Ian Pitha
University of Utah, UT·Biomedical Engineering
Glaucoma is a leading cause of permanent blindness worldwide. It is treated by lowering the pressure inside the eye.
- Fields
Biomedical Engineering
Medicine & Clinical Research
Materials Science
- Topics
glaucoma
trabeculectomy
intraocular pressure
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jan 2028
What they work on
- Determine how glaucoma drainage implant composition, design and nanoscale surface architecture affect foreign-body and scarring (fibrotic) responses, using a versatile manufacturing platform that makes implants with varied materials and textures.
- Test the hypothesis that nano-structured implant surfaces reduce fibrosis and improve fluid flow by giving cells cues that support integration and block scar-promoting signaling pathways.
- Build the best materials and surface features into a new, partially degradable shunt designed to prevent hypotony, and compare its effectiveness with commercially available implants.
More about the research
Surgery that creates a drainage path, such as trabeculectomy or a glaucoma drainage implant (GDI), can be very effective. However, it is saved for advanced cases because it often fails or causes complications. Most failures happen because scar tissue forms around the implant and blocks drainage. Early after surgery, fluid flow is hard to control, and pressure can drop too low, a problem called hypotony. Five-year failure rates reach 30% to 50%, and newer minimally invasive devices also fail or need repeat surgery more than 20% of the time.
Why it matters
Glaucoma surgery often fails because scar tissue blocks the drainage implant, leading to repeat operations and continued vision loss. Implants designed to resist scarring and prevent pressure from dropping too low could make surgery more reliable. They could lower eye pressure over the long term and help prevent vision loss for glaucoma patients, while reducing costly reoperations.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jian Lin
University of Missouri-Columbia, MO·Biomedical Engineering
Design and synthesize a magnetic shape memory polymer composite of PGDA-PAA elastomer with NdFeB and Fe3O4 microparticles, and relate its microstructure to how it changes shape under magnetic fields.
Gillian McLellan
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Medicine & Clinical Research
Optimize delivery of a feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)-based lentiviral vector to trabecular meshwork cells, the eye's fluid-drainage tissue, in cultured feline cells and glaucomatous cat eyes, selecting vector and dose for efficiency, tissue specificity and safety.
Omid Veiseh
Rice University, TX·Biomedical Engineering
Make 3D alginate methacrylate (AlMA) hydrogels and optimize the dose of engineered cells that secrete VEGF-C, a lymphatic growth signal, to improve lymphatic vessel guidance and regeneration in living animals.
The school
University of Utah: 58 labs on PI Pages, $789M a year on research, 366 research doctorates a year.
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