Oakland University welcomes new director of Eye Research Institute, founding director of OUWB Eye Research Center

ROCHESTER, Mich., Oct. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Oakland University has welcomed Mohamed Al-Shabrawey as the new director of OU's Eye Research Institute (ERI) and founding director of the Eye Research Center at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine (OUWB).

Dr. Al-Shabrawey is an expert on the study of diabetic retinopathy, a major cause of blindness, and has published nearly 70 articles on the disease in the past 20 years. His research funding has included major grants from the National Eye Institute and the American Heart Association, and he currently possesses a NIH R01 grant that extends to 2024. 

Along with his director role, Dr. Al-Shabrawey is the first V. Everett Kinsey Endowed Professor of Biomedical Sciences in the ERI. Dr. Kinsey was a co-founder of the ERI in 1968 and the recipient of a prestigious Lasker Award in 1956 for his pioneering studies on the pediatric eye disease of retinopathy in children born prematurely.

Dr. Al-Shabrawey comes to OU from the Culver Vision Discovery Institute of Augusta University in Augusta, Georgia. He succeeds Dr. Frank Giblin as ERI director after Giblin retired after 47 years at Oakland.

"Dr. Al-Shabrawey's leadership will further elevate ERI as a preeminent international resource for eye research, and his vision aligns with the legacy established by Dr. Kinsey and developed by Professor Giblin," said OU President Dr. Ora Hirsch Pescovitz. "Working with researchers from around the university, the institute's multidisciplinary approach creates a dynamic research enterprise that ensures Oakland University has a major impact on diagnosing, treating, and preventing eye diseases."

Within OUWB, Dr. Al-Shabrawey will serve as founding director of the OUWB Eye Research Center (ERC) and professor of Foundational Medical Studies. Researchers at the ERC will collaborate with researchers in OUWB, across other areas of the university, and with clinician researchers in the Ophthalmology department at Beaumont Hospital to translate basic science research into tools and therapies that can help diagnose, treat and prevent of eye-related diseases. The ERI will operate as a component of the ERC, but will retain its independent status as a unit within the university.

Dr. Al-Shabrawey obtained his medical degree (MBBCH), M.Sc and Ph.D. from Mansoura University, in Egypt. His research program focuses on investigating the molecular and cellular mechanisms of vascular dysfunction in diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity and age-related macular degeneration.

SOURCE Oakland University

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