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10/08/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/08/2026 07:17

Setting Sights on Better Vision: How Jacobs Retina Center Connects Discovery and Care

Published Date

October 08, 2026

Article Content

There's a lot to see at Jacobs Retina Center.

In one room, a clinical trial participant gets a retinal scan and layers of their eye appear on a screen as crisp bands of light. Nearby, geneticists trace the origins of inherited blindness, and materials chemists work on new ways to keep sight-saving drugs in the eye longer.

These distinct activities are all part of the same research ecosystem at the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Retina Center - the first and only free-standing retina center in the country - which opened at the University of California San Diego's Shiley Eye Institute in 2004 thanks to a multi-million-dollar gift from philanthropists Joan and Irwin Jacobs.

Today, the retina center's collaborative model continues to reflect the Jacobs' vision. In the early 2000s, they recognized both the urgency of retinal disease and the need for dedicated space where researchers and clinicians could work side by side. Retinal diseases - including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and inherited retinal disorders - are a leading cause of vision loss worldwide, and advancing care requires expertise that spans imaging, genetics, surgery and translational research. By helping establish the Retina Center, the Jacobs family created a place designed to connect those capabilities and move discoveries more quickly toward patients.

Philanthropists Irwin and Joan Jacobs gave a major gift to UC San Diego in the early 2000s to launch the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Retina Center at the Shiley Eye Institute. Credit: Jacobs Family

"The Jacobs family saw that San Diego could be a place of true excellence in vision research and care, and they also knew how important it is to keep patients at the center of this work," said Distinguished Professor William Freeman, MD, director of the Jacobs Retina Center and vice chair of the Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology at UC San Diego School of Medicine. "We're deeply grateful to Joan and Irwin Jacobs for seeing that potential early and helping make this center possible."

Today, the center continues to realize their vision as a multidisciplinary hub for retinal research and care. Its clinical trial program alone has hosted 80 clinical trials, bringing experimental therapies and advanced diagnostics to approximately 750 patients.

This image shows the groundbreaking for the Jacobs Retina Center. Credit: UC San Diego/Shiley Eye Institute

From bench to bedside

While some projects focus exclusively on new tools and therapies, others begin with a more fundamental question: what causes retinal disease in the first place? This type of work is possible because the Jacobs Retina Center brings together genetics, clinical expertise and translational research in one place.

Radha Ayyagari, PhD, professor of ophthalmology and pathology at UC San Diego School of Medicine, focuses on inherited retinal degenerations, many of which affect children and can lead to severe vision loss or blindness. Her team studies families around the world, including South Asian and African ancestry populations, to identify overlooked disease-causing variants. Her lab analyzes patient genomes to identify mutations, models disease in mice and stem-cell-derived retinal cells and develops therapies to target these diseases. Ayyagari is also partnering with epigenomics experts to build a single-cell atlas of the human retina, a resource that maps how genes are regulated across different retinal cell types and may help researchers pinpoint how genetic risk variants contribute to eye disease.

Together, this work helps researchers understand how disease starts, how it progresses and where treatment may be able to intervene.

"The field has changed dramatically. We can now identify genetic causes of disease with much greater precision, and that gives us a stronger foundation for developing therapies that are tailored to the biology of each condition," said Ayyagari.

Professor of ophthalmology and pathology Radha Ayyagari focuses on inherited retinal diseases in her lab at UC San Diego. Credit: UC San Diego/Shiley Eye Institute
This immunofluorescence image shows a retinal organoid, a miniature version of the retina that allows scientists to study this complex anatomical structure in a lab setting. The different colors indicate different cell types. Credit: Shyamanga Borooah

In addition to identifying the causes of retinal diseases, Ayyagari also collaborates closely with Shyamanga Borooah, MD, PhD, professor of ophthalmology at UC San Diego School of Medicine and ophthalmologist at UC San Diego Health, to translate those discoveries into potential gene therapies designed to restore missing or reduced gene function. Borooah runs California's only dedicated ocular genetics clinic, leading groundbreaking trials, such as the first CRISPR gene editing trial for Leber Congenital Amaurosis and phase 3 stem cell trials for retinitis pigmentosa. His team is increasingly focused on ultra-rare diseases - conditions that may affect only a handful of patients worldwide. Some ultra-rare diseases may affect a single patient. Because of this, most people with ultra-rare diseases are not eligible for conventional clinical trials.

"Ultra-rare diseases are challenging, but they are also an opportunity," said Borooah. "In addition to providing care to patients who are often left out of traditional drug development efforts, understanding the precise genetic problems affecting a small number of patients could help us uncover treatment strategies that can ultimately inform care much more broadly. So, by treating one, we can treat many."

