Kashani Lab

About the Kashani Lab
Featured Publications
Lab Outing Photos
Our Team
Contact Us
OCTA Images
Our Research in the Media
Research Animations

Retinal vascular diseases are among the leading causes of vision loss in both older and working-age people. Over decades of life, diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration can lead to dysfunction and abnormal growth of blood vessels. The earliest pathologic changes in these diseases occur at the level of capillaries within and around the retina, but they are undetectable to the naked eye or in regular eye exams.

Dr. Amir H Kashani is developing novel methods to diagnose and treat retinal vascular diseases using advanced imaging technologies such as optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) that can detect the earliest changes in retinal capillaries before they are noticeable to the patient or doctor.

Since 2005, Dr. Kashani’s research group has been at the forefront of clinical applications of OCTA in several areas, including:

Diabetic retinopathy and retinal vascular occlusion assessment
Evaluation of vascular cognitive impairment and dementia
Examination of Alzheimer’s type dementia
Assessment of normal health and aging changes

Dr. Kashani’s research has demonstrated that impairment in retinal capillary blood flow is present and detectable in patients with the earliest stages of diabetic retinopathy. These changes are not only present in diabetes, but also in many systemic vascular diseases that impair blood vessel function such as hypertension, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and certain forms of neurodegeneration. Accurately detecting and quantifying these early capillary level changes would provide novel diagnostic tools for understanding the disease process, detecting disease progression and enabling development of targeted treatments.

Dr. Kashani is actively recruiting research subjects for these observational studies.

Dr. Kashani is a leader in the application of stem cell-based therapies for treatment of retinal disease. He was the principal investigator and surgeon for the first-in-human phase 1/2a study testing the safety and preliminary efficacy of a biosynthetic implant containing a monolayer of human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium for treatment of severe vision loss in advanced dry age-related macular degeneration. This study demonstrated the first successful surgical procedure in the United States to reliably deliver the biosynthetic implant to the area of geographic atrophy in 15 human subjects. This work has paved the way for additional studies. Dr. Kashani is also helping to lead an ongoing first-in-human phase 1/2a study testing the safety and preliminary efficacy of an implant containing a monolayer of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium for geographic atrophy in collaboration with scientists and clinicians at the National Eye Institute.

Dr. Kashani’s research has been recognized nationally and internationally and he has received funding from the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Neurological and Diseases and Stroke, National Institute of Aging, and Brightfocus Foundation. The research efforts in the Kashani Lab have been possible thanks to the help of highly talented and motivated students ranging from high school to post-graduate trainees with advanced degrees. Our lab is regularly looking for talented and motived students, volunteers and staff. A list of the recent lab members can be found below.

Dr. Kashani’s clinical work has been recognized by multiple organizations and publications including Pasadena Magazine’s Top Doctors, America’s Top Ophthalmologist, and Best Doctors in America. In 2016, Dr. Kashani was named one of the top 150 innovators in the field of medical and surgical retina by Ocular Surgery News. In 2017, he was named one of the top 50 “rising stars” worldwide in ophthalmology by The Ophthalmologist.

Featured Publications

Kashani lab research featured on the cover of Alzheimer's and Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment and Disease Monitoring (Mar. 2021)

This was the first study demonstrating retinal capillary blood flow abnormalities in asymptomatic human subjects with genetic mutations predisposing to an inherited form of Alzheimer's Disease.

Kashani lab research featured on the cover of Ophthalmic Surgery, Lasers, and Imaging: Retina (Sept. 2015)

This was a pivotal study demonstrating that a broad spectrum of retinal vascular changes in subjects with diabetic retinopathy are detectable with Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA). This study was also the first to demonstrate non-vascular flow signal from pockets of intraretinal fluid associated with lipoproteinaceous material and later characterized as a novel clinical finding, suspended scattering particles in motion (SSPiM), by our group in Kashani AH et al., Ophthalmology Retina 2018.

