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CV of Invited Speaker
Paul S. BERNSTEIN
Position:
Mary Boesche Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Organization:
Moran Eye Center, University of Utah
Major Field:
Vitreoretinal disease and surgery; Inherited retinal disorders
AB (Chemistry): Harvard University, 1977-1981
Education:
MD, PhD; Harvard University, 1981-1988
Ophthalmology Residency; Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA, 1990-1993
Vitreoretinal Fellowship; Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, 1993-1995
Research Interests:
Nutritional interventions against retinal diseases
Genetics of retinal disorders
Vice-president elect of the Association for Research in Vision and
Honors & Awards:
Ophthalmology (ARVO)
Lewis
A.
Peterson
Humanitarian
Ophthalmological Society, 2014
Service
Award
from
the
Utah
Paul S. Bernstein, MD, PhD, the Mary Boesche Professor of Ophthalmology
and Visual Sciences at the Moran Eye Center of the University of Utah School
of Medicine, is an internationally recognized expert on nutritional
interventions against age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and inherited
retinal diseases (IRDs).
Dr. Bernstein did his undergraduate, MD and PhD
training at Harvard University, his ophthalmology residency at UCLA’s Jules
Stein Eye Institute, and his vitreoretinal fellowship at Massachusetts Eye &
Ear Infirmary. For the past twenty years, he has focused on the biochemical
mechanisms underlying the protective roles of zeaxanthin, lutein, and
Short Bio:
omega-3 fatty acids against AMD and IRDs. His laboratory has isolated and
identified the specific binding proteins responsible for carotenoid uptake
into the eye, characterized their protective mechanisms of action, and
developed noninvasive methods for nutritional assessment in the eye and
skin.
He was a principal investigator for the National Eye Institute’s
multi-center AREDS 2 clinical trial that studied the next generation of
carotenoid and omega-3 fatty acid supplements for AMD.
Dr. Bernstein
has authored over one hundred fifty peer-reviewed research articles and
reviews as well as ten book chapters, and he has served as a reviewer for
numerous journals, foundations, and institutes.
Abstract of Invited Speaker
Lutein, Zeaxanthin, and meso-Zeaxanthin: The Basic and Clinical
Topic:
Science Underlying Carotenoid-based Nutritional Interventions
Against Ocular Disease
The human macula uniquely concentrates three carotenoids: lutein,
zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin.
Lutein and zeaxanthin must be
obtained from dietary sources such as green leafy vegetables and
orange and yellow fruits and vegetables or traditional Chinese
medicines such as goji berries, while meso-zeaxanthin is rarely found in
diet and is believed to be formed at the macula by metabolic
transformations of ingested carotenoids. Epidemiological studies and
large-scale clinical trials such as AREDS2 have brought attention to the
potential ocular health and functional benefits of these three
xanthophyll carotenoids consumed through the diet or supplements,
but
Abstract:
the
basic
science
and
clinical
research
underlying
recommendations for nutritional interventions against age-related
macular degeneration and other eye diseases are underappreciated by
clinicians and vision researchers alike.
I will first examine the
chemistry, biophysics, and physiology of these yellow pigments that
are specifically concentrated in the macula lutea through the means of
high-affinity binding proteins and specialized transport and metabolic
proteins where they play important roles as short-wavelength (blue)
light-absorbers and localized, efficient antioxidants in a region at high
risk for light-induced oxidative stress.
Next, I will turn to clinical
evidence supporting functional benefits of these carotenoids in normal
eyes and for their potential protective actions against ocular disease
from infancy to old age.