The Vickie and Jack Farber Vision Research Center is ushering in an exciting, transformative era for research at Wills. Research at Wills is expanding and evolving with many opportunities and support for resident involvement.
Mission
Research at Wills Eye is in a period of great expansion! Building upon the outstanding clinical and training environment at Wills Eye, the high level of thought leadership in ophthalmology across the clinical spectrum and ties with the Sidney Kimmel Medical Center at Jefferson, the Vickie and Jack Farber Vision Research Center at Wills Eye was established thanks to a generous $5 million gift from the Farbers. This new Center leverages clinical and technological advances in health delivery systems, data analytics, and translational research to drive breakthroughs through collaboration and innovation that empower lives by preserving vision through preventing, treating and curing eye disease. Our research mission is to promote vibrant, collaborative, intellectually stimulating and sustainable vision research and to position Wills as a leader in vision research nationally and internationally. Achieving our mission is high priority for Wills and includes fostering a research culture that is integrated into the clinical and training programs across Wills.
Core Services
As the hub of research at Wills Eye, the Vision Research Center provides a centralized resource that coordinates, facilitates and supports research activities throughout Wills Eye. The Center incorporates research mentoring and training, including resident lectures on study methodology and biostatistics and one-on-one consultations for developing new research proposals and offers core resources in study design, biostatistics, standard research processes and procedures and grant preparation. The Biostatistics Consulting Core (BCC) was established in Fall 2017 to ensure that the research conducted in the Vision Research Center is sound and of high quality and integrity. Based in the Vision Research Center, the BCC is a centralized resource for consultation and collaboration with the Clinical Services and the educational programs at Wills Eye. BCC services include but are not limited to research design, study implementation, data management, data analysis, interpretation of results and report generation. BCC consultation services are provided at no cost for residents working on unfunded projects.
Research Opportunities
Capitalizing on our considerable strengths at Wills in ophthalmology, epidemiology and biostatistics and our experience in telehealth and community based eye care programs, coupled with the expertise in clinical and basic neuroscience and data analytics at Jefferson, our efforts are focused initially on four major areas to advance scientific knowledge in vision care. These areas are Ophthalmology Informatics, vision screening and ophthalmic care in underserved communities, translational research, and Clinical Trials. Wills has been selected by the American Academy of Ophthalmology as one of five Data Analytic Teams to have full access to the IRIS© (Intelligent Research in Sight) Registry, a database of electronic medical records from over 200 million patients across the U.S. This rich resource launched our Ophthalmology Informatics Program, offering opportunities to generate new information that can inform practice patterns, treatment outcomes and policy proposals. The Vickie and Jack Farber Vision Research Center is ushering in an exciting, transformative era for research at Wills. Research at Wills is expanding and evolving with many opportunities and support for resident involvement.