The Eye & Ear Foundation is proud to have sponsored Mission of Mercy 2026! 💙 This free healthcare event brings together volunteers from across the region to care for people who would otherwise go without. We're especially proud of the Pitt OTO Audiology faculty, staff, and AuD students who volunteered their time to provide care to community members. Thank you to @MOM_PGH for organizing this event and to every volunteer who showed up for our community. @Pitt_OPH @Pitt_OTOHNS #EyeAndEarFoundation #MissionOfMercy #Volunteer #GivingBack #Pittsburgh

Join us next week for our (free!) webinar! An audience Q&A will follow the presentation. Register here: tinyurl.com/yfxwe8cu @Pitt_OPH #webinar #LunchAndLearn #ophthalmology #glaucoma #AngleClosureGlaucoma

Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh is just a couple days away! 👂🦷👁️ The Eye & Ear Foundation is proud to support Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh, which describes its annual clinic as one of the largest Mission of Mercy events in the nation. The event provides free dental, hearing, and expanded vision services to uninsured and underserved individuals throughout our region. This extraordinary community effort brings together volunteers, healthcare professionals, and organizations committed to expanding access to essential care. We are honored to help support the hearing and vision services that help improve health outcomes and quality of life for so many members of our community. Together, we can help ensure that vital care reaches those who need it most. Sign up to volunteer: mompgh.org/volunteer/ #MissionOfMercyPGH #EyeAndEarFoundation #CommunityCare #HealthcareAccess #HearingHealth #VisionHealth #GivingBack #PittsburghCommunity

Hearing health matters. Read about last week's webinar to see how we're helping bring hearing care and hope to communities across Greater Pittsburgh. Read here: eyeandear.org/2026/10/bringi… @Pitt_OTOHNS @PittCSD @MOM_PGH #webinar #LunchAndLearn #HearingLoss #FreeHearingCare #CommunicationVan #audiology #MobileCare #IDD #LiDiA #CommunityPartners #FinancialBarriers #underserved #Pittsburgh #HearingAidExpenses #support #UntreatedHearingLoss #CommunicationIsAHumanRight #outreach #CommunityOutreach

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this year’s #ARCSLecture, hosted by the Eye & Ear Foundation! Attendees heard from @jpzevallos on advances in head and neck cancer care and research. We’re grateful to the Pittsburgh Chapter of @ARCSFoundation for its commitment to supporting the next generation of scientists and innovators. 🔬✨ #ARCSFoundation #PittsburghARCS #ResearchExcellence #FutureScientists #HeadAndNeckCancer #AcademicMedicine #EyeAndEarFoundation #InnovationInResearch

Read about our webinar with Bryan W. Jones, PhD on retinal circuitry and retinal degeneration: eyeandear.org/2026/10/retina… @Pitt_OPH #webinar #LunchAndLearn #RetinalCircuitry #RetinalDegeneration #RetinitisPigmentosa #photoreceptors #connectomics #photoconnectones #retina

Join us for a (free!) webinar this Friday! An audience Q&A will follow the presentation. Register here: tinyurl.com/mr73kn6k @Pitt_OTOHNS @PittCSD #webinar #LunchAndLearn #hearing #HearingLoss #Pittsburgh #MobileHearingHealth

Read the October Scoop for the latest in @Pitt_OPH and @Pitt_OTOHNS! conta.cc/4rwEdS0 @earflocare @OtoPittPeds #Scoop #DigitalNewsletter #October #OctoberScoop #Recognition #PatientNavigator #iota #RoboticAssistedCISurgery #PediatricCochlearImplantSurgery #ChanceMeeting #internship #VoiceCare #Retirement See less

Meet the EEF Team: Craig Smith As Director of Development and Community Initiatives, Craig Smith plays a key role in advancing the mission of the Eye & Ear Foundation. Working closely with the Departments of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Craig helps build meaningful partnerships, connect supporters with transformational opportunities, and strengthen community engagement efforts that drive research, education, and patient care forward. Follow EEF to catch the rest of our staff highlight series. The Eye & Ear Foundation, supporting research to improve how we hear, see, and live. #MeetTheEEFTeam #EyeAndEarFoundation #CommunityImpact #ResearchMatters #HearSeeLive

Join us for our (free!) webinar, a week from today. An audience Q&A will follow the presentation. Register here: tinyurl.com/4rk24zpn @Pitt_OPH #webinar #LunchAndLearn #RetinalCircuitry #RetinalDegeneration #ophthalmology

The topic of the Eye & Ear Foundation’s September 11 webinar, “Hearing Loss: Unexplained Causes and Immune-Mediated Conditions,” is starting to gain attention, said presenter Peter Santa Maria, MD, PhD, Professor and Division Chief of Otology & Neurotology and Vice Chair of Translational and Clinical Research in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. Read more: eyeandear.org/2026/09/hearin… @Pitt_OTOHNS #webinar #LunchAndLearn #HearingLoss #UnexplainedCauses #ImmuneMediatedConditions #AutoimmuneInnerEarDisease #AutoInflammatory #biologics #CochlearImplants #HearingAids #diagnosis #EarAnatomy #GeneticTesting #HearingRehabilitation #ImmuneSystem #ImmuneMediatedInnerEarDisease #PrecisionTools #steroids #SuddenSensorineuralHearingLoss #AIED #IMIED #TargetedImmuneTherapies #teamwork #treatment #UnexplainedCauses

