EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/194331
October 2013 EW NEWS & OPINION 17 New Eye Institute opens on the UC Irvine campus I n September, the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute opened its new 70,000-square-foot facility on the UC Irvine campus and started to receive its first patients. "The Gavin Herbert Eye Institute is strategically located within walking distance of two major biomedical research centers and at the epicenter of the largest concentration of eye technology companies in the world. It's well positioned to pursue its ambitious research goal of ending blindness by 2020," said Michael V. Drake, MD, UC Irvine chancellor. This capped a 10-year effort by the institute's founding director, Roger Steinert, MD, to raise $39 million in funding to support the project. This represents the first facility on the UC Irvine campus to be funded entirely through local corporate, foundation, and individual philanthropic gifts; no government funding was required. The concept of this institute can even be traced back to discussions when Irving Leopold, MD, helped start the department in 1975. James V. "Jim" Mazzo, an operating partner with Versant Ventures and a UC Irvine Foundation trustee, led the very successful community campaign. The initial naming gift came in 2007 from Gavin Herbert, founder and chairman emeritus of Allergan, his wife, Ninetta, and his mother Josephine Herbert Gleis. Other major donors were Abbott Medical Optics, the Alcon Foundation, the Allergan Foundation, Julia and George Argyros, the Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation, Bausch + Lomb, Esther and James Cavanaugh, the Discovery Eye Foundation, the Kratz Foundation, Marsha and Bill Link, and Kelly and Jim Mazzo. In addition to these major donors are more than 100 key donor supporters of this effort. The facility includes a team of 24 clinicians and researchers who will provide comprehensive ophthalmology care to about 150 patients a day. All major ophthalmic specialties are represented at the Eye Institute. Research teams at the Eye Institute are investigating such advanced treatments as stem cell therapies to by Brad Fundingsland EyeWorld Education Development Group preserve and restore sight for individuals with retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration; infused contact lenses that replace eye drops to treat cystinosis; and a vaccine for ocular herpes, a leading cause of blindness. The building includes 34 patient exam rooms and two operating rooms, with adjoining space for laser cataract surgery, and space for expansion. Due to the slope of the land where the Eye Institute is located, there are two places where patients can enter the facility, one being the main entrance and the other being the surgical entrance. This slope gives the Eye Institute the unique ability to have these two entrances at different levels, but still permits both to have ground floor access. This is particularly importance since two-thirds of the patient population served by the Eye Institute is elderly. The operating rooms include HD video capabilities, which can be broadcast within the Eye Institute to the large 127-person conference facility or to any outside location through the internet. Computers are able to hold up to three months of HD footage in the servers for clinicians to use for presentations or archiving. One of the key unique features of the Eye Institute is the Braille Institute-inspired interior design features that maximize ease of use by patients with impaired vision. Examples of this include darker colors on countertops so that there is a contrast with the white papers presented to patients, and consistent colors on carpets, without abrupt color changes that may be interpreted as impediments by low vision patients. Another element is the dedicated pediatric space, designed to put children at ease. This includes a play-oriented waiting room, televisions showing consistent programming throughout the facility, and a restroom equipped with a toddlerheight sink and toilet. When entering the Eye Institute, visitors are first greeted by a very unique sculpture in the lobby. The sculpture involves the stringing of suspended dichroic glass artwork throughout the lobby atrium above continued on page 18 The Gavin Herbert Eye Institute Dr. Steinert, founding director of the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, an academic eye center dedicated to the preservation of sight, with services ranging from eyeglass fittings to refractive surgeries to clinical trials of new therapies Community and university leaders mark the opening of the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute's new home at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 10. Pictured from left: UC Irvine Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Terry Belmont; UC Irvine Foundation Board of Trustees Chair Hazem Chehabi, MD; UC Irvine School of Medicine Dean Dr. Ralph Clayman; Versant Ventures Operating Partner James Mazzo; Allergan Chairman Emeritus Gavin Herbert; Gavin Herbert Eye Institute Director Roger Steinert, MD; and UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake, MD.