“… the problem of childhood blindness is now primarily the brain-damaged infant who is multiple handicapped and whose visual disabilities are neither well assessed nor rehabilitated by normal measures of ocular disability.”
- Creig S. Hoyt, M.D.

Dr. Pamela Sample offered “… several examples to show how psychophysics have shed light on human vision and driven the search for physiological mechanisms to explain the psychophysical findings.”

Victoria L. Morrison, M.D. was awarded the David and Nancy Schanzlin Resident Research Award by Dr. Leah Levi and Dr. David Schanzlin

The First Annual Residents, Fellows, and Alumni Day took place on Saturday, June 12, 2004, in the Shiley Eye Center Conference Room. All of the presentations were highly informative and appreciated by the attendees, making the day a great success. All eight ophthalmology residents, both American and international fellows, and even a Shiley Eye Center alum, presented the research they had been working on over the past year.

Creig S. Hoyt, M.D., Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco, presented his research,“ The Marvelous Visual Cortex of Children,” in the First Annual Stuart I. Brown Lecture. Dr. Hoyt is known world-wide for his literary contributions to pediatric ophthalmology and neuroophthalmology, including his seminal work in the field of congenital cataract surgery and visual development. Dr. Hoyt's research presentation was insightful and fascinating as he traced the history of ophthalmology, as well as the problems facing pediatric ophthalmologists today. In his lecture, Dr. Hoyt stated that, “…the problem of childhood blindness is now primarily the brain-damaged infant who is multiple handicapped and whose visual disabilities are neither well assessed nor rehabilitated by normal measures of ocular disability.” He believes that this is a highly relevant issue that should be studied so that visual rehabilitation is more successful.

Pamela A. Sample, Ph.D., Professor of Ophthalmology at the Shiley Eye Center, delivered the First Faculty Research Lecture entitled: “Seeing Into the Visual Pathways with Visual Psychophysics.” Dr. Sample had the audience participating in visual exercises that enhanced the presentation of her research in visual psychophysics. Dr. Sample offered “…several examples to show how psychophysics have shed light on human vision and driven the search for physiological mechanisms to explain the psychophysical findings.” As she highlighted the possibility of using visual psychophysics to understand the disease-related loss of function in visual pathway neurons, Dr. Sample stressed that “…the possibilities for uses of visual psychophysics are numerous.”

Attendees of the Residents, Fellows and Alumni Day included Shiley Eye Center alumni, faculty, and members of the San Diego County Ophthalmological Society. At the end of the day, Victoria L. Morrison, M.D., was awarded the David and Nancy Schanzlin Resident Research Award for the best resident research project titled “Intravitreal Toxicity of the Kenalog Vehicle (Benzyl Alcohol) in Rabbits”. Her name will be added to the plaque of awardees in the new Bill and Eva Weyland Library. It was a beautiful day for a new annual tradition at the Shiley Eye Center!