A nonprofit improving understanding, diagnosis, treatment, & rehab for visual disorders & blindness.
01/27/2026
One of our scientists recently had the joy of speaking with an inquisitive group of 4th and 5th grade Girl Scouts at the Truhlsen-Marmor Museum of Eye hosted by American Academy of Ophthalmology
She shared what it’s really like and what it takes to become a scientist. Moments like these remind us how powerful representation, mentorship, and early exposure to science can be in shaping future possibilities.
Here’s to inspiring confidence, and curiosity.💙👩🔬
01/22/2026
CAMIO implementation in Palo Alto, CA.
01/20/2026
💙 Join Us Tomorrow January 21st 💙
Our Blind & Low Vision Support Group meets tomorrow at 3:00 PM PST and will be held hybrid (in person + Zoom).
This is a welcoming, supportive space to connect with others, share experiences, and learn together. Whether you are blind or have low vision, supporting a loved one, or simply looking for community—you are welcome.
Join Dr. Don Fletcher, one of the world’s leading authorities on Low Vision Rehabilitation, to share experiences and learn about the things that help you maintain a full and happy life while living with low vision.
01/13/2026
Join our Low Vision & Blindness Support Group, led by Anne Marie Rossi, an occupational therapist, and Scientists at Smith-Kettlewell. Meetings are hybrid, completely free, include guest speakers, and feature a new topic each month.
📍 Everyone is welcome.
Visit our website www.ski.org under the Events tab or scan the QR code on the flyer to learn more and join us.
12/24/2025
Happy Holidays from all of us at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute! ✨
As the year comes to a close, we want to send our heartfelt thanks to our community of researchers, collaborators, supporters, and friends.
The holidays are a time to pause, reflect, and appreciate the connections that bring meaning to our work and to one another.
We look ahead to the new year with hope for continued discovery, shared purpose, and opportunities to make a positive difference through vision research and accessibility.
If you feel moved to stay connected or support our work in the year ahead, we’re deeply grateful for your generosity in all its forms.
Wishing you a season filled with warmth, joy, and peace, and a new year full of possibility.
Here are a few photos from our Holiday Lunch:
12/19/2025
🎉 Celebrating 50 Years of Scientific Excellence at Smith-Kettlewell 🎉
This month we are honoring Christopher Tyler, Ph.D., on an incredible milestone, 50 years at The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute. Over five decades, his work has helped define the field of vision science, influencing research communities around the world.
From the invention of the auto-stereogram to pioneering advances in binocular vision, sweep VEP, and innovative fMRI brain-mapping techniques, his contributions have transformed how we understand visual perception. His research continues to illuminate the connections between how we see, how we think, and how we create.
We are deeply grateful for his lasting impact, curiosity, and dedication to advancing science. 👏
If you'd like to know more about Dr. Tyler's work you can find more information here: https://www.ski.org/directory/christopher-tyler/
Dr. Tyler(Right) is pictured below with Dr. Arthur Jampolsky(Left) founder of Smith-Kettlewell.
12/02/2025
This Giving Tuesday, we’re celebrating the impact our community makes possible. At the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, every breakthrough begins with a mission rooted in service: to advance understanding of human vision, improve diagnosis and treatment of visual and sensory disorders, and engineer innovative technologies that empower people who are blind or partially sighted.
Your generosity fuels research that moves beyond our labs and into the real world. Because of supporters like you, our scientists are developing earlier detection for childhood eye diseases, designing accessible navigation tools used worldwide, and creating rehabilitation techniques that help individuals regain independence and confidence.
When you give to SKERI, you are investing in discoveries that directly change lives.
On this global day of giving, we invite you to stand with us.
Together, we can advance research, expand accessibility, and build a brighter future for the people who need it most.
💙 Give today and help turn groundbreaking research into real-world impact. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4Q8ZAYZ4EAALA
11/24/2025
🌟 Celebrating Big News at Smith-Kettlewell! 🌟
We’re thrilled to share that one of our researchers, Brandon Biggs, has been honored with a GAADy Award from the GAAD Foundation, a global leader working to ensure that accessibility is built into every stage of technology and digital product development.
Even more exciting, he has also been named a 2025 Winner at the PitchAbility 2025 event! These awards were presented for his flagship product, Audiom, a groundbreaking cross-sensory map that allows blind users to navigate using both sound and sight.
🗺️ Why Audiom Matters:
Most geographic maps are completely inaccessible to millions of people, including blind, low-vision, low-literacy, colorblind, and mobility-impaired users.
