Evidence-based Nutritional Strategies for Maintaining Optimal Eye Health
November 26, 2025 | 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
2025-11-26 12:00 PM 2025-11-26 01:00 PM Evidence-based Nutritional Strategies for Maintaining Optimal Eye Health America/New_York
Date: Wednesday, November 26, 2025
Time: 12:00 - 13:00 ET (12:00pm - 1:00pm ET)
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Speakers:
Paul Bernstein, MD, PhD (University of Utah School of Medicine)
Miyoung Suh, RD, PhD (University of Manitoba) - "From Bench to Bedside: Nutritional Approaches to Protecting Retinal Function in Diabetes and Aging"
Webinar description:
It has long been known that optimal nutrition plays a vital role in maintaining eye health. This talk will focus on three classes of dietary nutrients that the human retina specifically concentrates throughout the lifespan to improve visual function and to prevent blinding diseases—the retinoids (vitamin A), the macular pigment carotenoids (lutein and zeaxanthin), and the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (EPA, DHA and their very-long-chain polyunsaturated acid (VLC-PUFA) metabolites).
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the nutritional biochemistry underlying the uptake, stabilization, and metabolism of the retinoids, carotenoids and VLC-PUFAs.
- Appreciate the importance of these three classes of ocular nutrients in optimizing vision from infancy to old age.
- Become familiar with the value of key nutritional clinical trials such as AREDS2 that guide retinal practice to prevent blinding diseases.
Moderator: Vera Mazurak, PhD (University of Alberta)
About the Speakers:
Paul S. Bernstein, MD, PhD joined the faculty of the Moran Eye Center of the University of Utah in 1995 where he currently divides his time equally between clinical and basic science retina research and a clinical practice devoted to medical and surgical treatment of diseases of the retina and vitreous with special emphasis on macular and retinal degenerations. Dr. Bernstein did his undergraduate, MD and PhD training at Harvard University, his ophthalmology residency at Jules Stein Eye Institute of UCLA, and his vitreoretinal fellowship at Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary. Dr. Bernstein’s current research interests focus on the biochemistry and biophysics of nutritional interventions against inherited and acquired ocular disorders. Dr. Bernstein has authored over 200 peer-reviewed research articles and reviews, and he has served as a reviewer for numerous journals, foundations, and institutes. Dr. Bernstein currently serves as the Vice-Chair for Research at the Moran Eye Center and was vice-president of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) from 2016-2017.
Miyoung Suh, RD, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences at the University of Manitoba and a Principal Investigator in both the Division of Neurodegenerative and Neurodevelopmental Disorders and the Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine at the St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre in Winnipeg. She also serves as the nutrition lead for the Canada-Israel International Fetal Alcohol Consortium, a global initiative aimed at reducing the impact of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) through perinatal nutrition strategies. Her laboratory investigates lipid metabolism in neural tissues, with a particular focus on fatty acid, containing phospholipids and tissue-specific lipids that are vital for brain and retinal health. Building on animal model studies, including Fat-1 mice, type 1 diabetic retinopathy rats, Elovl4-deficient mice, and neonatal piglets, her work has expanded to human trials. These studies explore nutrient-based interventions such as DHA, β-carotene–enriched formulations, lutein- and DHA-enriched eggs, and choline to prevent or reduce retinal degeneration associated with aging and chronic disease. Her research is currently supported by CIHR, NSERC-Horizon, and the CIHR Healthy Cities Research Training Platform.
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