From silicon to sight

This image shows a porous silicon nanoparticle. By infusing therapeutic compounds into these particles, scientists are able to use to extend the duration of action for medications in order to reduce the frequency of eye injections. Credit: Mike Sailor

In addition to finding new ways to detect diseases, the center is also helping move new therapies closer to the clinic. For many retinal diseases, treatment still depends on repeated injections of medicine into the eye, often every few weeks or months. While these treatments can be life-changing for patients, the rigorous schedule can become burdensome. Researchers at Jacobs Retina Center are working on ways to make these treatments last longer.

For more than a decade, Freeman has collaborated with UC San Diego Distinguished Professor of chemistry and biochemistry Mike Sailor, PhD, on a silicon nanoparticle-based drug delivery system designed to keep medicine in the eye for longer periods of time. The team's strategy encapsulates drugs in microparticles of nanoporous silicon so they clear more slowly and release over time, stretching treatment intervals from weeks to several months.

The researchers' nanotechnology approach is now moving toward commercialization through Spinnaker Biosciences, a UC San Diego-linked startup founded by Freeman and Sailor. The company plans to begin a combined Phase 1/2 clinical trial within the next six to eight months under newly appointed CEO Ivor Royston, an oncologist and venture capitalist.

Long-term, the researchers are also exploring the potential of nanotechnology to tell when the drugs are beginning to wear off, allowing doctors to minimize necessary doses while ensuring continuous treatment. This approach of combining therapy with simple diagnostic readings to guide care is known as theranostics.

Engineering better vision

Beyond ophthalmology, what makes the Jacobs Retina Center distinctive is its ability to integrate expertise across campus. While physicians care for patients every day, engineers at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, under the leadership of Distinguished Professor Truong Nguyen, PhD, are helping develop new ways to detect and track retinal diseases. For several years, electrical engineering graduate students have been embedded in the center, collaborating directly with clinicians on practical challenges in eye care to yield a sustained partnership between engineering and medicine.

This collaboration has produced innovative computational tools, including an AI system that analyzes optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography to predict age-related macular degeneration with high accuracy from a single visit. Another tool overlays retinal images taken across different time points, helping clinicians spot subtle disease changes faster and more reliably than traditional side-by-side reviews.

The benefits of using AI to analyze images of the eye could also extend to other parts of the body. To build upon breakthroughs made at the retina center, UC San Diego researchers, including Freeman, Jacobs Retina Center co-director Dirk-Uwe Bartsch, PhD, and bioinformatics professor Mike Hogarth, MD, are collaborating with colleagues across the UC system to extend these AI-guided approaches to diagnose diseases far away from the eye. Because the retina contains the body's smallest blood vessels, retinal scans can provide a highly zoomed-in look at overall cardiovascular health, where subtle blood vessel abnormalities can serve as early indicators of systemic conditions like cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's.

This image shows a volunteer having her retina scanned. By using AI to analyze images of the eye, researchers at Jacobs Retina Center are creating new approaches to predict diseases both within the eye and elsewhere in the body. Credit: UC San Diego/Erik Jepsen

"The eye can provide a convenient, accessible window into vascular and neurological health," said Freeman. "If these efforts continue to advance, a simple retinal scan could someday become part of routine screening, helping clinicians assess disease risk using imaging that is fast, accessible and, most importantly, easy for patients, as it can be done in a routine visit without even dilating the eye."

This photo shows engineering students and ophthalmology faculty at Jacobs Retina Center. Credit: UC San Diego/Shiley Eye Institute

Leading advances in retinal care and discovery

While the Jacobs Retina Center serves as the physical and intellectual anchor for many of these breakthroughs, the division's research and clinical excellence extend well beyond the walls of the retina center building. Through leadership across the broader ophthalmology department and partner institutions, retina faculty extend this high-level care into pediatric, veteran, and specialized health settings throughout the region.

Assistant Professor Nathan Scott, MD, who serves as division chief of ocular oncology at UC San Diego School of Medicine and as an ophthalmologist at UC San Diego Health, works in collaboration with UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center to detect metastatic disease earlier by looking at the eye and leads a clinical trial involving a new therapy for choroidal melanoma. Scott also specializes in uveal melanoma and multi-modal retinal imaging, collaborating with Department of Pharmacology chair Silvio Gutkind, PhD, to map dysregulated molecular pathways and uncover novel therapeutics, while also establishing an intra-arterial chemotherapy program for retinoblastoma.

