Home Department: Chemical Engineering
Mentors: Gerald Fuller (Chemical Engineering) and David Myung (Ophthalmology)

2020 Research Project: “Understanding Human Tear Film Fluid Dynamics for Dry Eye Therapeutics”

Laboratory models of the human tear film can help us better treat dry eye. Yet despite the tear film’s pivotal role in dry eye syndrome, we are still deficient in our understanding of its complex fluid dynamics in response to therapeutics. Vincent aims to improve upon our current understanding of tear film “breakup” – the principal mechanism that characterizes dry eye – to improve our ability to treat dry eye syndrome.
 

2021 Research Project: “Quantifying the Effects of Polar Lipid Proportions on Model Tear Films”

We currently have a limited ability to treat widespread ocular diseases such as dry eye disease. Although defects in the lipid layers of the eye are common culprits for dry eye disease, their specific effects are still unclear. In order to gain insight into the fundamental causes of dry eye disease, Vincent aims to quantify the effect of lipid deficiencies on the thin liquid films (tear films) that cover the surface of the eye.