Research beyond Walls: State University of New York (SUNY) Eye Institute

Ophthalmic research has developed into a multidisciplinary enterprise that requires the collaboration of basic and clinical scientists to understand and treat diseases that affect virtually every step in vision: from the entrance of light into the eye, through transduction in the retina, to higher processing in the visual cortex. It is a challenge to create and support a critical mass of diverse researchers together in one location. A novel solution to this dilemma has taken form at the State University of New York (SUNY, www.suny.edu), where 5 geographically distributed vision research groups have united to form the multidisciplinary research institute, i.e. SUNY Eye Institute (SEI, www.sunyeye.org). SEI, one of the largest vision research groups in the US, represents a novel and exciting model by integrating the complementary resources of the four medical schools in the State University of New York system and the College of Optometry into a single research institute. This cooperative venture combines the three core constituencies of vision research basic, ophthalmic, and optometric sciences into a single research enterprise. This model represents a paradigm shift, yet built on traditional academic infrastructure, using communication technology to generate a state-wide wall-less institute. Thus, SEI serves a broad and diverse constituency in New York, the third most populous state in the United States. The SEI mission is to integrate complementary strengths of the SUNY campuses into a single institute to enhance research and training in clinical and basic visual sciences. The goals are as follows: – To promote and foster collaborative research interactions among SEI scientists. – To establish state-of-the-art eye research core facilities to serve and augment SEI researchers. – To recruit basic and clinical investigators into eye and vision research. – To develop preand post-doctoral training programs in eye and vision research across the five campuses.