Dr. Sandeep Jain is Director of the Dry Eye and Ocular GVHD clinic at UI Health and BA Field Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Dr. Jain is Board certified in Ophthalmology. His clinical focus is in treatment of Dry Eye Diseases, with a particular interest in Ocular Graft-Vs.-Host Disease and Sjogren’s Syndrome. He is an NIH funded clinician scientist, who has discovered new mechanisms of inflammation in dry eyes and developed new drugs for treating dry eyes. Dr. Jain is the founding Program Director of the NEI/NIH funded Chronic GVHD Meeting in Chicago which focuses on the intersection between the areas of chronic GVHD and dry eye/ocular surface disease. He is also the founder of UIC’s “goGVHD Fund” which seeks to provide novel treatments to all patients with ocular GVHD who need them, irrespective of their ability to pay and to lead the next generation of innovation to cure this disease. He has received several awards including, UIC Inventor of the Year, UIC Faculty of the Year, American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Achievement Award, Research to Prevent Blindness Physician-Scientist Award, and has been listed among Castle Connolly Top Doctors in Chicago. After receiving his medical degree, Dr. Jain joined the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute at The Johns Hopkins University as a pre-residency fellow and completed his residency training in Ophthalmology at the Harkness Eye Institute at Columbia University, New York, followed by subspecialty fellowship in Corneal Diseases at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary/Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Jain’s clinical and translational research focus is on dry eye disease (DED) and ocular Graft-versus-host-disease (oGVHD). Dr. Jain has established a unique translational research program that makes feasible the discovery and development of novel treatments for ocular GVHD and dry eye disease. This program comprises of a highly specialized ocular GVHD and dry eye clinic for patient care, an advanced translational molecular biology laboratory for uncovering disease mechanisms, and a highly motivated team who seamlessly connect these components. Dr. Jain’s clinical practice and basic laboratory research are highly integrated around this focus area, which has allowed him to investigate the biological basis of clinical observations in DED and oGVHD. He discovered a novel mechanism for inflammation in dry eye disease and oGVHD that is based on the accumulation of neutrophil extracellular traps on the ocular surface. This research has led to numerous patent filings, an NEI/NIH R01 grant, NEI/NIH R24 grant, funding from UIC Chancellor’s Innovation Fund (CIF) Proof of Concept Awards program and a Physician Scientist award from Research to Prevent Blindness. This research has also led to multiple patent grants (US9867871B2 granted on Jan 16, 2018, US9877964B2 granted on Jan 30, 2018 and US9597328 B2 granted on Mar 21, 2017). Dr. Jain has published 75 papers in Journals and made more than 100 presentations in Ophthalmological meetings. He has also presented seminars for non-profit patient organizations such as BMT Infonet and AAMDS International Foundation.

Dr. Jain is experienced in the regulatory processes required for developing ophthalmic drugs. He was assigned two Investigator sponsored Investigational New Drug (IND) by FDA for developing DNase I and pooled human immune globulin (IVIG) eye drops. He is the Principal investigator on several ‘investigator-sponsored’ phase I/II clinical trials (clinicaltrials.gov NCT #NCT02193490, NCT02702518 and NCT00606905). His laboratory was the first to recognize the potential of several novel drugs to treat moderate to severe dry eye disease. These drugs include Brimonidine nanoemulsion (licensed to Ocugen Inc.), DNase eye drops (licensed to Neutrolis Inc.) and human immune globulin eye drops (licensed to Selagine Inc.). Brimonidine nanoemulsion became the first drug in the US to be receive orphan drug designation for treating ocular GVHD. Dr. Jain is the founder of two startup companies: Selagine Inc. and Advaite Inc.. Dr. Jain provides scientific consultation in the area of Dry Eye Disease to GlaxoSmithKline plc. and Roche.

UIC news releases

• UIC researcher awarded $10.15M to develop antibody-based dry eye treatment
• Antibody-based eye drops show promise for treating dry eye disease
• New treatment for severe dry eye disease promising in early clinical trials
• Inventor of the Year: Sandeep Jain
• UIC: An incubator for successful start-ups

Selected honors and awards

• University of Illinois Chicago, Inventor of the Year Award, 2018
• University of Illinois College of Medicine, Faculty of the Year Award
• Research to Prevent Blindness, Physician Scientist Award
• Castle Connolly Top Doctor
• Chicago Super Doctors
• Best Doctors in America
• American Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement Award

Roca D, Mun J, Surenkhuu B, Vanathi M, Jain S. Graft Versus Host Disease and Dry Eye Disease. In Galor A (eds): Dry Eye Disease. Elsevier. St. Louis, Missouri, USA, 2022: 107-117.

