Kunal Parikh, Ph.D. is no stranger to the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine community. He first came to Johns Hopkins University in 2012 to start his Ph.D. degree. He gained valuable research experience while working at the Center for Nanomedicine at Wilmer and has collaborated with Wilmer faculty on several initiatives, earning two Catalyst Prizes from the U.S. National Academy of Medicine this year in tandem with Wilmer ophthalmologists. Now, he has joined the Wilmer faculty as an assistant professor in the Glaucoma Center of Excellence.
Parikh brings with him his state-of-the-art laboratory, designed to harness technology for the purpose of alleviating human suffering, with an emphasis on ophthalmology.
We spoke with Parikh — a biomedical engineer by training — about his transition to Wilmer, his early work and his approach to ophthalmology, as well as the unique opportunities for collaboration.
Why did you want to join the faculty at Wilmer?
A significant portion of my adult life has been dedicated to finding ways to eliminate blindness. When I started my Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins, I explored various clinical specialties, and I observed a significant unmet need in ophthalmology, particularly in low-resource settings. This led to my passion for making the elimination of avoidable blindness a key focus of my career. Wilmer provided a perfect platform for this work, and the collaborations here have already allowed us to have an impact on patients.
What are some of the things you will be working on?
My lab has two major areas of focus, both of which are translational in nature. One area is needs-driven technology development, with the aim of eliminating blindness globally. There’s a disproportionate burden of eye disease, and blindness, especially in low resource settings, and much of that is avoidable. We’ve partnered with five of the largest high-volume, charitable eye care systems in the world to understand what the most important unmet needs are and develop tailored solutions to each of them. Some of these unmet needs are in areas such as ocular screening and referral, corneal transplantation, cataract surgery and glaucoma.
We also have a central focus on leveraging nanotechnology to develop better materials and drug delivery systems, which spans a wide range of applications, from eye surgery, to cardiovascular disease, to mental health and chronic pain.
What's the benefit of having the lab be contained within Wilmer?
The main benefit of having my lab within Wilmer is the opportunity for increased collaboration and synergy. Wilmer provides a unique environment where experts from various disciplines come together to focus on a common mission: improving patient care. Having my research program under one roof allows for cross-disciplinary collaboration and access to shared resources, which is vital in advancing our mission to alleviate human suffering.
Why did you want to focus your research on ending blindness?
Vision is a vital component of a full and productive life, and the effects of visual impairment can be devastating for individuals, families, and for society. I believe access to vision care is a fundamental human right, and its impact can be transformative, improving access to education, quality of life, financial well-being, and health. My work in ophthalmology aligns with this mission, and the opportunity to work on something so vital and impactful is incredibly motivating and rewarding.
How does the Glaucoma Center of Excellence advance these goals?
While founding our global ophthalmology innovation program in 2017, I noticed that many of Wilmer’s glaucoma specialists — including David S. Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., MPH, Pradeep Ramulu, M.D., Ph.D., and Ian Pitha, M.D., Ph.D. — showed significant enthusiasm for this initiative. Their support and motivation for understanding and developing solutions for patients in low-resource settings were evident and catalyzed our early work.
In joining the Glaucoma Center of Excellence, I’m excited to build a highly collaborative, comprehensive research program in glaucoma that covers the entire spectrum of care, from early- to late-stage glaucoma treatment and potentially restoration of vision. This includes medical devices, therapeutics, and tools for patients that I’m hopeful with be helpful to many, including my own mother.
I took a team of biomedical engineers from the Center for Bioengineering Innovation & Design to the Aravind Eye Hospital in India in August. There, we spent two weeks identifying and understanding important, unmet needs in glaucoma We identified more than 200 unmet needs and worked with our partners to determine which are the most important to solve. The rest of the year will be focused on prototyping and de-risking a solution and advancing it towards clinical translation.
What is the best part of ophthalmology research for you?
My favorite part is working with mission-driven individuals who are passionate about improving patient care. Wilmer attracts people who genuinely care about patients and are eager to collaborate on new solutions. It's a unique and rewarding environment to conspire, innovate and work together to address significant challenges. The problems are hard, but the opportunity for impact is immense.