The Eye & Ear Foundation congratulates José-Alain Sahel, MD, Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Ophthalmology, on being named a co-recipient of the 2026 António Champalimaud Vision Award. Dr. Sahel shares this honor with Botond Roska for more than two decades of work developing optogenetic therapies, treatments that make retinal cells responsive to light again even after the photoreceptors that normally do that job have been destroyed by disease. It's exactly the kind of research our Foundation is proud to support: work that moves from the lab bench to real clinical trials, where this approach has already shown it can partially restore vision in patients. Worldwide, 43 million people are blind and 295 million live with visual impairment, much of it caused by retinal diseases and macular degeneration. Progress like this is only possible because of the researchers, clinicians, and supporters who make vision and hearing research a priority. Congratulations to Dr. Sahel and the entire team on this incredible recognition. Read more about it here: ophthalmology.pitt.edu/news #EyeAndEarFoundation #VisionResearch #ChampalimaudVisionAward #PittOphthalmology #RetinalDisease

On Sept. 4, Michael Hund, founder of Rare Ventures, rang the New York Stock Exchange Opening Bell alongside Richard King Mellon Foundation Director and Trustee Sam Reiman and Catharine Mellon Cathey, President and Trustee of the Richard King Mellon Foundation, with partners and members of the rare disease community. The UPMC Vision Institute and the Eye & Ear Foundation helped anchor a first-of-its-kind platform to accelerate therapies for rare eye diseases. The Richard King Mellon Foundation committed up to $25 million. The platform’s ophthalmology efforts will build on pioneering work in inherited retinal diseases and vision restoration conducted at Pitt and partner institutions.

Did you know... that traditional soft palate surgery (UPPP) for sleep apnea had roughly a 41% success rate while newer reconstructive techniques have closer to an 80% success rate? Learn more at: eyeandear.org/2026/08/soft-p… @Pitt_OTOHNS @OtoPitt

Join us for next week's (free!) webinar. An audience Q&A will follow the presentation. Register here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi… @Pitt_OTOHNS #webinar #LunchAndLearn #HearingLoss #UnexplainedCauses #ImmuneMediatedConditions

A huge thank you to our ACT Gold Sponsors: Anne Lewis, Brother's Brother Foundation @brothersbf_, Cindy and David Sunseri, Essilor Foundation, Jewish Healthcare Foundation @JHForg, Nancy Washington, PhD, and Starkey. Thank you for supporting the Communication Van and EyeVan! These mobile programs bring hearing and vision care directly to underserved communities across the Pittsburgh region, because everyone deserves the chance to see and hear their world clearly. Thank you for helping us keep care moving. 💙🚐👁️ @Pitt_OTOHNS @Pitt_OPH #AdvancingCareTogether #EyeAndEarFoundation #CommunityHealth #GratefulForOurSponsors #MobileCare

Happy September! Innovation, discovery and impact are at the heart of this month's newsletter. Read about Rare Ventures' launch, faculty recognition, the first artificial iris implant, a retinal camera donation expanding access to care, new faculty joining our community, and helping caregivers support people with IDD and dysphagia. Read all about it here: conta.cc/4xqeVHf @Pitt_OPH @Pitt_OTOHNS #September #DigitalNewsletter #news #RareVentures #FacultyRecognition #Artificialiris #RetinalCamera #NewFaculty #dysphagia #CaregiverHelp #IDD #Scoop #SeptemberScoop #IDDAndDysphagia #DiabeticRetinopathyScreening See less

Read about last week's webinar, "Corap: Eye Care at the Right Time, in the Right Place:" eyeandear.org/2026/08/corap-… @Pitt_OPH #webinar #LunchAndLearn #CORAP #MobileEyeCare #EyeCare #AccessToCare #DiabeticRetinopathySceening #EyesOnWheels #eyeVan #eyeTruck #MobileVisionClinics #ProjectOphanim #ACT #community

Help bring sight and sound to those who need it most. The Eye & Ear Foundation's Advancing Care Together (ACT) Program provides ongoing support for community vision and hearing care initiatives across our region. Your generosity helps students, faculty, and staff deliver essential services while expanding access to high-quality care for all. @Pitt_OPH @Pitt_OTOHNS Make an impact today: eyeandear.org/act/ #AdvancingCareTogether #EyeAndEarFoundation #CommunityCare #GivingBack

Join us for our next (free!) webinar, a week from today! An audience Q&A will follow the presentation. Register here: tinyurl.com/2rx62mt3 @Pitt_OPH #webinar #LunchAndLearn #CommunityOphthalmology #RemoteAccessPrograms #CORAP #EyeCare