Please note: Dr. Yücel is not accepting summer students at this time.
Dr. Yeni H. Yücel is an eye pathologist-scientist and the Director of Ophthalmic Pathology at the University of Toronto. He is a Professor at the University of Toronto in both the Departments of Ophthalmology & Vision Sciences and Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology. He is also the founding director of the Human Eye Biobank for Research. He is a member of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering Science and Technology (iBEST) and an Adjunct Professor, Physics, Faculty of Science and Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science, Ryerson University.
He is internationally recognized for his pioneering scientific work relating eye disease to brain pathology, and has been awarded numerous national (Glaucoma Research Society of Canada) and global awards (World Glaucoma Association) for research in glaucoma and neuroprotection.
His team recently discovered lymphatic circulation in the eye and its role in aqueous humor drainage, and the entry of cerebrospinal fluid into the optic nerve via the glymphatic system. He received the 2010 New York Academy of Medicine Lewis Rudin Glaucoma Research Prize.
His team has developed non-invasive imaging methods to measure fluid dynamics in and around the eye. Dynamic visualization is made possible using a CFI-funded state-of-the-art molecular imaging facility combining in vivo photoacoustic tomography, dynamic near-infrared image mapping spectrometry, and nano-infrared tracers delivered into the eye and into the brain. This unique platform tests novel glaucoma drugs that aim to lower intraocular pressure in order to prevent blindness from glaucoma, and to map and quantify elusive fluid communication pathways between the brain’s cerebrospinal fluid, the eye, the optic nerve, and the lymphatic system. This work is highly relevant to understanding Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS). Dr. Yücel’s work on this emerging field is supported by the Canadian Space Agency. Back on Earth, his team is using similar non-invasive imaging approaches to find novel retinal imaging biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases, especially ALS.
