Ronald Silverman Lab
Location and Contact Information
Principal Investigator
Dr. Silverman has been involved in ultrasound research in ophthalmology for over 30 years. His research includes development of high-resolution imaging systems, studies of ultrasound safety and bioeffects, high-intensity ultrasound, blood-flow imaging, photoacoustics, and tissue characterization by use of signal-processing. He applies these techniques for studies of ocular disease in animal models and for clinical examinations.
Dr. Silverman is currently Principle Investigator on an NIH-sponsored project whose goal is development of a novel ultrasonic imaging technique, ultrafast plane-wave imaging, which enables acquisition of up to 10,000 images per second. Computer-analysis of the data allows visualization and measurement of blood-flow throughout the eye and orbit. This technique is being applied to glaucoma, vascular malformations and occlusions, and retinopathy of prematurity. Technical collaborators on this project include Raksha Urs, PhD, Jeffrey Ketterling, PhD (Riverside Research) and Alfred Yu, PhD (University of Waterloo).
Lab Members
Raksha Urs, PhD
- Associate Research Scientist
Raksha Urs is an Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Ophthalmology of Columbia University. She has a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Mysore University and Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Miami. Her doctoral work at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute with Jean-Marie Parel and Fabrice Manns focused on the dynamics of the lens and ciliary muscles during accommodation. At the Silverman Laboratory, she is developing methods for imaging ocular blood flow and perfusion using ultrasound plane-wave imaging for evaluation of glaucoma, preeclampsia, retinopathy of prematurity and other conditions that exhibit vascular changes in the eye. She has also worked on methods for early detection of keratoconus, evaluation of corneal cross-linking using biomechanical imaging of the cornea and trans-epithelial corneal cross-linking procedures.
Suzanne Daly, RN, BSN, CRNO, CDOS
- Ophthalmology Research Nurse
Suzanne Daly has been involved in ophthalmology and ophthalmology research for over 37 years, initially as a nurse in the in-patient ophthalmology floor at New York-Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center. She became an ophthalmology research nurse in 1986, working with Calvin Roberts on the early use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications for ophthalmic surgery. She later became ophthalmic research nurse/sonographer working with D. Jackson Coleman, M.D. and Ronald H. Silverman, Ph.D. This work included pioneering development of 3D ultrasound for ophthalmology, diagnosis of ocular malignancies and trauma. She left Weill-Cornell to work in private practice and in 2013 rejoined Drs. Coleman and Silverman at Columbia, where they continue to develop advanced ultrasound technologies for the evaluation and diagnosis of ophthalmic conditions as well as novel treatments for age-related macular degeneration and other macular dystrophies and degenerations.