Vision is our most precious sense — yet millions of people worldwide live with vision loss that robs them of independence and quality of life. The Ethier Lab studies vision through a biomedical engineering lens, with a focus on two conditions that together affect hundreds of millions of people globally: glaucoma and myopia.
Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness, often associated with elevated intraocular pressure, and affects approximately 80 million people worldwide. Myopia (near-sightedness) is rapidly becoming a global epidemic and is predicted to affect 50% of the world’s population by 2050. Although myopia can be corrected with glasses or contact lenses, high myopia significantly increases the risk of serious sight-threatening diseases, including retinal detachment and glaucoma itself.
We seek to understand the underlying biology and mechanics of these conditions and to develop new treatments — including technologies emerging directly from our lab — using a highly interdisciplinary approach at the interface of mechanics, cell biology, and physiology.