Saving Eyesight One Injection at a Time | Jennifer Kang-Mieler | TEDxStevens Institute of Technology
A recent survey reported that individuals prefer 4.6 years of life in perfect health over 10 years of life with complete vision loss. Many fear loss of sight more than losing memory, speech, hearing, or even cardiac infarction and cerebrovascular accident. What if there are medications that can save or preserve eyesight? The only downside is that it requires a direct injection into the eye — not just once, but every four to six weeks, potentially for the rest of one’s life. This treatment burden is significant on the patients, their families, physicians and our healthcare system. This presentation will introduce biomaterial technology designed to reduce the treatment burden and enhance treatment durability. We aim to extend the effectiveness of each injection for eyesight preservation, one injection at a time. Dr. Kang-Mieler is the George Meade Bond Endowed Professor, Department Chair of Biomedical Engineering, and the Director of the Semcer Center for Healthcare Innovation at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA. She received her BA in Mathematics, MS in Applied Mathematics, and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO).Dr. Kang-Mieler’s NIH-supported translational research projects focus on ocular drug delivery, retinal imaging and analysis (including AI and machine learning), biomarkers, retinal hemodynamics, and electrophysiology. Her clinical interests encompass retinal vascular diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinopathy of prematurity. Dr. Kang-Mieler actively participates in the Macula Society, the Retina Society, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO), the Club Jules Gonin, and the Dowling Society. She has served on the ARVO Board of Trustees, representing the Retina section, and previously held the position of Vice President of ARVO. She participates in various research grant review panels, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where she recently completed her role as Chair of the Brain Imaging, Vision, Bioengineering, and Low Vision Technology Development (BIVT) panel. Additionally, she acts as the Secretary of the BMES Council of Chairs Executive Committee and is the President of the Northeast Bioengineering League Executive Committee. She is the 2025 ARVO Foundation Honoree. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
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