ABOUT THE JOHN A. MORAN EYE CENTER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
The John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah is the largest ophthalmology clinical care and research facility in the Mountain West with more than 60 faculty members and 10 satellite clinics. Physicians provide comprehensive care in all ophthalmic subspecialties, making the Moran Eye Center a major referral center for complex cases with over 150,000 patient visits and about 8,000 surgeries annually. Moran also supports 20 research labs and centers where internationally-awarded faculty are developing the treatments of tomorrow.
U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks Moran among the Top 10 Best Hospitals for Ophthalmology, while Ophthalmology Times surveys evaluating residency programs, clinical care, and research have ranked Moran in the nation’s Top 10 for having the best overall program. Moran CEO and Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Chair Randall J Olson, MD, leads more than 500 employees working to achieve Moran’s vision that no person with a blinding condition, eye disease, or visual impairment should be without hope, understanding, and treatment.
John A. Moran Eye Center, 65 Mario Capecchi Dr., Salt Lake City, Utah, 84132
John A. Moran Eye Center
Moran Eye Center
moran.eye.center
@Moran-eye-center
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ABOUT THE JOHN A. MORAN EYE CENTER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
Research
Physicians and companies worldwide use the • Intermountain Ocular Research Center at Moran to evaluate artificial lenses used for cataract surgery.
Moran’s Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Transla• tional Medicine is fast-tracking new therapies
using the world’s largest repository of donor eye tissue dedicated to the study of normal and diseased retinal tissue. Its first new therapy for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is now in clinical trials.
Moran researchers built the world’s first maps of • the circuitry of healthy and diseased retinas to better understand the disease process.
Moran’s Alan S. Crandall Center for Glaucoma • Innovation is developing better diagnostics, therapies and surgical devices, and a deeper understanding of glaucoma and its genetics.
Education
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Faculty train 12 residents, four interns, and up to 13 fellows each year in one of the nation’s most selective and unique academic programs.
offers nine fellowship subspecialties: cornea, • Moran retina, glaucoma, neuro-ophthalmology, uveitis,
pediatric, medical retina, oculoplastics, and international ophthalmology.
is the first and only free, peer• morancore.utah.edu reviewed, multimedia ophthalmology education website.
Patient Care
physician researchers spent years developing • Moran evidence-based instrument sterilization guidelines
for the cleaning and sterilization of intraocular surgical instruments.
Patient Support Program at Moran, a national • The model, is one of a handful nationwide offering support groups and rehabilitation services for patients and families adjusting to vision loss.
was part of the national effort that developed • Moran the widely used Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) supplement formulation for AMD.
Global & Local Outreach
by donors, Moran’s Global Outreach Division • Funded provides care to underserved Utahns at no cost and
trains doctors and nurses in low-resource countries to sustainably expand access to care.
Utah, the division provides no-cost eye care and • Insurgeries for thousands of uninsured, low-income, and
former refugee residents. Volunteers make regular trips to provide free care on the remote Navajo Nation.
CALL 801-585-9700 OR VISIT MORANEYECENTER.ORG TO DONATE AND LEARN HOW YOU CAN TRANSFORM LIVES AND COMMUNITIES THROUGH SIGHT.
JOHN A. MORAN EYE CENTER RESEARCH: OVERVIEW Inside the 20 labs and centers of the Moran Eye Center building are our best hopes for finding new ways to preserve and save sight. There, more than 25 faculty researchers are making groundbreaking discoveries by thinking creatively, working collaboratively, and challenging established paradigms. While faculty members pursue government funding, Moran provides financial support to launch promising research and to sustain it between grants—a commitment made by few other institutions. Critically needed funding comes from donors who enable us to turn discoveries into new treatments as quickly as possible.
Moran can leverage its unique resources to drive groundbreaking discoveries.
Nick Mamalis, MD, and Liliana Werner, MD, PhD, direct the Intermountain Ocular Research Center at the Moran Eye Center.
