Philip Rosenfeld

Dr. Rosenfeld is a Professor of Ophthalmology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. A specialist in vitreoretinal diseases, Dr. Rosenfeld pioneered the use of the anti VEGF drug called Avastin to treat wet AMD while he was the lead investigator in the development of Lucentis. He theorized, and then showed that a small amount of Avastin, which was approved by the FDA for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, could be injected directly into the eye to help prevent blindness. He determined that this unique therapy was effective in stopping blood vessels from growing, leaking, and damaging the retina. Not only was Avastin highly effective in treating a wide range of exudative eye diseases, but it was inexpensive and quickly gained global dominance as the anti-VEGF therapy of choice saving billions of dollars worldwide. He also developed OCT-guided therapy, which decreased the need for injections and, once again, saved healthcare agencies billions of dollars. He is leader in optical coherence tomography (OCT) research and has been involved in developing novel algorithms for diagnosing and studying the progression of retinal diseases.

Dr. Rosenfeld has turned his attention to the development of novel therapies for the study of dry AMD, (GA) and has been involved in numerous clinical trials, including the first study using an intravitreal complement inhibiter. He and his team have developed OCT clinical trial endpoints that are ideally suited for the study of novel therapies for the treatment of GA. Dr Rosenfeld heads the medical retina division and is the medical retina fellowship director who has helped train a generation of medical retina specialists at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. As a clinician, researcher, educator, and lecturer, Dr. Rosenfeld brings his expertise and insights to InflammX.