New Vision Rehabilitation Section

A Hub for Translational Innovation

The New Kellogg Vision Rehabilitation Section brings together cutting edge research and expanded clinical services to help patients with visual challenges maintain quality of life and independence. While traditional vision rehabilitation services focus on those with decreased acuity (sharpness of straight-ahead vision), the new Section at Kellogg expands our services for those with compromised peripheral vision and other conditions such as traumatic brain injury, according to inaugural Section Leader Sherry Day, O.D., FAAO.

Patients are referred to the section from vision specialties like Neuro-Ophthalmology, Retina, Glaucoma, and, increasingly, from community and UMHS non-ophthalmic services, including Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, NeuroSport, the Stroke Center, the Concussion Center and Balance/Vestibular Testing & Rehabilitation. To help meet patient demand, Dr. Day and fellow optometrist

Donna Wicker, O.D., FAAO are joined by new Kellogg faculty members Erin Klukas, O.D., Jackie Nguyen, O.D., and Meagan Tucker, O.D. Dr. Tucker is a neuro-rehabilitation specialist who focuses on vision issues arising from vestibular disturbances, concussion, stroke and traumatic brain injury.

Occupational therapist Ashley Howson, M.S., OTR/L, and orientation and mobility specialist Russ Ellis, M.A., COMS provide additional support.

The new section is a natural incubator for innovation. “We share our clinical dilemmas with researchers, and they look to us for practical applications for their ideas,” explains Dr. Day. This translational approach has already yielded new insights and approaches.

James Weiland, Ph.D., Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Kellogg, Associate Chair for Research in Biomedical Engineering in the U-M Medical School, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the U-M School of Engineering, is working with his BioElectronic Vision Lab team to develop technological solutions for visual dysfunction like implantable bioelectronic retinal prostheses and wearable smart cameras. Ultimately it is hoped that the devices will provide assistance to patients of the vision rehabilitation section.

Dr. Josh Ehrlich, M.D., M.P.H., a glaucoma specialist, has developed a patient-reported questionnaire that is translating the impact of peripheral vision loss into clinical information to help guide care.

Erin Klukas, O.D., K. Thiran Jayasundera, M.D., M.S., Megan Tucker, O.D., Jacqueline Nguyen, O.D. (not pictured)

Dr. Thiran Jayasundera, M.D., M.S., a Kellogg retina specialist, has partnered with the Department of Psychiatry to pair low vision rehabilitation with counseling and psychotherapy in order to address emotional stress in patients with vision loss due to inherited retinal diseases. The work should be applicable to other forms of vision loss as it is estimated that more than a quarter of those with significant vision loss develop depression or suffer other mental health consequences.

Dr. Day stresses that vision rehabilitation should not be viewed as end-stage therapy for patients at the last phases of vision loss. “Doctors can and should refer patients to us any time they note a change in functional vision, rather than waiting until a patient is legally blind,” she says. “Early intervention is critical to help lead to the best outcomes. With appropriate devices, rehabilitation and resources, patients can more easily maintain independence, remain in school, pursue careers, work and care for their families. And like physical therapy, vision rehab can take place in parallel with ongoing surgical or medical treatments, sometimes with immediate positive impacts for the patient.”