Population Database • Utah This database contains genealogical, public health,
Ocular Research Center • Intermountain A renowned nonprofit researching intraocular lens
Retinal Reading Center • Utah One of a handful of ophthalmic image reading
Outreach Division • Global The largest effort of its kind working to build
S. Crandall Center for Glaucoma • Alan Innovation
Lions Eye Bank • Utah This nonprofit operated by Moran provides corneal
medical, and environmental exposure records for more than 20 million people.
centers worldwide, playing a significant role in disease research.
A collaboration developing better diagnostics, therapies and surgical devices, a deeper understanding of glaucoma, and expanded access to care.
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Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine A multidisciplinary team rapidly translating discoveries into treatments, with multiple therapies for age-related macular degeneration in its pipeline.
design, materials, and complications for companies and physicians worldwide.
sustainable access to high-quality eye care in Utah and low-resource nations.
tissue for transplants and disease research.
Leadership • Visionary Moran CEO Randall J Olson, MD, is a world-renowned cataract surgery expert whose innovative approaches and entrepreneurial spirit have changed the field to help millions of patients.
CALL 801-585-9700 OR VISIT MORANEYECENTER.ORG TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN HELP SPEED SIGHT-SAVING RESEARCH AND GIVE HOPE TO PEOPLE LIVING WITH BLINDING DISEASES.
JOHN A. MORAN EYE CENTER RESEARCH: FROM IDEA TO TREATMENT INVESTING IN RESEARCH The Moran Eye Center invests in the full spectrum of research, supporting basic research that adds to our foundation of knowledge and then providing the tools to translate discoveries into new therapies and treatments. Moran houses 20 research labs and centers.
Basic Science Research
Clinical Research
Improved Health Through New Treatments
How is Moran research improving patient care? BETTER MEDICAL DEVICES laser procedure that allows doctors to adjust • Athenew power of an artificial lens inside the eye for more precise vision.
implant that could give people who have • Alostcortical their sight a form of artificial vision. eye imaging techniques that allow • Advanced physicians to diagnose disease earlier than ever before.
new type of needle that prevents injection-related • Ainfections. coating applied to eyeglasses that blocks • Aa special wavelength of light that can trigger migraines. • An ocular bandage gel to treat eye trauma. implants, and techniques to manage • Devices, dislocated cataracts, iris reconstruction, and glaucoma.
Glaucoma researcher David Krizaj, PhD.
NEW DRUG THERAPIES
glaucoma drug that could reduce intraocular • Apressure and protect retinal cells in the eye. gene therapy aimed to slow or halt the most • Aprevalent form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), now in clinical trials.
widely used Age-Related Eye Disease Study • The (AREDS) supplement formulation for AMD.
FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE
first maps of the circuitry of a healthy and • The diseased retina, allowing scientists to better understand disease processes.
JOHN A. MORAN EYE CENTER ALAN S. CRANDALL CENTER FOR GLAUCOMA INNOVATION: OVERVIEW
Nearly 80 million people are living with glaucoma, a blinding disease that will rob them of their eyesight. That number is projected to rise to 112 million people by 2040.
PRESSURE
DR AINAGE SYSTEM (TR A B E C U L A R MESHWORK)
FLUID ( A Q U E O U S H U M O R)
WHAT IS GLAUCOMA? A disease that damages the optic nerve, which carries visual information to the brain. It usually occurs when fluid inside the eye does not drain properly, causing an increase in pressure.
DA M AGE TO OPTIC NERVE
Directed by Iqbal Ike K. Ahmed, MD, FRCSC, the Crandall Center is creating new hope for people with glaucoma. Its four initiatives leverage unique resources at the John A. Moran Eye Center.
Glaucoma Therapeutics
Translational Research
NeuroprotectionBased Therapies
Conducting research to assist companies in developing safe and effective diagnostics and therapeutics.
Understanding the biology and genetics of glaucoma to develop new treatments.
Developing new therapies to protect, restore, or regenerate the optic nerve.
