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of The Jewish Guild for the Blind, points out, “Vision impairment affects all aspects of an individual’s life. To address the full impact of vision loss requires the kind of multi-disciplinary collaboration and commitment represented by this new venture. This joint program has the potential to break new ground in vision treatment and vision rehabilitation for the steadily increasing numbers of people who need help.”

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The Department of Ophthalmology at Columbia University Medical Center has been a leader in ophthalmology research, clinical care and education since its founding and is recognized worldwide for advancing eye care through scientific discovery. Our team of physicians and scientists is dedicated to understanding the causes of vision disorders, to preventing them, and to treating them should they occur.

Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical and clinical research, medical education, and health care. The medical center trains future leaders in health care and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, nurses, dentists, and other health professionals at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, the School of Dental & Oral Surgery, the School of Nursing, the Mailman School of Public Health, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. With a strong history of some of the most important advances and discoveries in health care, its researchers are leading the development of novel therapies and advances to address a wide range of health conditions. www.cumc.columbia.edu

The Jewish Guild for the Blind is a not-for-profit, nonsectarian agency serving persons of all ages who are visually impaired, blind and multi-disabled. The Guild offers a broad range of programs that include: medical, vision, low vision, psychiatric and rehabilitative services, managed long-term care, residential services, day health programs, schools and educational training programs for independent living. In addition, The Guild’s radio reading service, InTouch NetworksSM, and SightCareSM, its vision care education and training program, address the special needs of thousands more people nationwide. www.jgb.org.

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CEO, Harkness Eye Institute, Mailman School, Stanley Chang