Launched in April 2024 by XR Navigation, Audiom is the first digital map everyone can use:
✨ View and create maps visually, auditorily, or through text
✨ Accessible on any platform—using headphones, screens, or braille displays
✨ Works alongside existing visual maps or serves as a complete accessible replacement
From campuses, exhibit halls, airplane seat maps, and buildings to eclipse maps, disease maps, and even complex spatial diagrams like anatomical models or circuit boards, Audiom makes spatial information available to everyone.
🏆 We are incredibly proud to celebrate these major recognitions and the accessibility-driven innovation happening right here at Smith-Kettlewell.
11/19/2025
We’re excited to share that scientists from the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute are currently attending the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting in San Diego! 🧠✨
Our team is proud to present cutting-edge research that advances our understanding of vision, neuroscience, and accessibility.
We’re grateful for the opportunity to collaborate, learn, and showcase the innovative work happening at SKERI.
Update:
We’ve just added photos of our scientists presenting their posters at this year’s Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego! 🧠📸
11/17/2025
🌎💜 Today is World Prematurity Day
At The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, we are deeply committed to advancing research that supports these tiny fighters.
One of the most critical challenges premature infants face is Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), a sight-threatening condition caused by abnormal blood vessel development in the retina.
Dr. William Good, Smith-Kettlewell’s CEO and a leading pediatric ophthalmologist and clinical researcher, has dedicated his career to understanding and improving outcomes for infants with ROP. His work has helped shape how clinicians detect, monitor, and treat this condition.
Because of research like Dr. Good’s, more babies today are avoiding severe vision loss and families have more hope than ever before.
💜 On World Prematurity Day, we honor these resilient children and reaffirm our commitment to research that protects their sight.
Watch the video below of our CEO as he explains Smith-Kettlewell’s ongoing commitment to research that helps protect the vision of premature infants facing retinopathy of prematurity
11/15/2025
🌍 Happy World Philanthropy Day! 💙
Today, we celebrate the generosity, vision, and compassion that make our work at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute possible.
For over six decades, SKERI has advanced cutting-edge research that empowers people who are blind or have low vision to live more independent, connected lives. None of this is possible without supporters who believe in science, accessibility, and building a more inclusive world.
✨ If SKERI’s mission resonates with you, today is a beautiful day to give.
Your gift helps fuel breakthroughs in vision science, supports emerging researchers, and brings life-changing technologies closer to the people who need them most.
Thank you for standing with us, believing in our work, and helping create a future where everyone can access the world around them.
Help support The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute by donating or sharing with your friends.
11/03/2025
Event Highlight: Scaling Up Accessible Tactile Maps & 3D Models!
We’re thrilled to share highlights from our recent collaboration with the Рівненський фаховий коледж інформаційних технологій (Rivne Applied College of Information Technology, RACIT), where The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (SKERI) showcased how computer vision and AI technology are being used to make information more accessible for people who are blind or have low vision.
The event, Scaling Up Accessible Tactile Maps and 3D Models, demonstrated innovative approaches to expanding tactile accessibility & showing how SKERI’s research is helping to scale the production of tactile maps and 3D models that translate visual and spatial data into touchable, understandable forms.
We were honored to welcome Mykhailo Boiko, Deputy Director of Educational and Methodological Works at RACIT, who traveled all the way from Rivne, Ukraine to San Francisco to strengthen collaborations between RACIT and Smith-Kettlewell. His visit marks an exciting step forward in our shared mission to foster international partnerships that advance accessibility through science and technology.
A heartfelt thank you to our partners at RACIT and to everyone who joined us for this inspiring event. Together, we’re proving that collaboration knows no borders when it comes to building a more inclusive world.
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Contact The Practice
Send a message to The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute:
The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute is a non-profit independent research center. We are interested in three main areas of research: basic scientific research to increase the understanding of normal vision in support of vision disorders, clinical research to develop new diagnostic procedures and treatments for visual and other sensory disorders, and engineering research to produce better techniques for aid and rehabilitation of the blind and partially sighted.
The research that the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute is doing has expanded its understanding of how the visual system (including both eye and brain) work and are affected by disease and vision impairment. In fact, millions of people around the world benefit from the Institute's work diagnosing and treating eye diseases. The studies conducted by its staff have also led to the development of innovative devices, and enhanced services for partially sighted, blind, and hearing-impaired people. A few examples of the Institute's accomplishments are highlighted below.
Innumerable innovations in diagnosis and surgery for childhood vision diseases, notably crossed eyes (strabismus)
Botulinum toxin (“Botox”), originally for correction of crossed eyes, leading to many wider uses
