Research centre ties up with global partners to boost eye care

Partnerships pave way for new treatments ranging from corneal to cataract surgery

- Ariel Yu

An eye and vision research centre here is collaborating with international partners to pave the way for new treatments ranging from corneal to cataract surgery.

The Singapore Eye Research Institute (Seri), together with the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC), is partnering Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University in the US to develop alternatives to corneal transplants, so that only the affected parts of the eye will be treated or replaced.

They will also work on enhancing education, clinical care and research in ophthalmology. Seri, SNEC's research arm, is also collaborating with German medtech company Carl Zeiss Meditec to advance surgical outcomes in refractive and cataract surgery. The partnership will have a combined funding of nearly $20 million for the next three years.

Seri and SNEC signed a memorandum of understanding on Nov 12 with Byers Eye Institute, entering into a three-year agreement beginning in November.

Professor Jodhbir Mehta, executive director of Seri, said that one of the projects involves tissue engineering to replace damaged scarred corneas in patients who have suffered vision loss because of corneal infection, using a combination of scaffolds and cells.