Ophthalmology News and Research

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Ophthalmology is the specialized field of medicine that focuses on the health of the eye. It includes the anatomy, physiology and diseases that may affect the eye. Historically, the science of ophthalmology encompassed all aspects of visual function, both in health and in illness. Additionally, ophthalmology also includes animal eyes as ocular function and optic diseases are similar among humans and animals.

Improved indoor lighting may prevent nearsightedness in children

Research has already shown that the more time children spend playing with screens indoors instead of playing outdoors, the more likely they are to develop myopia.

18 Aug 2026

Researchers identify genes that hinder CRISPR editing efficiency

Like a delivery driver navigating crowded city streets, a gene-therapy-toting lipid nanoparticle faces a gauntlet of potential detours on its journey toward a cell's nucleus.

13 Aug 2026

Genetic tool turns soft cancer cells into immune targets

Researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Keck School of Medicine of USC have engineered a remarkable genetic tool that addresses one of the most persistent obstacles in cancer immunotherapy: the physical softness of tumors.

11 Aug 2026

Complex ophthalmology letters may hinder patient understanding, study suggests

Letters to patients from ophthalmology services--the highest volume outpatient specialty in UK healthcare-include too much complex language and medical terminology which patients are likely to find hard to understand, reveals an analysis of more than 4 million letters from one large hospital trust, published in the open access journal BMJ Health & Care Informatics.

4 Aug 2026

Tadalafil may increase glaucoma risk in men with enlarged prostates

An erectile dysfunction drug that is also used to treat symptoms like sudden urgency and frequency, which are associated with an enlarged prostate in men, may heighten the risk of the serious eye condition, glaucoma, finds a large comparative study published online in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

4 Aug 2026

Photoreceptors possess internal recycling system to preserve vision

For decades, scientists believed that photoreceptors in the retina relied primarily on neighboring support cells, known as the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), to remove waste. While the RPE is still responsible for clearing away the worn-out tips of photoreceptors each day, new findings from the University of Oklahoma reveal that photoreceptors also perform much of their own internal housekeeping.

29 Jul 2026

Scientists develop multi-spot tracking system for corneal diagnostics

Researchers at the International Centre for Translational Eye Research (ICTER) have developed a prototype imaging system that can simultaneously track the cornea's mechanical response at nine locations.

28 Jul 2026

Spring clock change increases retinal vascular disease risk, study finds

For the first time, Northwestern Medicine scientists have detailed how the semiannual clock changes impact a person's risk of developing retinal vascular disease, a group of disorders that affect blood vessels in the retina and can lead to vision loss.

20 Jul 2026

Study identifies new waste clearance system in the eye

Many of the world's leading causes of irreversible blindness, including glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, share a common problem: the buildup of fluid, waste and inflammatory debris in the back of the eye.

17 Jul 2026

Popular diabetes drugs do not alter the risk of developing a blinding eye condition

An estimated 27% of U.S. adults with diabetes are using glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) - a type of medication that mimics the GLP-1 hormone - to lower blood sugar and support weight loss. Some research has suggested that their use can reduce the risk of developing other diseases.

17 Jul 2026

NIH grant supports AI development for glaucoma prognosis and care

The National Eye Institute (NEI) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded Mingquan Lin, PhD, an assistant professor in the Division of Computational Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota Medical School, a 5-year, $3.7 million grant for his research on Developing Robust Multimodal AI for Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Prognosis.

17 Jul 2026

Smoking shows no major impact on the eye microbiome in small study

A small study found no evidence that smoking causes large or consistent shifts in the ocular surface microbiome or tear proteome. The authors caution that subtle smoking-related effects cannot be ruled out, given the small cohort and the ocular surface's low-biomass, contamination-sensitive microbial niche.

8 Jul 2026

Study explains long-term ocular symptoms following mild COVID-19

Mild COVID-19 can cause severe and long-lasting eye problems, according to a study from Linköping University, Sweden.

8 Jul 2026

Study links cardiovascular risk factors to visual impairment in Latinos

In the U.S., Hispanic/Latino populations are disproportionately at risk for eye diseases like glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, or vision loss tied to diabetes.

29 Jun 2026

New eye imaging technology captures clearer details of retina

Modern OCT devices can look inside the eye without a scalpel - but they do not always capture everything that matters. Some critical information is simply lost, blurred by scattered photons.

24 Jun 2026

New grant supports research into blinding retinal diseases

A University of Minnesota Medical School research team has been awarded a 4-year, $2.2 million grant from the National Eye Institute to better understand the underlying causes of retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and develop new treatments that could benefit patients.

16 Jun 2026

Doctors find unexpected regional differences in retinopathy of prematurity in Norway

It's a mystery. The eye disease known as retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) can make infants permanently blind if they are not treated. But there are big differences between how often Norwegian hospitals actually provide this treatment.

16 Jun 2026

AI screening tool increases diabetic eye exam referrals for African Americans

In a study exploring how an AI-assisted diagnostic tool shaped care for underserved populations at multiple community-based primary care sites, investigators at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine found that African American patients with diabetes were more likely to receive a diabetic eye exam referral if screened by an AI tool.

9 Jun 2026

Novel artificial intelligence technology improves eye disease diagnosis

Non-invasive eye scans allow doctors a zoomed-in, three-dimensional look beneath the eye's surface without causing discomfort or pain to the patient.

5 Jun 2026

New brain probe simultaneously records and controls neuron activity

A new breakthrough technology, co-developed by UCL scientists, that simultaneously records and manipulates neuron activity deep within the brain could transform our understanding of neural circuits and neurological conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.

1 Jun 2026