Physical Facilities

In the fall of 1978 and spring of 1979, the Department of Ophthalmology moved into a new facility on the ninth floor of the new Phillips-Wangensteen Building. Staff offices, library, and conference rooms are strategically located between the Minnesota Lions Eye Clinic in one wing and the Minnesota Lions Eye Bank in the other wing.

In the fall of 1992, the Lions Research Building was completed, providing almost 12,000 square feet of basic eye research laboratories and services. This building is shared with the Departments of Otolaryngology and Neurosurgery.  Long-range University planning calls for construction of three more laboratory buildings at the site to meet future research needs.

Laboratories at the Lions Research Building include:  an immunology laboratory, an extraocular and facial muscle research laboratory, an optic nerve rescue laboratory, a treatment of corneal dystrophy laboratory, and three laboratories doing work on the nature of macular degeneration and various treatment modalities. Supporting space includes animal quarters, a well equipped operating room for doing animal surgery and teaching microsurgery to residents, a counting room with scintillation counters, cold rooms, and dish-washing and sterilizing rooms.