Global Care Finding better ways to diagnose glaucoma and inexpensive yet effective ways to treat it in low-resource nations.
CALL 801-585-9700 OR VISIT CRANDALLCENTER.ORG TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT NEW TREATMENTS FOR GLAUCOMA OR DONATE TO THE CENTER.
JOHN A. MORAN EYE CENTER ALAN S. CRANDALL CENTER FOR GLAUCOMA INNOVATION: MEET OUR DIRECTOR Iqbal Ike K. Ahmed, MD, FRCSC, is recognized as one of the most experienced surgeons for complex eye conditions worldwide and renowned for his groundbreaking work in the surgical treatment of diseases, including glaucoma and surgical complications. He has been named multiple times as one of the most influential ophthalmologists worldwide by The Ophthalmologist magazine. Ahmed revolutionized glaucoma care by defining and leading the field’s interventional glaucoma treatment approach, which focuses on early surgical intervention to preserve sight. Ahmed also coined the term micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) as a new genre of surgical devices central to interventional care. Consulting for more than 65 medical companies, Ahmed has been the principal investigator and medical monitor for numerous research studies. He has received many of the field’s top awards, including the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery’s Binkhorst medal. Ahmed splits his clinical practice between Canada and the Moran Eye Center.
D E V I C E I N N O VAT I O N S Dr. Ahmed has designed and tested numerous surgical instruments, devices, and implants used to manage dislocated cataracts, iris reconstruction, and glaucoma. Among them:
MIGS devices like the iStent inject W, a 0.36-mm-long microscopic device, are inserted into the eye to lower intraocular pressure. R E L AT I V E S I Z E
A capsular tension segment used for dislocated cataracts.
A line of microsurgical instruments, two pictured here, used to trim and position MIGS devices.
Learn more at www.crandallcenter.org
JOHN A. MORAN EYE CENTER SHARON ECCLES STEELE CENTER FOR TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE: OVERVIEW The Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine (SCTM) was created to more quickly and cost-effectively turn scientific discoveries into clinically effective diagnostics and therapies for blinding eye conditions. With the support of committed donors, SCTM Executive Director Gregory S. Hageman, PhD, has turned a series of groundbreaking discoveries into a new treatment designed to halt or even prevent a prevalent form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). More than 20 million Americans are living with AMD, a leading cause of central vision loss among adults age 55 and over. That number is expected to grow to 40 million people by 2050.
Groundbreaking Discoveries Dr. Hageman and his team have developed new treatments based on years of genetic research that demonstrates AMD is at least two biologically distinct diseases. of genes on chromosome 1 causes one form • Aofcluster AMD. pair of genes on chromosome 10 causes a second • Aform of AMD.
Gregory S. Hageman, PhD, executive director of the Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine.
Collectively, these genes account for more than 90 percent of the risk for developing AMD. Genetic variants on chromosome 1 offer strong protection against the development of AMD.
New Treatment Approach The SCTM’s first therapy to enter the FDA approval pipeline is a gene therapy that targets chromosome 1-directed AMD.
Normal Retina
Drusen
Advanced AMD
AMD affects a part of the eye called the macula, the region of the retina that supports seeing fine detail. Individuals with early-stage AMD develop drusen—abnormal, yellow deposits of lipids, fatty proteins that form under the macula. Later stages of AMD often are associated with the growth of abnormal blood vessels under the retina, or degeneration of the retina.
CALL 801-585-9700 OR VISIT MORANEYECENTER.ORG TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT NEW TREATMENTS FOR AMD OR DONATE TO THE SCTM.
JOHN A. MORAN EYE CENTER SHARON ECCLES STEELE CENTER FOR TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE: BREAKING NEW GROUND Traditionally, developing a new drug therapy costs about $2.7 billion and takes a decade or more. The SCTM is making the process faster and more cost-effective. The SCTM’s first therapy to enter the FDA approval pipeline entered clinical trials in late 2022. The gene therapy targets chromosome 1-directed age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and is designed to halt or even prevent the disease.
