Funding to Support Recruitment of SUNY Professor Of Empire Innovation
New York, NY — SUNY College of Optometry announced today that it has been awarded $434,522 through the SUNY Empire Innovation Program to support the expansion of research in oculomics, an emerging field that uses the eye as a window into broader human health. The award will support the recruitment of a new faculty researcher as a SUNY Professor of Empire Innovation, strengthening SUNY Optometry’s growing research enterprise and advancing work in the growing field of oculomics. The effort will be led by Stewart Bloomfield, Vice President at SUNY College of Optometry.
“This funding gives SUNY Optometry an opportunity to recruit a tenure track researcher whose work can help build a new platform for discovery,” said Dr. David Troilo, President of SUNY College of Optometry. “Support from SUNY’s Empire Innovation Fund enables us to bring on a senior investigator with expertise in AI, deep learning and predictive analytics who can leverage the deep bench of research in retinal imaging at the College.”
“Oculomics brings together vision science, clinical care, imaging and data analysis in ways that could significantly expand what we can learn from the eye,” said Dr. Bloomfield. “By investing in this area, we can support research that may ultimately help clinicians detect disease earlier, understand risk more precisely and develop more personalized approaches to patient care.”
The SUNY Empire Innovation Program is a state-funded grant program designed to help recruit and retain world-class faculty across the State University of New York system. The program supports faculty hires who expand SUNY’s research capacity in strategic priority areas and strengthen areas where SUNY has established research leadership.
Oculomics is a rapidly developing area of research focused on identifying measurable signs of systemic health and disease through the eye. Because the retina and other ocular structures can provide direct, noninvasive views of blood vessels, neural tissue and other biological systems, researchers are increasingly studying how eye-based data may help improve understanding of neurological, cardiovascular, metabolic and other health conditions.
The new SUNY Professor of Empire Innovation will help expand SUNY Optometry’s capacity in this area by advancing research that connects vision science, ocular imaging, biomarkers, clinical data and emerging analytical tools.
The award builds on SUNY Optometry’s broader research mission, which includes basic, translational and clinical research focused on understanding vision, preventing eye disease and improving outcomes for patients. The College’s research enterprise includes the Graduate Center for Vision Research, the Schnurmacher Institute for Vision Research and the Clinical Vision Research Center.
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State University of New York College of Optometry
Founded in 1971 in New York City, the State University of New York College of Optometry (SUNY Optometry) is the only school of optometry in the state and a nationally recognized leader in optometric education, vision research, and patient care. The College prepares the next generation of eye care professionals through its Doctor of Optometry program, residency programs, and advanced graduate degrees in vision science, including MS and PhD programs. As an academic health center in optometry dedicated to advancing eye and vision care, SUNY Optometry conducts a robust portfolio of basic, translational, and clinical research focused on improving diagnosis, treatment, and understanding of visual disorders. Beginning in Fall 2027, the Doctor of Optometry degree will be offered in both New York City or Syracuse, providing students the opportunity to choose where they live and practice.
University Eye Center
As part of an academic health center in optometry, SUNY Optometry’s University Eye Center (UEC) is one of the largest academic optometric clinics in the country where outstanding patient care, education, and research align. Providing primary, specialized, and medical eye care services to more than 55,000 patients a year from the New York City metropolitan area and beyond, the UEC offers students hands-on training alongside some of the nation’s top optometrists in pediatric eye care, specialty contact lenses, myopia management, dry eye care, glaucoma management, ocular disease clinics, care for traumatic brain injury, vision rehabilitation, and more.
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