Completion of the Hamilton Glaucoma Center and the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Retina Center was celebrated in a dedication ceremony on January 27 at UCSD’s Shiley Eye Center. The 24,500 square-foot expansion will house clinical practice and research activities.

The $9 million glaucoma and retina facility expansions were largely funded through philanthropic gifts from Joan and Irwin Jacobs, and Frances and Philip White, representing the Hamilton White Foundation. The additional space and renovations were supported by gifts from donors including Donald and Darlene Shiley and Arthur Brody.

“We are grateful to our generous donors who have made this possible. These new facilities will allow our faculty to substantially increase their efforts in understanding and treating some of the most serious conditions leading to vision loss,” said Stuart I. Brown, M.D., chairman of the UCSD School of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology and director of the Shiley Eye Center. “Our experience is that providing talented people the necessary resources to solve these problems leads to an explosion in new and important contributions that benefit patients.”

The Hamilton Glaucoma Center will house laboratory and clinical research facilities for glaucoma, the leading cause of preventable blindness in the United States, and provide a home for a world-renowned team of 50 scientists and staff. It will facilitate existing research and enable the initiation of unique cross-disciplinary investigative programs in glaucoma throughout the university.

(Irwin Jacobs, Joan Jacobs, Acting Chancellor Marsha Chandler, Frances White, Darlene Shiley and Donald Shiley)

“The research will translate into innovative programs to prevent and cure glaucoma blindness,” said Robert N. Weinreb, M.D., Vice Chair of the UCSD Department of Ophthalmology and Chief of the Glaucoma Division as well as Director of the Hamilton Glaucoma Center.

The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Retina Center will house scientists conducting research projects seeking to find solutions for people of all ages who suffer from retina problems, which include such debilitating disorders as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, tumors and inherited disease. These research efforts will rely on collaboration between Dr. Freeman’s team at the Shiley Eye Center and other departments within the university.

“Our team is dedicated to developing new treatments for retinal disease that will translate into improved clinical care,” said William R. Freeman, M.D. Co-chief of the Retina Division and Director of the Jacobs Retina Center.

Designed by Anshen and Allen (Los Angeles), the new centers include clinical research space, wet bench and computer analysis laboratories and office space.