Posts by Joseph B. Ciolino, MD
-
Developing Drug-Releasing Contact Lenses
Joseph B. Ciolino, MD, a clinician scientist at Mass Eye and Ear/Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Ophthalmology, discusses the development of drug-releasing contact lenses to improve the treatment of corneal infections, ocular inflammation, retinal diseases and glaucoma.
Biography
Dr. Ciolino is a member of the Cornea Service and the Henry Freeman Allen Cornea Scholar. His clinical focus is in corneal transplants, keratoprosthesis, corneal cross-linking, and diseases of the anterior segment of the eye. As a clinician scientist, his research interests include translational projects such as keratoprosthesis and ocular drug delivery. In addition to his practice at Mass. Eye and Ear, Dr. Ciolino also sees patients at Andover Eye Associates at138 Haverhill St. in Andover, MA. (978-475-0705).
Dr. Ciolino earned his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine and subsequently pursued an ophthalmology residency at Albany Medical College, where he served as Chief Resident in his final year. Returning to Boston for a two-year fellowship in the Cornea, Refractive Surgery and External Disease Service, he received the nationally recognized Claes Dohlman Fellowship Award. He then joined Harvard Medical School's full time faculty at Mass. Eye and Ear under the K12 Harvard-Vision Clinical Scientist Development Program, a highly competitive institutional program funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Working with collaborators at Boston Children's Hospital and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Ciolino has developed a drug-eluting contact lens capable of delivering various pharmaceutical agents, such as antibiotics, antifungals, and glaucoma medication. These drug-eluting lenses have the potential to improve surgical outcomes for patients with keratoprosthesis by both protecting the ocular surface of the eye and by preventing post-operative infections, and they may one day replace eye drops.
Mass Eye and Ear/Mass General Ophthalmology
An international center for ophthalmology treatment and research, Mass Eye and Ear/Massachusetts General Hospital is the primary teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School’s Department of Ophthalmology, and is consistently recognized as one of the nation’s top hospitals for eye care. Led by Chief and Chair Joan W. Miller, MD, the department provides seamless access to the most innovative care available anywhere in the world.
