Lions Eye Institute for Transplant & Research, Inc. Launches Multi-Million Dollar, State-of-the-Art Research Institute that Will Advance the Study of Blinding Ey...( TAMPA Fla. May 5 -- The Tampa Lions ...),Health

TAMPA, Fla., May 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Tampa Lions Eye Institute for Transplant and Research, Inc. (LEITR) today announced plans to open a new 12,000-square-foot facility in Tampa, Florida. This state-of-the-art facility will offer high-volume, high-quality human ocular tissue for research, study, collaboration, and clinical advancements, as well as extensive space for on-site residence, sleeping quarters, and meetings/events.

This marks an expansion of the current 35,000 square-foot Tampa Eye Bank facility, already the world's largest eye bank. This new model -- a Research Institute built within an eye bank -- is believed to be the first of its kind in the world.

For more than 30 years, LEITR has provided over 30,000 corneas for transplant and 50,000 eyes for research worldwide. LEITR recognized that research into blinding diseases had to be greatly expanded, particularly due to the exponential growth and incidence of macular degeneration and glaucoma. "The LEITR expansion means that, for the first time, diseased as well as healthy human eye tissue will be available to us for research," says Dr. Henry Edelhauser, Ferst Professor at Emory University Eye Center. "This availability of a full spectrum of human eye tissue will improve our understanding of the underlying events that lead to blindness. Even more importantly, what we learn will eventually have a tremendous, positive impact on quality of life for patients with blinding diseases."

Transforming Ocular Research

Key to the successful advancement of ocular tissue research is having the highest quality human tissue available. Over the years, LEITR recognized that time between tissue donor death and tissue recovery was essential. Current methods of providing tissue, particularly overnight shipping to facilities, has greatly affected the quality of that tissue. Now, researchers will have a repository of high-quality human ocular
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