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Ethan A. Rossi, PhD

  • Associate Professor of Ophthalmology
  • Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering

Division

    Education & Training

  • Advanced Retinal Imaging Alliance, University of Rochester, Research Associate
  • Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, Postdoctoral Fellow
  • University of California, Berkeley, PhD in Vision Science
  • University of Rochester, BA in Brain & Cognitive Sciences
Representative Publications

Vienola KV, Zhang M, Snyder VC, Dansingani KK, Sahel JA, Rossi EANear infrared autofluorescence imaging of retinal pigmented epithelial cells using 663 nm excitation. Eye (Lond). 2022 Oct;36(10):1878-1883. doi: 10.1038/s41433-021-01754-0. Epub 2021 Aug 30. PubMed PMID: 34462582; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9499940.

Lejoyeux R, Benillouche J, Ong J, Errera MH, Rossi EA, Singh SR, Dansingani KK, da Silva S, Sinha D, Sahel JA, Freund KB, Sadda SR, Lutty GA, Chhablani J. Choriocapillaris: Fundamentals and advancements. Prog Retin Eye Res. 2022 Mar;87:100997. doi: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2021.100997. Epub 2021 Jul 19. Review. PubMed PMID: 34293477.

Zhang M, Gofas-Salas E, Leonard BT, Rui Y, Snyder VC, Reecher HM, Mecê P, Rossi EAStrip-based digital image registration for distortion minimization and robust eye motion measurement from scanned ophthalmic imaging systems. Biomed Opt Express. 2021 Apr 1;12(4):2353-2372. doi: 10.1364/BOE.418070. eCollection 2021 Apr 1. PubMed PMID: 33996234; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8086453.

Mecê P, Gofas-Salas E, Rui Y, Zhang M, Sahel JA, Rossi EASpatial-frequency-based image reconstruction to improve image contrast in multi-offset adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy. Opt Lett. 2021 Mar 1;46(5):1085-1088. doi: 10.1364/OL.417903. PubMed PMID: 33649663; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9202470.

Song H, Rossi EA, Williams DR. Reduced foveal cone density in early idiopathic macular telangiectasia. BMJ Open Ophthalmol. 2021;6(1):e000603. doi: 10.1136/bmjophth-2020-000603. eCollection 2021. PubMed PMID: 33490602; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7798656.

Full list of publications

Research Interests

Dr. Rossi's research is focused on developing and deploying advanced ophthalmic imaging tools to study the normal and diseased retina. He has been working with high resolution imaging technologies with adaptive optics for two decades. His PhD training in the laboratory of Austin Roorda, the inventor of adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, was focused on using adaptive optics to probe the limits of human vision in both normal and diseased eyes.

His current research continues the development of near infrared autofluorescence and expanded his investigations of age-related macular degeneration. This includes an international study in collaboration with Dr. José-Alain Sahel, the Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, and collaborators in France on how genetics shape the cellular level retinal phenotype in AMD. This work has generated a large AMD patient cohort in Pittsburgh and provided foundational knowledge for future work.

Research Grants

National Eye Institute (RO1EY030517)
Foundation Fighting Blindness (PPA-0819-0772-INSERM)
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R44NS095090)
Henry L. Hillman Foundation - Eye & Ear Foundation of Pittsburgh