Nov 11, 2012
The Straits Times
By Alphonsus Chern
Founded in 1997 with just 11 employees, the Singapore Eye Research Institute (Seri) now has 192 staff, and plans to double its strength over the next decade. It does more than 90 per cent of eye research here, and its prolific output has catapulted Singapore into the global top spot in the field, ahead of heavyweight eye research centres in the United States and Britain.
According to Web of Science, an online academic citation index, Seri is among the top four publishers of ophthalmology-related publications worldwide, alongside the University of London's Moorfields eye hospital, and the Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities in the US.
The journal International Ophthalmology has also highlighted Singapore as the leading contributor of publications per population worldwide. By December last year, Seri conducted more than 850 eye-related studies, received over $120 million in competitive grants, published more than 1,400 scientific papers, received 200 awards for its work and registered 37 patents for its inventions.
It is also punching above its weight in other areas of research. For instance, it has found a way to reliably predict diseases such as stroke, diabetes, hypertension, dementia and kidney disease by looking at retinal blood vessel damage.
A research study that analysed the retinal images of 15,000 patients, combined with the person's age and blood pressure, was able to predict a stroke with 80 per cent accuracy. This method is now being tested in some clinics, but the project is still several years away from completion.
With just $3 million in annual core funding from the Ministry of Health, Seri competes with other groups here and overseas for additional funding, and is hoping to raise more money through endowment grants for research.
It has also run out of space, and there are plans to house the institute together with the Singapore National Eye Centre in a new building, so that researchers can remain in close contact with the doctors who see about 275,000 patients every year.
Seri's Other Breakthroughs
Ocular drug delivery system
Researchers at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (Seri) have found a way to inject slow-releasing drugs into the eyeball. This could free people with glaucoma from having to use eye drops daily or risk a worsening of their condition, which could lead to blindness.
Designed to mimic cell membranes in the human body, the special particles developed at Seri can stay in the eye for up to four months, slowly releasing the medication. If trials show the injection treatment works, it could benefit the 10,000 people who go to the eye centre for glaucoma treatment every year.
Corneal surgery
A new laser treatment to correct short-sightedness may be able to reverse it later in life, when patients develop presbyopia, or long-sightedness, instead. Unlike conventional Lasik surgery that vaporises corneal tissue, the new surgery removes a lens-shaped piece of the cornea without destroying it. The piece of corneal tissue, called a lenticule, can be stored and later retrieved to treat the same patient's presbyopia.
It can even be donated to corneal transplant patients. This procedure is not unlike cord blood banking, where an infant's cord blood, stored at birth, may be used years later to treat immune system and blood-related disorders.
The Straits Times
By Alphonsus Chern
Founded in 1997 with just 11 employees, the Singapore Eye Research Institute (Seri) now has 192 staff, and plans to double its strength over the next decade. It does more than 90 per cent of eye research here, and its prolific output has catapulted Singapore into the global top spot in the field, ahead of heavyweight eye research centres in the United States and Britain.
According to Web of Science, an online academic citation index, Seri is among the top four publishers of ophthalmology-related publications worldwide, alongside the University of London's Moorfields eye hospital, and the Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities in the US.
The journal International Ophthalmology has also highlighted Singapore as the leading contributor of publications per population worldwide. By December last year, Seri conducted more than 850 eye-related studies, received over $120 million in competitive grants, published more than 1,400 scientific papers, received 200 awards for its work and registered 37 patents for its inventions.
It is also punching above its weight in other areas of research. For instance, it has found a way to reliably predict diseases such as stroke, diabetes, hypertension, dementia and kidney disease by looking at retinal blood vessel damage.
A research study that analysed the retinal images of 15,000 patients, combined with the person's age and blood pressure, was able to predict a stroke with 80 per cent accuracy. This method is now being tested in some clinics, but the project is still several years away from completion.
With just $3 million in annual core funding from the Ministry of Health, Seri competes with other groups here and overseas for additional funding, and is hoping to raise more money through endowment grants for research.
It has also run out of space, and there are plans to house the institute together with the Singapore National Eye Centre in a new building, so that researchers can remain in close contact with the doctors who see about 275,000 patients every year.
Seri's Other Breakthroughs
Ocular drug delivery system
Researchers at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (Seri) have found a way to inject slow-releasing drugs into the eyeball. This could free people with glaucoma from having to use eye drops daily or risk a worsening of their condition, which could lead to blindness.
Designed to mimic cell membranes in the human body, the special particles developed at Seri can stay in the eye for up to four months, slowly releasing the medication. If trials show the injection treatment works, it could benefit the 10,000 people who go to the eye centre for glaucoma treatment every year.
Corneal surgery
A new laser treatment to correct short-sightedness may be able to reverse it later in life, when patients develop presbyopia, or long-sightedness, instead. Unlike conventional Lasik surgery that vaporises corneal tissue, the new surgery removes a lens-shaped piece of the cornea without destroying it. The piece of corneal tissue, called a lenticule, can be stored and later retrieved to treat the same patient's presbyopia.
It can even be donated to corneal transplant patients. This procedure is not unlike cord blood banking, where an infant's cord blood, stored at birth, may be used years later to treat immune system and blood-related disorders.
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