Ian A. Sigal, PhD

Dr. Ian Sigal is an Associate Professor, Director of the Laboratory of Ocular Biomechanics in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.  He holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Bioengineering in the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.  He is Director of the image acquisition and analysis core module of the Department of Ophthalmology. Dr. Sigal holds a BS in Physics from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, an MASc in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, also from the University of Toronto. He completed two postdoctoral fellowships, in Orthopaedic Biomechanics at the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, and in Ocular Biomechanics at the Devers Eye Institute, in Portland, Oregon. The Laboratory of Ocular Biomechanics works on methods to measure and predict long-term effects of altered ocular biomechanics, such as increased risk of glaucomatous vision loss.  This involves both computational and experimental practices.  Some examples of the techniques the lab is working on developing include:include: 1.) Development of non‐invasive techniques to study ocular biomechanics, their effects on eye health and how these change with aging or disease and 2.) Experimental and numerical methods to characterize connective tissue architecture and mechanics. Specifically, the laboratory has developed a state-of-the-art imaging technique based on polarized light microscopy that provides high resolution data on collagen fiber architecture over large regions. Dr. Sigal reviews funding applications for NIH, the VA, NASA, NSF, and the BrightFocus foundation. He is also a manuscript reviewer for several journals, including Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Experimental Eye Research, Current Eye Research, Journal of Biomechanics, and Physics in Medicine and Biology, amongst others. View more details of Dr. Sigal’s research here. A full list of his publications here.