Kashani lab research featured on the cover of Science Translational Medicine (April 2018)

This was a pivotal first-in-human phase 1/2a clinical trial testing the safety and efficacy of a novel stem cell-derived biosynthetic implant and surgical procedure for the treatment of severe vision loss from subjects with advanced dry age-related macular degeneration with geographic atrophy. This novel surgical procedure was further described by Dr. Kashani in several publications below.

JAMA Ophthalmology Commentaries

Dr. Kashani has written two invited commentaries on the use of OCTA in detection of vascular changes in health and disease in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association Ophthalmology (JAMA Ophthalmology). These articles provide perspective on the use of this novel technology in clinical and research settings.

Commentary from Dr. Kashani in the July 2023 JAMA Issue

JAMA Ophthalmology Commentaries

"Promises and Pitfalls" JAMA article from Dr. Kashani

Our Research in the Media

Earlier Insight into Alzheimer’s Disease. Wilmer (Fall 2021)

Dr. Kashani talks about applications of OCTA in vascular cognitive impairment and dementia. Article | Video - BrightFocus Foundation (2020)

Feature on novel intraoperative surgical method for delivery of stem cell derived biosynthetic implant by Dr. Kashani. Modern Retina from Ophthalmology Times (Jul. 2019)

Interview with Dr. Kashani on subretinal stem cell implant for geographic atrophy. American Academy of Ophthalmology (Sept. 2018)

Research Animations

3D Animation of OCT and OCTA from a Human Subject

The animation illustrates the 3D structure of the retinal vasculature and our ability to classify vessels based on size and shape using novel 3D analysis methods developed by our group. Animation by Amir Kashani and USC Laboratory of Neuroimaging.

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3D Animation of OCTA from a Human Subject with Macular Edema

The animation illustrates the 3D structure of the retinal vasculature in relation to areas of intraretinal fluid. Animation by Amir Kashani and USC Laboratory of Neuroimaging.

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Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) Images

OCTA image of normal retinal pathology

State-of-the-art widefield Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) image of a subject without retinal vascular pathology.

OCTA image of diabetic retinopathy

State-of-the-art widefield Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) image of a subject with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy demonstrating areas of impaired perfusion in the peripheral retina and microaneurysms. Dr. Kashani’s research group is a leader in the application of OCTA to detect retinal vascular changes in a wide-range of ocular and systemic diseases.

OCTA image of early diabetic retinopathy

State-of-the-art widefield Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) image of a subject with early proliferative diabetic retinopathy demonstrating areas of impaired perfusion in the peripheral retina and possible neovascularization. Dr. Kashani’s research group is a leader in the application of OCTA to detect retinal vascular changes in a wide-range of ocular and systemic diseases.

OCTA image of age-related macular degeneration

State-of-the-art widefield Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) image of a subject with Neovascular age-related macular degeneration demonstrating choroidal neovascularization (CNV) beneath the retina. The top image illustrates the retinal vasculature. The middle image illustrates the diffuse CNV that is present within and above the pigment epithelial detachments that are evident in the OCT scan in the bottom panel between the yellow segmentation lines.

OCTA image of Radiation Retinopathy

State-of-the-art widefield Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) image of a subject with radiation retinopathy after radioactive iodine plaque brachytherapy for treatment of malignant melanoma. The image illustrates diffuse areas of impaired capillary perfusion and neovascularization (growth of abnormal new vessels) that result from radiation damage to the retinal vasculature

OCTA images of neovascular age-related macular degeneration

State-of-the-art 3x3mm Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) image of a subject with neovascular age related macular degeneration and a macular neovascular complex in the sub-retinal pigment epithelium space. .

OCTA images of sickle cell retinopathy

State-of-the-art widefield Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) image of a subject with focal areas of impaired capillary perfusion and diffuse thinning of the inner retina resulting from sickle cell retinopathy.