{"id":5184,"date":"2024-10-31T16:51:27","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T20:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/ophthalmology\/?p=5184"},"modified":"2026-06-05T15:41:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:41:41","slug":"fall24-researchupdates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/ophthalmology\/fall24-researchupdates\/","title":{"rendered":"Advancing Eye Research: Insights from Dr. Brad Gelfand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Alumni,<\/p>\n

\"University

Brad D. Gelfand, PhD
Associate Professor and Director of Basic Science Research<\/p><\/div>\n

This past January, I was honored to take on the role of Director of Basic Science Research in the Department of Ophthalmology. As an alum (PhD in Biomedical Engineering ’10), I was excited to return to UVA in 2016, joining UVA Ophthalmology, where I run a research lab focused on mechanisms and therapies for retinal diseases.<\/p>\n

We have an amazing ophthalmology research community in our department, currently with four full-time faculty members leading nearly two dozen post-doctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, and lab staff. Our research covers important areas like optic neuritis, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration, and our work has been featured in top journals like Nature<\/em><\/a>, Cell<\/em><\/a>, Science<\/em><\/a>, Nature Communications<\/em><\/a>, Nature Medicine<\/em><\/a>, Science Advances<\/em><\/a>, Science Immunology<\/em><\/a>, and PNAS<\/em><\/a>. I\u2019m especially proud to share that we rank #1 in NIH funding among public university Ophthalmology Departments on the East Coast.<\/p>\n

One project I\u2019m really excited about is a recent study where we developed a new animal model for choroidal neovascularization (CNV). This model helps us understand the inflammatory components of CNV more accurately, which is a big step forward for developing better treatments for wet AMD (Makin et al., Angiogenesis 2024, PMID: 39316206).<\/p>\n

Under Dr. Jun\u2019s leadership, we\u2019re building on our success and expanding our research enterprise. We\u2019re actively recruiting talented researchers whose expertise will add to our strengths. It\u2019s an exciting time for us, and I look forward to sharing more of our progress with you.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your support, and please stay in touch!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Regards,
\nBrad Gelfand, PhD
\nAssociate Professor of Ophthalmology
\nDirector of Basic Science Research<\/p>\n