Palmer Eye Institute, Bascombe

The Bascom Palmer EyeInstitute, ranked by U.S. News & World Report and Ophthalmology Times as Ophthalmology:1 in the U.S. U.S. News & World Report has been surveying physicians nationwide and ranking institutions nationally for 27 years, and this is the 17th time the Bascom Palmer EyeInstitute has been considered Ophthalmology:1.

About the Bascombe Palmer Eye Institute
For more than 50 years, the Bascombe Palmer Eye Institute has focused on protecting patients' vision. In fact, many of the transformative advances in ophthalmology have come from the Bascombe Palmer Eye Institute, where teams of skilled professionals continue to push the frontiers of ophthalmology, provide excellent academic training and deliver outstanding patient care.

Internationally renowned
The mission of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, the ophthalmology division of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, located in Miami, Florida, is to improve the quality of life by improving vision and preventing blindness; disseminating ophthalmic knowledge through compassionate patient care and innovative research. Many internationally renowned physicians and professors are on staff and are skilled in the specialty of ophthalmology.

The Bascombe Palmer Eye Institute has been ranked as the #1 eye hospital in the country by U.S. News & World Report's Hospitals of America. The Ophthalmology Times also ranked the Bascombe Palmer Eye Institute as a good overall ophthalmology programme in the country, with good clinical and inpatient programs. In addition, many of Bascombe Palmer Eye Institute's doctors are listed in America's Best Doctors. Not only do they excel in the treatment of general eye diseases, but they are also adept at managing complex diseases. Its treatment of difficult and complex ophthalmic diseases and approaches include: reconstruction of the anterior segment of the eye and IOLs, corneal and conjunctival tumours, corneal collagen cross-linking for cone corneas and corneal dilatation, corneal transplantation, diabetic retinopathy, eyelid, orbital and oculofacial plastic surgery, tear duct disease and surgery, macular degeneration and related diseases, ocular tumours and intraocular tumours, optic nerve surgery for diplopia, retinal degeneration, detachment and vascular obstruction, retinoblastoma, etc.

In addition to providing care to the University of Miami Hospital and clinics on campus, including the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and other campuses, the Bascombe Palmer Eye Institute provides quality eye care to more than 250,000 patients each year. Faculty members conduct innovative biomedical research and present advanced, industry-specific academic programs to the community and to ophthalmologists and other physicians.

Advancing medical innovation
Scientists and doctors at the Bascombe Palmer Eye Institute continue to advance the practice of ophthalmology by coming up with new theories and developing treatment techniques and surgical instruments.

In 2009, Bascombe Palmer surgeons first performed a modified osteodental artificial cornea transplant in the USA, restoring sight to a woman who had been blind for nine years. This complex procedure involved several surgical procedures, culminating in the implantation of her canine tooth into her eye, which served as the basis for retaining the prosthetic lens. (Prior to treatment the surgeon extracted one of the patient's canine teeth, cut it to fit and then made a small hole in the tooth, into which an artificial lens was inserted. The tooth is then implanted, along with the artificial lens, into the skin of the patient's cheek or shoulder for a period of time before it is formally implanted in the centre of the front of the eye to restore the patient's vision).

Commitment to research
Scientists and researchers at the Palmer Eye Institute in Bascombe are actively searching for causes, preventive measures and effective treatments for eye diseases. Some of the current areas of clinical research directly targeting patient care include macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, artificial cornea development and eye cancer.

Laboratory research at the Bascombe Palmer Eye Institute is all conducted at the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Centre for Vision Research. The multidisciplinary programme covers a wide range of research areas, from basic investigations into the nature of molecules, cells and tissues, through to the development of devices for clinical applications. The Bascombe Palmer Eye Institute also strives to unite the University of Miami and neighbouring academic institutions, allowing all vision and vision researchers to collaborate on research.

The faculty and staff of the Bascombe Palmer Eye Institute are committed to creating new knowledge and technology and translating it quickly into the clinic to help patients, striving to be a national centre for advanced research in scientific and technological advances to attack eye disease and prevent blindness through innovative research. The doctors' research areas include: neurodegenerative diseases and vision, retinitis pigmentosa, retinoblastoma, age-related macular degeneration, retinal imaging, image processing, optical coherence tomography, mathematical modelling of retinal morphology and disease processes, eye cancer, uveal melanoma, retinoblastoma, personalised genomic medicine and more.

Educational Mission
The education of ophthalmologically trained doctors and researchers is of great importance, and a good education of medical students and ophthalmologists worldwide is a major task in meeting the vision needs of future generations. The Bascombe Palmer Institute of Ophthalmology has a tradition of excellence in education and is recognised worldwide as an outstanding teaching, research and patient care facility. The training programmes at the Bascombe Palmer Eye Institute are considered to be among the best in the country. In addition to providing ophthalmology specialities for residents and subspecialty training for researchers, doctors can also participate in the Institute's continuing medical education programme.