Press Release

Mass. Eye and Ear team discovers, successfully treats new variant of antibiotic-resistant bacterium

September 15, 2016

Boston, Mass. — Researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear have discovered a new mutation in a highly antibiotic-resistant strain of E. coli that resists clearance by the body’s own immune system by inhibiting white blood cells that ordinarily kill and remove bacteria. In a paper published online today in JAMA Ophthalmology, the researchers describe the case that led them to...

Researchers find proliferating cells in normal and diseased corneal endothelium

September 14, 2016

Findings published in the American Journal of Pathology offer new directions for treatment of patients with Fuchs’ Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD)

Boston, Mass. — Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear have, for the first time, identified rapidly proliferating cells (known as “neural crest-derived progenitor cells”) in the corneal endothelium of specimens from normal corneas and from corneas with Fuchs’ Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD), a condition in which the cells responsible for keeping the cornea...

Lonza to Offer Novel Anc-AAV Gene Therapy Technology Through Exclusive Licensing Agreement with Massachusetts Eye and Ear

September 12, 2016

The strategic licensing agreement between Lonza and Massachusetts Eye and Ear® underscores Lonza’s position as a leading AAV manufacturing service provider and offers customers unprecedented technology and services to commercialize next generation gene therapies.
The Anc-AAV vector platform has the potential to overcome pre-existing immunity in order to treat more patients compared with other viral vectors currently in development.
Anc80, the lead novel Anc-AAV available for sublicensing, is a potent gene therapy vector capable of superior gene expression levels in...

Researchers shed light on vascular growth factors in thyroid eye disease

August 17, 2016

New findings may stimulate the development of targeted therapies for proptosis in patients with acute thyroid eye disease

Boston, Mass. — Researchers from Mass. Eye and Ear - including Schepens Eye Research Institute - and ...

Dr. Jennifer Sun, Investigator in the Section of Vascular Biology, Receives Physician-Scientist Award from Research to Prevent Blindness

July 15, 2016

BOSTON – (July 15, 2016) – Jennifer K. Sun, MD, MPH, Investigator in the Section on Vascular Biology at Joslin Diabetes Center, an Ophthalmologist in Beetham Eye Institute (BEI) at Joslin Diabetes Center, and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, has been granted an Physician-Scientist Award by Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB). Up to $300,000 will be...

Ula Jurkunas, MD, receives Eversight grant award

July 14, 2016

Ann Arbor, Mich. — Eversight, a global non-profit network of eye banks, has awarded an Eye and Vision Research grant to Ula V. Jurkunas, MD (pictured), and Shivakumar Vasanth, PhD. Dr. Jurkunas is a specialist in corneal and refractive surgery at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and Associate...

Priya Gupta Awarded RPB Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship

June 23, 2016

Boston, Mass. — The Department of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School has been granted a $30,000 Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) Medical Student Research Fellowship in support of Priya Gupta. This award will allow Gupta to spend one year studying inherited retinal degenerations (IRDs), a devastating cause of blindness throughout the world affecting approximately 1.5 million patients of all ages. She will work under the mentorship of Eric Pierce, MD, PhD...

Lotfi B. Merabet, PhD, OD, Receives Low Vision Research Award

June 23, 2016

Boston, Mass. — Lotfi B. Merabet, PhD, OD, MPH, an optometrist and vision researcher at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, is the 2016 recipient of the Low Vision Research Award from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) and the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF). Dr. Merabet will receive $300,000 over three years for...

Selecta Biosciences obtains exclusive license to proprietary gene therapy vector from Massachusetts Eye and Ear

May 19, 2016

Selecta is licensing Anc80 from Massachusetts Eye and Ear for a rare genetic disease with options on additional pre-specified indications. By combining Anc80 with Selecta’s investigational drug candidate, SVP-Rapamycin (SEL-110), Selecta is seeking to advance a new gene therapy platform designed to avoid several immunogenicity challenges that limit the development of gene therapies today

Watertown, Mass. — Selecta Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical...

Researchers develop magnifying smartphone screen application using Google Glass for visually impaired

April 22, 2016

Mass. Eye and Ear researchers have designed technology to improve upon the built-in zoom feature of smartphones, which many low-vision users find difficult to use due to a loss of context.

BOSTON – Researchers from the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School have developed a smartphone application that projects a magnified smartphone screen to Google Glass, which users can navigate using head movements...