The research section consists of 14 laboratories pursuing a broad spectrum of interests encompassing most major diseases of the eye. The department believes that conducting basic research, in conjunction with clinical investigation, provides the ideal environment for developing solutions to disease processes. The research interests of the investigators include investigation of the genetic components of age related macular degeneration, mechanisms by which retinal pigment epithelial cells die, transplantation of retinal and retinal pigment epithelium, studies of Bruch's membrane, gene therapy for retinal disease, examination of the deleterious effects of photochemical reactions upon the eye and the toxic effects of oxygen, the effect of oxidative stress upon the lens and other eye tissues and its relationship to cataract, defining major antioxidative defense systems, basic mechanisms of fluid transport in the cornea and the lens, cell movement in corneal stroma, analysis of lacrimal gland fluid, development of new technology to evaluate the biological status of a tissue, examination of the effect of neuroprotective agents upon the development of glaucoma and a search for novel candidate genes associated with non-syndromic familial glaucoma, confocal microscopy of eye tissues and the mechanism of pigmentation of the iris.