The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, a nonprofit independent research institute, is located in Pacific Heights in San Francisco. Dedicated to research on human vision, it was founded to encourage a productive collaboration between the medical clinic and the scientific laboratory. Smith-Kettlewell conducts research on many different topics, but its main interests are: * Clinical studies which relate directly to the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases and disorders. * The development of devices and vocational programs to aid the partially sighted, blind and hearing impaired - the major focus of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Research Center (RERC). * Basic research to understand how the eye and brain work, providing a fundamental background for both the clinical and rehabilitation programs.
