New England Eye Center Investigator
Awarded Medical Student Research Fellowship
from ‘Research to Prevent Blindness’
Varsha Manjunath doing OCT research
at New England Eye Center
BOSTON, MA February 8, 2010 – New England Eye Center and Tufts University School of Medicine have been granted a $30,000 Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship by Research to Prevent Blindness, the world’s leading voluntary organization supporting eye research.
The student conducting the research is Varsha Manjunath, a visiting student at Tufts University School of Medicine currently between her 3rd and 4th year of medical school at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA.
Manjunath is taking a year off from classes to do research on clinical optical coherence tomography (OCT) with a focus on retinal disease under the mentorship of New England Eye Center Director Jay S. Duker, MD, who also is Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology, Tufts University School of Medicine.
“We’re excited to have Varsha here researching OCT technology in a clinical setting. We look forward to her findings and the continued advancement of OCT technology,” Dr. Duker said.
Since its advent, OCT has been a rapidly progressing field which has dramatically changed the diagnosis and tracking of disease progression. Manjunath’s projects involve both unique prototypes developed at MIT, as well as commercially available devices, bringing an experimental technology developed in the lab to the forefront of patient care.
Research to Prevent Blindness (www.rpbusa.org), founded in 1960, has channeled hundred of millions of dollars to medical institutions throughout the United States for research into all blinding eye diseases. The organization has long had a relationship with Tufts University School of Medicine and the New England Eye Center.
About New England Eye Center
New England Eye Center is located in the heart of Boston’s Theater district above the Wang Center and is affiliated with the Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University 
School of Medicine. New England Eye Center offers a full range of comprehensive ophthalmology including treatments for cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, pediatric ophthalmology and aesthetic surgery. New England Eye Center is also a leading provider of Laser Vision Correction in Greater Boston and New England offering a full range of vision correction procedures for all types of eye conditions.
# # #
Contact: William R. Sacco, New England Eye Center
(617) 636-1055 or wsacco@tuftsmedicalcenter.org