Henry Ferreyra, MD, professor and director of the retina division at the Jennifer Moreno Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, is leading a clinical trial testing a gene therapy to block blood vessel growth in macular degeneration. His clinical and research focus encompasses electrophysiology, retinal dystrophies, paraneoplastic/autoimmune retinopathy, diabetic retinopathy, and retinopathy of prematurity across Shiley Eye Institute, UC San Diego Health, and the VA.

Christopher Toomey, MD, PhD, assistant professor of ophthalmology at UC San Diego School of Medicine and ophthalmologist at UC San Diego Health, leads a research program at the Glycobiology Research and Training Center focused on developing therapies for early-stage macular degeneration. Toomey discovered that drusen - deposits on the retina that are a hallmark of the disease - are aggregates of high-density lipoproteins (HDL), demonstrating how elevated HDL levels contribute to retinal degeneration risk.

This image shows William Freeman operating at the Shiley Eye Institute. Credit: UC San Diego/Shiley Eye Institute

Additionally, Lingyun Cheng, MD, adjunct professor and director of the ocular pharmacology division UC San Diego School of Medicine, advances sustained-release local ocular drug delivery systems - including subretinal gene delivery and intravitreal porous silicon - to treat refractory conditions like age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and retinal vein occlusion without frequent injections. Doran B. Spencer, MD, PhD, assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology at UC San Diego School of Medicine and ophthalmologist at UC San Diego Health, leads innovative clinical trials evaluating new treatments to manage ocular inflammation and achieve long-term remission without systemic toxicity.

This image shows the microscopic structure of the retina's vasculature, including visible red blood cells circulating through capillaries (green). Many diseases studied by scientists at Jacobs Retina Center involve these blood vessels, which are the smallest visible to physicians and can provide important information on vascular health not detectable elsewhere. Credit: National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research

Eric Nudleman, MD, PhD, who serves as an ophthalmologist at UC San Diego Health and as co-director of the retina division at UC San Diego School of Medicine, uses multi-omics and biochemistry to identify cell types responsible for scar formation (fibrosis) in retinal vascular diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusions, and retinopathy of prematurity, partnering with UC San Diego School of Medicine assistant professor and UC San Diego Health ophthalmologist Jacob Heng, MD, PhD, and Distinguished Professor of ophthalmology and pathology Napoleone Ferrara, MD, to develop targeted anti-scarring therapies for these diseases. Nudleman also directs the Pediatric Retina Service at Rady Children's Hospital.

Training the workforce of tomorrow

The retina center's collaborative culture is also shaping how the next generation of vision researchers and clinicians is trained.

Undergraduates, graduate students, medical trainees and international fellows all participate in active research projects at the Jacobs Retina Center. In Ayyagari's lab alone, four to six undergraduates typically contribute at any given time, assisting with imaging, coding, lab techniques, data analysis and clinical research support. Many stay on for longer-term projects and go on to graduate training or medical school.

International retina fellows also train at UC San Diego, gaining exposure not only to clinical care, but also to clinical trials, imaging, AI and translational research before bringing those experiences back to their home institutions. Some continue their work in San Diego, deepening the center's global network of collaborators.

"After coming here, it was a completely different environment," said Nehal Mehta, MD, a visiting retina fellow from India. "Not only did we have the same clinical patient load, but we also had research opportunities here, and the kind of clinical trial environment I've seen here does not exist in India."

That integration of research and clinical training is part of what makes the center distinctive: trainees are not learning about innovation from a distance, but seeing firsthand how new tools, therapies and clinical studies move toward patient care.

Expanding the vision

In many ways, the collaborative model behind the Jacobs Retina Center reflects the vision Joan and Irwin Jacobs helped set in motion more than two decades ago: a place where excellence in vision research and care could grow side by side, always with patients at the heart. Today, this model is sustained not only by philanthropy, but also by UC San Diego's broader investment in health sciences infrastructure. The result is a thriving ecosystem of retinal research that spans basic biology to clinical trials.

Retinal research at UC San Diego offers a model for what modern academic medicine can look like: collaborative, translational and built to move discoveries from the lab toward real-world impact. What makes the Jacobs Retina Center distinctive within this ecosystem is not just what happens inside its walls, but the network it creates - connecting clinicians, engineers, geneticists, trainees and patients across UC San Diego and beyond in pursuit of better ways to diagnose, study and treat retinal disease.

"The most important thing is that patients benefit from this environment," added Freeman. "When clinicians, scientists and engineers are all working together, in the laboratory as well as in clinical trials, we can ask better questions, develop better tools and move promising ideas forward more quickly."

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