Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Joslin Diabetes Center have agreed to form a clinical and research alliance to provide coordinated care to eye patients throughout Greater Boston, especially those with or at-risk for diabetes-related eye disease.
“Mass. Eye and Ear and Joslin’s Beetham Eye Institute has had a longtime collaboration as part of Harvard Medical School’s Department of Ophthalmology,” said Joan W. Miller, chief of ophthalmology at Mass. Eye and Ear and chair of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. “Combining the expertise and resources of these clinical and academic giants will strengthen this collaboration and advance our shared goal of eradicating eye disease.
The collaboration will operate under the direction of BEI’s medical director, Lloyd Paul Aiello. Aiello is a vice chairman in the Harvard Department of Ophthalmology, as well as a clinician-scientist and a leader in the Harvard Medical School angiogenesis research group, which first identified vascular endothelial growth factor as a key regulator of abnormal new blood vessels in eye disease. He is also the founding chair of the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network and leads Mass. Eye and Ear’s ophthalmology service at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
“It is an honor to lead such a talented group of physicians,” Aiello said. “This enhanced collaboration between our two world-class institutions will provide an outstanding level of clinical care based on extensive experience and cutting-edge research for all patients with eye disease.”
The combined center will be located at the Joslin Diabetes Center at 1 Joslin Place and Massachusetts Eye and Ear’s new ambulatory care center at 800 Huntington Ave.