Ocular Immunology

Immune system renders protection against infection, facilitates repair following injury and maintains homeostasis throughout the human body. It is long known that the eye is an immune-privileged organ in the human body. It was believed to be a defense mechanism rendered to protect the eye from the deleterious effects of either homeostatic or uncontrolled inflammatory/immune responses. Previously, it was assumed that immune privilege is maintained by preventing the entry of immune cells into the site. However, more recently it is accepted that the immune privilege of the eye is maintained by selective immunomodulation and not by general immunosuppression/immune blockade. Nonetheless, this immune barrier/balance is often compromised resulting in a variety of ocular diseases resulting in temporary or permanent loss of vision.Hence, our research focus is to understand the similarities and differences in the inflammatory/immune responses of the eye and elsewhere in the human body. This would enable us to harness these site-specific immune mechanisms to develop novel strategies to manage immune-mediated pathologies of the eye. Currently, we are studying the inflammatory and immune mechanisms underlying corneal conditions (dry eye disease, keratoconus, Stevens-Johnson syndrome), glaucoma, retinal disorders (Diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration, Stargardt disease, Retinopathy of prematurity, Retinitis Pigmentosa), uveitis and other immune-mediated eye diseases. Our efforts will contribute to the ocular immunology knowledge base and in the development of non- or minimally-invasive biomarker identification strategies to assist in personalized eye care.