The Visual Electrophysiology Laboratory, under the direction of Dr. Monique S. Roy, is the most up-to-date and complete facility of its kind in the State of New Jersey and, perhaps, the entire Northeast. This laboratory provides a unique and important service for the Institute as well as for physicians statewide, furnishing full-field and focal ERG, flash and pattern VERs, dark adaptometry, and complete assessments on color vision deficiency. Furthermore, the Visual Electrophysiology Laboratory specializes in the evaluation of unexplained visual loss in patients of all ages, and in the diagnosis, examination, and follow-up of patients with diffuse retinal degeneration as well as macular degeneration. Dr. Roy has been the recipient of a grant from the National Eye Institute in excess of $2,300,000 and received an additional, unsolicited $210,000 from the National Institutes of Health Office of Minority Health for her study of risk factors associated with diabetic retinopathy in African Americans. In addition, Dr. Roy is coinvestigator on the Women Health Initiative Eye Study, which is examining the role of hormone replacement in women in relation to age-related macular degeneration.

The Low Vision Center, under the direction of Khadija Shahid, OD, FAAO, is an important component of the Center for Macular Degeneration Treatment and Research, as many patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) may not be amenable or responsive to surgical modalities, but may be helped by low vision aids. The Low Vision Center, the only low vision service for veterans in the State of New Jersey, has clinical facilities at the Doctors Office Center and at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in East Orange.

Comprehensive care of the visually impaired or blind patient includes meticulous refraction, individual counseling on the selection and use of low vision aids, mobility training, and referral to social services.