Taking a broad view of the science of vision, ophthalmology chair Sherwood champions collaborations

The best route to speeding scientific discovery is to bring great minds together to focus on problems of common interest, says Mark Sherwood, M.D., chairman of UF’s ophthalmology department.

Sherwood does just that in such a grand way that his 24 faculty members have collaborations with dozens of other UF departments, institutes and centers, as well as with leading vision researchers across the United States and in his native city of London.

Faculty connections have expanded rapidly during the eight years since Sherwood took office as chairman and founded a campuswide Vision Research Center. The center now is a thriving focal point for multidisciplinary studies, fostering collaborations among scientists who are exploring various aspects of vision as part of their research in neuroscience, genetics, diabetes, and human and veterinary ophthalmology.

The department, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary this fall, recently was ranked seventh among 110 university-based ophthalmology departments in amount of National Institutes of Health research funding. Sherwood said it is clearly the faculty’s productivity that has enabled them to garner close to $5 million in current NIH grants as part of overall funding at $7 million.

Sherwood, whose research priority is glaucoma, and co-resarchers Fran Smith, M.D., and William Doyle, M.D., have major studies under way to improve surgical, drug and laser treatments for glaucoma.

They’ve proven that sponge-application of the common skin-cancer drug 5-FU during eye surgery helps prevent scarring. UF’s glaucoma team also has taken part in final-stage clinical trials for all three classes of glaucoma medications. These included trials for Trusopt® eye drops, which were developed based on discoveries by the late Thomas Maren, M.D., of UF’s medical school.

Sherwood said his glaucoma team now is one of 15 groups involved in a national multicenter NIH clinical trial to compare the outcomes of corrective surgery and medications for glaucoma. And in more basic research, Professor William Dawson, Ph.D., has developed a unique colony of naturally occurring animal models of glaucoma, which may aid investigations of the disease process.

“I feel very fortunate to work with such a group,” said Sherwood, who fills the Daniels professorship in ophthalmology.

As department chairman, Sherwood is known for his encouraging leadership and visionary planning. Through a five-year strategic plan initiated in 2001, he is broadening the department’s focus on diseases of the retina, the light-receiving membrane at the back of the eye.

Recruitment of new retinal specialists, expansion of patient-care services and planning for an international scientific conference are among the steps being taken toward developing a center of excellence. Plans call for strengthening basic research — in frogs, rats, rabbits, primates and humans — to figure out what causes various types of retinal damage that blur and obliterate sight. Topics of study include aging-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in America; diabetic retinopathy; and various hereditary retinal diseases including retinitis pigmentosa, a slowly progressive disorder involving loss of peripheral and night vision, and eventual loss of central vision.

He noted the key role of ophthalmology eminent scholar William (Bill) Hauswirth, Ph.D., in proving that gene therapy can enable certain dogs born blind to see for the first time. Hauswirth worked on the project with colleagues at Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania; their discovery was reported in the May 2001 edition of Nature Genetics. The study involved one-time injection of thousands of copies of the corrective gene — packaged inside the adeno-associated virus, which was developed at UF in the 1970s as a gene-transport molecule.

Sherwood said the accomplishments of Hauswirth, Adrian Timmers, Ph.D., and colleagues pave the way for gene therapy trials in children with the blinding hereditary disease called Leber-congenital amaurosis — very similar to the disease that causes Briard dogs to be born sightless.

Bringing new expertise to UF’s retinal team is biochemist Shalesh Kaushal, M.D., Ph.D., appointed in January to direct and expand UF’s Vitreoretinal Service.

In research, Kaushal is investigating the incorrect folding of specific proteins expressed in the eyes — a problem caused by mutations of the proteins, which can lead to retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration. Sherwood said Kaushal’s investigations of the biochemical structure of these misfolded proteins may have “great implications for better understanding and treating not only eye problems but also certain diseases outside the eyes, such as cystic fibrosis.”

Sherwood said the department’s strengths in retinal research also include the nationally recognized work of neuro-ophthalmologist John Guy, M.D., as well as studies led by eminent scholar Paul Hargrave, Ph.D., and basic scientist Clay Smith, Ph.D., who are attempting to define the sequence of biochemical events that take place as light hits the retina and creates electrical signals that travel to the brain and enable a person to see.

In the patient-care arena, Sherwood said the department is building on the strengths of several “premier services”:

·Corneal transplantation, external eye disease treatment and refractive laser surgery — led by renowned corneal specialist William Driebe, M.D., a 20-year faculty member, and colleagues Sonal Tuli, M.D., and Subir Bhatia, M.D.

·Neuro-ophthalmology, led by Tariq Bhatti, M.D., and Professor Guy

·Pediatric services, led by Larry Levine, M.D., and newly recruited faculty member Nausheen Khuddus, M.D.

·Ocular plastic surgery, led by Alan Lessner, M.D.

·Comprehensive ophthalmology, led by Karl Bodendorfer, M.D.

In the future, Sherwood hopes to collaborate with UF radiation oncologists to explore the use of proton beam therapy for macular degeneration and for retinal and orbital tumors.

While obviously enthused about his department’s growth, Sherwood is busily pursuing his own “promising area of research” aimed at speeding the healing of surgical wounds free of scar formation. He is collaborating with Professor Gregory Schultz, Ph.D., at UF’s Institute for Wound Research, and with wound healing expert Peng T. Khaw, Ph.D., at the UF-affiliated Moorfields Eye Hospital in London---the same hospital where Sherwood completed his residency and fellowship training in glaucoma in 1984 and 1985.

Looking into the role of growth factors in wound healing, Sherwood said the group is trying to determine how to step up growth factor production during the active healing process, but switch it off at the right time to prevent “over-healing” that leads to scars.

In the 17th year of his career, Sherwood said he is glad he chose to practice in an academic health center where he can experience the full spectrum of patient care, teaching and research.

“I like working part of every day with our residents and fellows, from whom I learn a lot,” he said. “We now have 14 residents and two fellows, plus five students in our outstanding ophthalmic technologist training program directed by Diana Shamis. We are pleased to continue the teaching model developed by Dr. Melvin Rubin, our former department chairman, involving one-on-one faculty mentoring of the residents.”

Outside the workplace, Sherwood is a history buff with special interest in the histories of Scotland, England and Rome. He said he especially enjoys his family, including wife Ruth and two “great kids” — their son Adam, a ninth-grader, and daughter Eliana, a fifth-grader looking forward to middle school. Family travels usually include at least one trip to England each year to visit relatives and friends.