Likun Ai Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute 2318 Fillmore St San Francisco CA 94115-1813 People JM Miller Lab Joel M Miller Danielle E Alexander Martin Wiesmair Collaborators Joseph L Demer Christine Wildsoet

Likun Ai

Education & Training

• Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology & Tongren Hospital (July 2002 - present). Post-doctoral Research Fellowship, Division of Strabismus, Department of Ophthalmology
• Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences; Peking Union Medical College & Hospital (July 1997 - July 2002). Doctor of Medical Science degree, specializing in Ophthalmology (= "clinical PhD")
• Beijing Anzhen Hospital (July 1995 - July 1997)
  Resident, Department of Medical Imaging
• China-Japan Friendship Hospital (July 1994 - July 1995). House Officer
  Rotation in Department of Internal Medicine (6 months)
  Rotation in Department of Surgery (6 months)
  
• China Medical University (July 1989 - July 1995)
  Bachelor's Degree in Medical Science (qualified to practice medicine; = US MD degree)
  Japanese language clinical medicine program
  
• Beijing Jingshan School (July, 1986 - July 1989)

Secondary Languages

• English
  Passed the 6th-degree (the highest degree) College English Test, 1992.
• Japanese
  Passed the Level One (the highest level) Japanese Language Proficiency Test, 1993.
  Passed the Transcript of Languages Proficiency Test given by the China National Medical Examination Center, 1997.

Honors

• Bronze medal, Third National Conference for Young Ophthalmologists, Dec 2001.
• Orbis Eye Care Scholarship, 1st China-Orbis Strabismus and Pediatric Ophthalmology Training Class, Apr 2001.
• Top Graduate Student, Peking Union Medical College, 1999.
• Zhou Zizhuan Scholarship, Peking Union Medical College, 1998.

Research & Clinical Experience

• Refractive Errors
• It is known that higher order optical aberrations are correlated with myopia. My hypothesis was that characteristic optical aberrations could serve as clinical markers for familial myopia. I measured optical aberrations in 180 myopics using wave-front techniques, and found that the familial myopia group differed significantly from the simple myopia group in higher order and astigmatic aberrations.
• Using topography and wave-front techniques, I compared soft contact lenses and rigid gas-permeable contact lenses on the eyes of 41 young patients, and found that abnormalities of corneal contours and aberrations became more serious in the soft contact lens group.
• Binocular Vision & Strabismus
• Using a synoptophore and random-dot stereograms, I measured inward-fusional and outward-fusional ranges and stereo acuity in 78 normal subjects. I found that better stereo acuity is associated with wider fusional range. My findings also lead me to recommend that clinicians assess both static and dynamic fusional tests in evaluating Panum's fusional area.
• Examined the effect of dopamine on amblyopia, and completed a study of dopamine therapy for stable amblyopia of more than 20 patients.
• Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy
• Having observed the frangibility of conjunctiva of TAO patients in surgery, I hypothesized that the conjunctiva is affected by the TAO autoimmune inflammatory disorder. I examined conjunctival tissues histologically, and observed marked fibrosis in TAO conjunctiva compared to normal conjunctiva. I received the Bronze medal of The Third National Conference for Young Ophthalmologists (Dec 2001) for this work.
• Using a monoclonal antibody to identify the T-lymphocyte subclasses in the conjunctiva in TAO patients, I found significant accumulation of T-cells in TAO compared to normal conjunctiva. I am currently extending this analysis to other orbital tissues.
• Surgery
• More than 400 strabismus surgeries.
• More than 100 intraocular surgeries, including cataract, glaucoma, and vitreous surgeries.

Other Professional Activities

• Interpreter at the 4th Annual UCBSO-BMU (UC Berkeley School of Optometry - Beijing Medical University) Sino-American Optometric Symposium (1998).
• Assistant teacher of strabismus to final year students on rotation from the UC Berkley School of Optometry (1999-2002).

Publications

1. Likun Ai, Weiye Li, Jicang He. Wave-front aberration study of hereditary myopia. Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology (submitted)
2. Likun Ai, Weiye Li, Yuhua Liu. Wave-front aberration in soft contact lenses and RGP lenses. Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology (submitted)
3. Likun Ai, Weiye Li, Jicang He. The effect of pupil dilation on wavefront aberrations in the human eye. Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology (submitted)
4. Donghui Li, Likun Ai. Pathygenic studies of myopia (review). Foreign Medical Sciences 2003, Vol 27,174-177
5. Likun Ai, Yuhua Liu, Donghui Li. Extraocular muscle surgery for thyroid related ophthalmopathy. Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology 2002, Vol 38,466-469
6. Ai Likun, Liu Xipu, Zheng Heyi et al. A case of pubic phthirus infection in eyelid. Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology 2002, Vol 38(2),95
7. Likun Ai, Yuhua Liu. Clinical Therapy to Thyroid Associated Ophthalmopathy (review). Foreign Medical Sciences 2001, Vol 25;298-303
8. Wu Xi, Liu Yuhua, Ai Likun et al. Clinical research on horizontal fusional function by synoptophne of random-dot stereopsis. Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology 2001, Vol 37,307-308
9. Likun Ai, Yuhua Liu et al. A type Ultrasound in Thyroid Associated Ophthalmopathy and Clinical findings. Chinese Journal of Strabismus & Pediatric Ophthalmology, 2001,Vol 9,4-7.
10. Likun Ai, Donghui Li et al. L-dopa Treatment to Stable Amplyopes and Difficult-to-treat Amblyopes. Chinese Journal of Strabismus & Pediatric Ophthalmology, 2000,Vol 8,77-79.
11. Wu Xi, Liu Yuhua, Ai Likun et al. Experimental research on fusional function in normal subjects using synoptophne of random-dot stereopsis. Journal of optometry & ophthalmology 1999,vol 1,104-6.

Presentations

1. Extraocular muscle surgery for thyroid related ophthalmopathy. (Oral presentation) The 9th National Strabismus, Amblyopia and Pediatric Ophthalmology Conference (Apr 2001)
2. Soft contact lens and RGP lens in teenagers. (Oral presentation) The 2nd National Optometry Conference (Jul 2001)
3. Pathological study of conjunctiva of thyroid associated ophthalmopathy. (Oral presentation) The Third National Conference for Young Ophthalmologists (Dec 2001)
4. Wave-front aberration and pupil size. (Oral presentation) The 8th National Conference of Ophthalmology (Aug 2002)
5. The aberration of hereditary myopia. (Poster presentation) The 9th