CLICK TO JOIN MEETING

EDUCATION FOR CLINICAL PROFESSIONALS

Residents and faculty present and discuss various case studies with the goal of improving clinical care practice.  Held weekly throughout the year, Grand Rounds offers continuing Medical Education (CME) credit for ophthalmologists and Continuing Education (CE) credit for optometrists.

Presenting this Week: Frontiers in vision Research Lecture Series

J. Crawford Downs, PhD, FARVO, University of Alabama Birmingham, “Intraocular, Intracranial and Ocular Perfusion Pressure Dynamics: Implications for Ocular Physiology and Glaucoma”

ABOUT HIS RESEARCH

J. Crawford Downs received his PhD in biomedical engineering in 2002 from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is now Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, and Computer Science at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. He served as Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Ophthalmology during the department’s building phase (2013-2017). Prior to joining UAB, Dr. Downs held appointments as a Research Assistant Professor at the LSU Eye Center in New Orleans, Louisiana (2002-2005), and as an Associate Scientist at the Devers Eye Institute in Portland, Oregon (2005-2012).

He has spent his career studying ocular biomechanics, focusing in particular on biomechanics and mechanobiology of the optic nerve head (ONH), sclera, and lamina cribrosa to better understand the pathophysiology of glaucoma, a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Dr. Downs uses the unilateral, inducible model of glaucoma in nonhuman primates, and has developed a novel wireless telemetry system that measures and records continuous intraocular pressure, arterial blood pressure, and intracranial pressures in both normal and glaucoma eyes. He uses these data, along with laser-based ocular inflation testing data and high-resolution 3D reconstructions of the ONH geometry, as inputs to finite element models of optic nerve head biomechanics.

He also works in human donor eyes when possible. Dr. Downs’ laboratory is funded by R01 grants from National Eye institute of NIH, BrightFocus Foundation, Research to Prevent Blindness (departmental support), and the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama. He has authored over 80 peer-reviewed research papers, 12 book chapters, and hundreds of conference abstracts, and he is a frequent invited lecturer at domestic and international meetings and institutions. Dr. Downs served on the NASA Research and Clinical Advisory Panel for Space-associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS). He also serves on the editorial board of Current Eye Research and is a frequent reviewer and/or guest editor for a multitude of journals, including Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, PLoS One, Nature Scientific Reports, Ophthalmology, and JAMA Ophthalmology. Dr. Downs is a frequent reviewer of grant proposals to NIH, domestic foundations, and foreign governments.

Read more about Dr. Downs

 STATEMENT OF ACCREDITATION
In support of improving patient care, the University of Wisconsin-Madison ICEP is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME),the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

CREDIT DESIGNATION STATEMENT
The University of Wisconsin-Madison ICEP designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s) TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. The University of Wisconsin-Madison ICEP, as a member of the University Professional & Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) authorizes this program for .1 CEUs or 1.0 hours.