UMHS sets sights on $120M building to treat vision of aging

As America's population continues to grow older, millions of people during the next 20 years will develop vision problems and diseases that affect the aging eye. The U-M Health System (UMHS) has unveiled plans for a new construction project that will meet increasing demand for advanced care and provide more space for research on eye disease and treatment.

The $120 million expansion of the Kellogg Eye Center will be built immediately northwest of the current research tower. (Photo courtesy Kellogg Eye Center)

The Board of Regents July 21 approved the construction of an expansion to the existing Kellogg Eye Center (KEC), home to the Medical School's Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. The $120 million project will increase by 50 percent the space for vision research, education and patient care within the eye center.

The new facility also will provide a home for the Delores S. and William K. Brehm Center for Type 1 Diabetes Research and Analysis, which also received regental approval. The center, an innovative research program with the goal of accelerating the search for a cure for Type 1 diabetes, will occupy two upper floors of the new building. The center is named for the Virginia couple that donated $44 million to U-M in November 2004—$30 million of which was designated for new research facilities.

When the building opens, patients will find cutting-edge clinical space and technology, a patient information center, expanded services such as genetic testing and genetic counseling, and more opportunities to participate in clinical trials. New research laboratories will allow vision scientists to build on recent advances in genetics and other fields to speed the development of new treatments.

The 215,000-square-foot building will be located immediately northwest of the current Kellogg research tower. TSA of Massachusetts was approved as the project's architect.

Dr. Robert P. Kelch, executive vice president for medical affairs and UMHS CEO, notes that the building project is the first one proposed since the Health System formulated its master plan for growth.

"The Wall Street area, where the eye center is located, is just across the Huron River from the main hospital and research complex, and is one of the areas we've targeted for new facilities to serve our patients and give our scientists the room they need to discover and interact across disciplines," he says. "Having vision and diabetes researchers in the same building also may foster cross-disciplinary interactions that lead to new discoveries."

Kelch, a pediatric endocrinologist who has treated many children with Type 1 diabetes, notes that eye disease is a major complication of diabetes, and is one of the leading causes of blindness, affecting more than four million Americans.

Funding for the new center will rely in part on future gifts made by donors through the University-wide The Michigan Difference campaign. In addition to the Brehm gift, and $10 million in donations already raised by the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, the building also will be partially funded by resources from the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers.

Dr. Paul R. Lichter, chair of the department and KEC director, says the new facility will be equipped with the latest technology to treat, cure and prevent blinding eye disease.

"The expanded eye center will allow us to increase the pace of research toward a cure for diseases like macular degeneration that diminish the vision of older Americans just as they reach the golden years of life," he says. "It will also allow us to care for an expanding patient base, educate future scientists and clinicians, and bring outstanding eye care and research to our community.

"We are considered one of the top eye departments in the country as it is now," he says. "With this new facility and the recruitment of additional clinicians, scientists and educators, we expect our department to be in the very forefront—not only of departments of ophthalmology, research and vision science in this country—but in the world."

Adds Bill Brehm, "Dee and I are thrilled to see our vision take physical form so quickly. We see the Brehm Center's portion of this building as a hub of activity that will shape a new paradigm for research, using advanced systems-analysis and medical informatics techniques to accelerate the search for a cure for Type 1 diabetes. We look forward to participating as plans for the building continue."

Patient visits to the eye center have more than tripled in the last 20 years, from 36,852 in 1985 to 127,189 in 2005. That growth represents an increase of 8 to 10 percent each year. The number of eye surgeries at the center also has tripled over two decades, with more than 5,800 procedures performed by all Kellogg surgeons this year.

The growth in patient volume further is magnified by a shift in demographics. The much talked about baby boom generation now is approaching retirement age, and its members will begin to experience eye disorders common among the over-60 population.

By 2025, the number of Michigan residents over the age of 65 will increase by 52 percent.

The National Eye Institute reported in 2002 that 3.3 million Americans age 40 and over were affected by low vision or blindness. That figure is expected to reach 5.5 million by the year 2020. The study also identified four disorders as most common among those 40 and over: age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, cataracts and diabetic retinopathy.

Research-oriented programs to be created or expanded in the new center include a genetic testing laboratory; genetic counseling services; clinical trials space; a translational research center; and research centers for retinal and macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and vascular disease, glaucoma, corneal disease and children's eye disease, as well as new applications of ultrafast lasers for eye surgery.