These photographic images from the retina of a Doheny Eye Institute patient show geographic atrophy (GA) (black circular regions) that was automatically detected and measured (green colored region) by DIAL technology. The right-hand image was taken 12 months after the left-hand image and shows a 23% increase in the size of the GA lesion. Page 6  |  Summer 2017  |  DOHENY UPDATE W hat does the word STEM mean to you? Maybe you think of a nurturing source from which other things grow. That would be true for the lower case stem but somewhat different for the uppercase STEM. The capitalized form is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. It refers to the recent United States educational priority for preparing students to understand, explore, and engage in the changing world. Not surprisingly, Doheny Eye Institute is far ahead on this count as a global leader that has always nurtured the learning of scientists, physicians, engineers, mathematicians, and innovators. While many other educational institutions are starting to understand that combined expertise helps answer the tough questions, Doheny realized this from the outset. DR. HU PERSONIFIES STEM Most scientists are trained in a single STEM specialty but a few singlehandedly represent a confluence of STEM fields. One is Doheny’s Zhihong Jewel Hu, PhD, a research physicist, electrical and computer engineer, and mathematician. Dr. Hu’s official role at Doheny is Doheny scientist and supervisor of the Doheny Image Analysis Laboratory, or DIAL. Her tools-of-the-trade are mathematical models, computers, and finely-detailed photographic images of the eye. She and her colleagues develop computer software and new algorithms— sequences of steps—that scientists and clinicians can depend on for accurately recognizing, measuring, interpreting (“grading”), and comparing anatomic and physiologic features of the eye. Dr. Hu learned ophthalmic image processing as an electrical and computer engineering graduate student at the University of Iowa where she devised automated methods for detecting and measuring glaucoma structures in photographic images of the optic nerve head. At DIAL, she’s added geographic atrophy (GA), an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration and a common cause of severe vision loss. The DIAL engineer- mathematicians teach computers to automatically identify GA (and other eye disorders as well) in photographic images of the eye; to take measurements of the affected area using customized mathematical formulas; and to assign a grade to the pathology. A physician could use the DIAL software products to determine whether a disorder is responding well to treatment or whether it is progressing. An insufficient response might signal the need to switch to a different and potentially more effective treatment. HOT TOPIC The Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), which is ophthalmology’s premier research society with more than 11,000 members, assigned the work by Dr. Hu to its “Hot Topic” list for 2017. This means that the scientific planners of the ARVO annual meeting feel that the work she reported at the May 2017 annual meeting represents some of the newest and most innovative research in the world. “I feel so lucky to apply this work to preventing blindness,” says Dr. Hu. And that is not her only objective. “Another goal is to build a web-based capacity so that we can share medical processing products and data with scientists everywhere.” That’s the kind of productivity that grows from a strong stem, or STEM.  n Zhihong Jewel Hu, PhD: A STEM MODEL LEADING THE DOHENY IMAGE ANALYSIS LABORATORY Dr. Zhihong Jewel Hu