1 IDEA
2
LAB Research
3
CLINICAL Testing
4
FDA Approval
THE UNIQUE SCTM APPROACH Donor and Institutional Funds
Combined Expert Knowledge
In a time of limited federal funding, corporations and foundations provide financial support to attract top researchers and speed up their work.
The SCTM brings together national and international scientists and clinicians from multiple disciplines to develop effective treatments.
Better Tools
One of the World’s Largest Genetic Patient Studies
Since only humans have AMD, researchers must work with individuals and donated human tissue to advance their understanding of the disease. Using the world’s largest donor eye tissue repository for retinal research, scientists have compared tissue from donors with and without AMD and have determined AMD is at least two distinct diseases.
An SCTM study has enrolled over 5,000 people, with and without AMD or a family history of the disease, and has collected more than 60,000 DNA samples. Researchers have used the data to understand more fully the underlying genetic and biological bases of AMD and to develop therapies.
JOHN A. MORAN EYE CENTER GLOBAL OUTREACH DIVISION: INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES
THE CHALLENGE
There are 36 million blind people worldwide—90 percent live in poverty in low-resource nations without access to eye care. Blindness in four out of every five could be prevented or cured at any modern eye clinic.
THE IMPACT
Families suffer, economies suffer. Blindness results in lower life expectancies, and for every blind person, two and a half people leave work or school to become caregivers.
OUR SOLUTION
Sustainably expand access to eye care in some of the poorest regions around the globe by training more doctors and working with international partners to develop low-cost, high-volume surgical centers of excellence.
PROGRAMS Eye Care Missions
Working in carefully selected low-resource nations, volunteer medical providers perform eye exams and distribute custom eyeglasses while physicians conduct sight-saving surgeries and train local doctors.
Observerships
International ophthalmologists and nurses receive up to six months of training at Moran and return home to teach others. Moran doctors then visit them in their countries to provide additional mentoring and training.
Online Education
DID YOU KNOW Without access to care or eyeglasses, an estimated 61 million people worldwide will be blind by 2050. Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness.
No-cost curriculum through morancore.utah.edu educates trainees with peer-reviewed lectures and videos.
Moran’s Global Outreach Division is funded solely by individual, foundation, and corporate donations. Call 801-585-9700 or visit moraneyecenter.org to donate.
JOHN A. MORAN EYE CENTER GLOBAL OUTREACH DIVISION: UTAH INITIATIVES
THE CHALLENGE
Utahns who are uninsured, have low incomes, are unhoused, or are former refugees need access to affordable eye care and assistance navigating the health care system.
THE IMPACT
Curable blindness keeps our neighbors from fully participating in society: finding or holding jobs, reading, driving, caring for their children, or engaging in school. In the United States alone, vision loss causes $134 billion in lost productivity annually.
OUR SOLUTION
Provide free or low-cost eye exams, surgeries, and eyeglasses to those in need on the Navajo Nation and around Utah.
PROGRAMS Utah Navajo Health Systems, Inc. Partnership On regular visits to the remote Navajo Nation, Moran volunteers and doctors provide services, including vision screenings, eyeglasses, and sight-restoring surgeries at local hospitals.
Community Clinics and No-Cost Surgeries
Physicians conduct vision screenings at low or no-cost clinics in Salt Lake City and Park City. Patients needing cataract surgery are referred to Moran’s Operation Sight program, and a retina clinic provides ongoing care for retinal disease.
DID YOU KNOW Without access to eyeglasses, more than 16 million Americans are expected to have visual impairment by 2050.
Eye Care for the Unhoused and New Americans Moran provides vision screenings, distributes eyeglasses, and makes referrals for charity surgery as part of Project Homeless Connect and through its Hope in Sight clinic for New Americans.
Moran’s Global Outreach Division is funded solely by individual, foundation, and corporate donations. Call 801-585-9700 or visit moraneyecenter.org to donate.
