Eye-catching collection

Dr. Richard Dubielzig of the University of Wisconsin is known for havingthe largest collection of eyeballs worldwide - more than 7,000 slide-mountedspecimens.

Through the comparative pathology service at the university's ComparativeOcular Pathology Laboratory of Wisconsin, Dubielzig can provide accurate,timely diagnosis of even the most obscure eye problems for veterinary ophthalmologists.

"Instead of developing an animal model and creating disease to studyit, my work uses medical specimens that are available through routine medicalprocedures such as autopsy or biopsy," Dubielzig says.

Specimens arrive from all over the world, according to the university.The sheer quantity of the eyeballs in all stages of disease progressionis amassing quite a bit of data itself. In fact, Dubielzig was the firstto recognize that trauma to a cat's eye increased the risk of the cat developinga malignant tumor anywhere from one to 10 years following the trauma.

If you ask Dubielzig, he would like to see more congenital eye disorders,"but veterinarians usually don't think to send them in," he explains.