Awards & Recognitions

Revolutionizing bench to bedside treatments and therapies

After decades of recognition for its contribution to the study of ophthalmology, USC Gayle and Edward Roski Eye Institute continues to be ranked in the top 10 for research funding by the National Eye Institute, giving current and future students the opportunity to research and work alongside leaders in the field with access to the best facilities and technology available.

Notable Achievements

  • Paul Thompson, 2016 Harry Stack Sullivan Award – Johns Hopkins School of Medicine/Sheppard-Pratt Health Systems
  • Mark S. Humayun, MD, PhD, was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by the White House, 2015
  • Implanted a programmable micropump smart device that delivers small doses of medications into the eyes of patients with diabetic macular edema, in the first-in-man clinical trial
  • Discovered which retinal cells mutate to become retinoblastoma
  • Received Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration for patients with retinitis pigmentosa
  • Began first clinical trials for an experimental therapeutic agent to treat Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, a mitochondrial disease
  • Developed a web-accessible visual field test and analysis system for multicenter studies and touchpad device access
  • Identified the unique mechanism of uptake in lacrimal gland for adenovirus 5 that may facilitate drug delivery
  • Implanted first Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System in the United States
  • Pioneered use of ultra-high speed Fournier domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) to improve glaucoma diagnosis
  • Implanted the first artificial retina in a patient after beginning collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science in 1999.
  • Began the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study, the world’s largest investigation into eye disease in Latinos
  • Developed a noninvasive glucose-monitoring system using a Raman spectrum signals from the aqueous humor
  • Developed the Baerveldt glaucoma implant for preserving vision in glaucoma patients by reducing eye pressure
  • Addressed vision complications from AIDS by diagnosing and developing treatments for opportunistic eye infections and Kaposi’s sarcoma
  • Pioneered optical coherence tomography
  • Identified the gene that causes retinoblastoma
  • Implanted the first artificial cornea in a pediatric patient
  • Developed a laboratory model of choroidal neovascularization now widely used to study pathogenesis and treatment of subretinal neovascularization
  • Developed a laboratory model of penetrating eye injuries that influences the management of trauma in humans