Internationally Acclaimed

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute is committed to the protection and preservation of the treasured gift of sight. The Institute's full-time faculty of internationally-respected physicians and scientists are skilled in every ophthalmic subspecialty. Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, which serves as the Department of Ophthalmology for the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida, is recognized as one of the world's finest and most progressive centers for ophthalmic care, research and education.

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute continues to be rated as one of the nation's best ophthalmic hospitals by board-certified ophthalmologists from across the United States. This year marks the sixth consecutive year that randomly-selected ophthalmologists have rated Bascom Palmer the #1 eye hospital in the country as published in U.S.News & World Report's America's Best Hospitals issue. Ophthalmology Times, an industry periodical for and by ophthalmologists, surveyed ophthalmology department chairmen and residency program directors who rated Bascom Palmer's residency program the best in the nation.

Since its founding in 1962, Bascom Palmer has nurtured an internationally-acclaimed faculty. Their continuing legacy is more than four decades of pioneering work that has revolutionized the way numerous ophthalmic conditions are diagnosed and treated. Each of our physicians specializes in at least one area of ophthalmic care and has completed fellowship training in one or more subspecialties. More than half of the Institute's faculty members are listed in the respected and comprehensive medical referral book, Best Doctors in America.

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In addition to providing excellent ophthalmic care to more than 200,000 patients annually at our facilities in Miami, Naples, Plantation and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, our faculty members conduct innovative biomedical research and present progressive, industry-leading academic programs to medical students, ophthalmologists and other physicians in the South Florida community and worldwide.  Bascom Palmer Eye Institute opened its third patient care facility in January 2004. The facility is located at the Naples Community Hospital Medical Plaza near downtown Naples, Florida. The approximately 3,000 square-foot center will focus on the management of vitreo-retinal diseases, such as macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Bascom Palmer's newest office located in Broward County, Florida, opened in the city of Plantation in November 2004. The 10,000 square foot facility, the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at Plantation offers diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases and disorders including vitreoretinal diseases, glaucoma, corneal and external diseases, aesthetics and oculoplastics, and refractive surgery including Custom LASIK.

Advancing Medical Innovation

Consistent with our mission to resolve diseases and disorders of the eye, the physicians and scientists of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute develop new theories, therapeutic techniques and surgical instruments. Many of the institute's innovations have advanced the course of ophthalmic practices worldwide:

• Bascom Palmer physicians and scientists pioneered studies into the effective treatment of the wet form of age-related macular degeneration using the FDA-approved colo-rectal cancer drug, Avastin.
• The first successful vitreous surgery --- and invention of miniature surgical instrumentation required for this new procedure --- was achieved by members of our faculty.
• Bascom Palmer Research Investigators established the clinical value of vitrectomy (removal of the vitreous humor) to treat retinal detachments, diabetic retinopathy, infectious diseases of the eye and severe ocular trauma. We trained the first generation of vitreo-retinal surgeons.
• Bascom Palmer researchers identified the herpes virus as the cause of Acute Retinal Necrosis, a devastating infection of the retina often associated with AIDS.
• In a successful effort to restore the vitality to ocular mucus membranes, Bascom Palmer faculty introduced limbal cell transplantation therapy, which now can prevent potentially blinding corneal scarring.
• Many premature infants are affected by a blinding condition called retinopathy of prematurity. Bascom Palmer's pioneering studies have led to a better understanding of the cause and more effective treatment.

Commitment to Research

Considering the importance of sight to every aspect of day-to-day existence and the degree to which it enriches our lives, it is not surprising that low vision and blindness are the disabilities that Americans fear the most. And as our population ages, eye disease is taking ever-increasing prominence as a national health issue. Millions of lives are affected by the major age-related eye diseases: glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy.

Physician investigators and scientists at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute actively search for the causes, preventive measures and most effective treatments for diseases and disorders of the eye. We enjoy a unique position that fosters major advances in medical research and allows us to translate those advances directly into enhanced patient care. We constantly seek to build upon today's knowledge and maintain our reputation as a preeminent research institution.

Current areas of clinical research directly addressing patient care include:

• Having achieved considerable success with a revoltionary treatment for the wet form of of age-related macular degeneration using a cancer drug, Avastin, that is now used around the globe, Bascom Palmer physicians and scientists are now turning their interest to the dry form of the disease in the hopes of catching patients in this earlier stage of the disease before it converts to the more visually-devasting wet form;
• Developing an artificial cornea to assist the millions of patients worldwide who are not candidates for human donor cornea due to repeated rejection rate and other medical hurdles or for those in developing countries who do not have access to human donor tissue;
• Unraveling the mystery of normal tension glaucoma, in which the optic nerve is damaged even though intraocular pressure is normal;
• Advanced techniques in molecular genetics --- a promising direction for improving diagnosis that may point to cures for macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa;
• Establishing predictive tests and new treatments for complicated retinal detachments, a major consequences of diabetes;
• New, non-toxic treatments for ocular cancer, such as local hyperthermia, which kills cancer cells in the eye without harming the adjacent healthy retina.

Laboratory research at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute is conducted under the auspices of the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Vision Research Center. McKnight Vision Research has a rich history of discovery and innovation. Our multidisciplinary program covers a broad spectrum of research, from the most basic investigations into the nature of molecules, cells and tissues, all the way to the development of devices for clinical application.

Building on our tradition of excellence, we are currently implementing a major effort to develop and expand McKnight's existing research units and to add new programs. A number of outstanding scientists and physician-scientists have already been recruited. In addition, we have extended the mission of the McKnight Vision Research Center as an umbrella organization uniting all eye and vision researchers at University of Miami and neighboring academic institutions. Research activities have been initiated to enhance the collaborative environment for this multidisciplinary group. In addition, shared core resources and our research training program are all under expansion.

Today's and Tomorrow's Ophthalmologists

We regard the education of our ophthalmic residents and fellows, medical students and ophthalmologists from around the world as one of the highest priorities to ensure that the vision needs of future generations are met. This tradition of excellence has been instrumental in earning Bascom Palmer Eye Institute world recognition as an outstanding teaching, research and patient care facility. Our training programs are regarded as the best in the nation, and annually our seven first-year residency positions attract more than 450 physician applicants from around the world.

In addition to earning an ophthalmology specialty for residents and sub-specialty training for fellows, physicians may also participate in our continuing medical education programs.

Conveying the knowledge acquired in scientific laboratories, our clinical practice and surgical suites to students and ophthalmologists is critical to our commitment to global leadership in the advancement of eye care.

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