A Start of a New Collaboration

At the October 11, 2016 Endocrine Grand Rounds, the Diabetes Center of Excellence (DCOE) was privileged to host Dr. Shlomit Schaal, the new head of the UMMHC/UMMS Ophthalmology Department. Her talk addressed misconceptions regarding traditional understanding of diabetic retinopathy as well as new findings to help guide diagnosis and future treatments.

Traditional thinking has been that diabetes eye complications are due exclusively to small blood vessel damage but Dr. Schaal presented innovative research suggesting that changes to the retina’s photoreceptors may play a more active role than has previously been appreciated. Dr. Schaal also emphasized the importance of early diagnosis  and new treatment approaches, and discussed the advantages of the advanced OCT technology we hope to soon have available for our DCOE patients.

(Above) Dr.Shlomit Schaal during her presentation