Katz EA, Sunshine S, Mun C, Sarwar M, Surenkhuu B, Pradeep A, Jain S. Combinatorial therapy with immunosuppressive, immunomodulatory and tear substitute eyedrops (“Triple Play”) in Recalcitrant Immunological Ocular Surface Diseases. Ocul Surf. 2021 Nov 10;23:1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.jtos.2021.11.002. PMID: 34768002.

Sunshine SB, Dhall N, Harissi-Dagher M, Dana R, Mun C, Jain S. Dry Eye Diagnosis and Management. In Albert D, Miller J, Azar D, Young LH (eds): Albert and Jakobiec’s Principles and Practices of Ophthalmology. Springer- Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany, 2021.

Kitko CL, Pidala J, Schoemans HM, Lawitschka A, Flowers ME, Cowen EW, Tkaczyk E, Farhadfar N, Jain S, Steven P, Luo ZK, Ogawa Y, Stern M, Yanik GA, Cuvelier GDE, Cheng GS, Holtan SG, Schultz KR, Martin PJ, Lee SJ, Pavletic SZ, Wolff D, Paczesny S, Blazar BR, Sarantopoulos S, Socie G, Greinix H, Cutler C. National Institutes of Health Consensus
Development Project on Criteria for Clinical Trials in Chronic Graft versus-Host Disease: IIa. The 2020 Clinical Implementation and Early Diagnosis Working Group Report. Transplant Cell Ther. 2021 Jul;27(7):545-557. doi: 10.1016/j.jtct.2021.03.033. Epub 2021 Apr 9. PMID: 33839317

Park RB, Jain S, Han H, Park J. Ocular surface disease associated with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Ocul Surf. 2021 Apr;20:115-129. doi: 10.1016/j.jtos.2021.02.004. Epub 2021 Feb 19. PMID: 33610743.

Nair S, Vanathi M, Mukhija R, Tandon R, Jain S, Ogawa Y. Update on ocular graft-versus- host disease. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021 May;69(5):1038-1050. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_2016_20. PMID: 33913829

Koujah L, Allaham M, Patil CD, Ames JM, Suryawanshi RK, Yadavalli T, Agelidis A, Mun C, Surenkhuu B, Jain S, Shukla D. Entry receptor bias in evolutionarily distant HSV-1 clinical strains drives divergent ocular and nervous system pathologies. Ocul Surf. 2021 Mar 22:S1542 0124(21)00015-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jtos.2021.03.005. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33766740.

Wolff D, Radojcic V, Lafyatis R, Cinar R, Rosenstein RK, Cowen EW, Cheng GS, Sheshadri A, Bergeron A, Williams KM, Todd JL, Teshima T, Cuvelier GDE, Holler E, McCurdy SR, Jenq RR, Hanash AM, Jacobsohn D, Santomasso BD, Jain S, Ogawa Y, Steven P, Luo ZK, Dietrich-Ntoukas T, Saban D, Bilic E, Penack O, Griffith LM, Cowden M, Martin PJ, Greinix HT, Sarantopoulos S, Socie G, Blazar BR, Pidala J, Kitko CL, Couriel DR, Cutler C, Schultz KR, Pavletic SZ, Lee SJ, Paczesny S. National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Project on Criteria for Clinical Trials in Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease: IV. The 2020 Highly morbid forms report. Transplant Cell Ther. 2021 Jun 10:S2666-6367(21)00949-0. doi: 10.1016/j.jtct.2021.06.001. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34217703

Kwon J, Surenkhuu B, Raju I, Atassi N, Mun J, Chen YF, Sarwar MA, Rosenblatt M, Pradeep A, An S, Dhall N, Mun C, Jain S. Pathological consequences of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies in tear fluid and therapeutic potential of pooled human immune globulin-eye drops in dry eye disease. Ocul Surf. 2020 Jan;18(1):80-97

Accompanying editorial comment : Genschmer KR, Russel DW, Blalock JE. Too much of a good thing, how chronic neutrophilic inflammation can drive human disease. Ocul Surf. 2020 Apr;18(2):193-195.

MD: University of Delhi, India
Residency in Ophthalmology: Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia University
Research Fellowship in Cornea and External Diseases: Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins
University
Clinical Fellowship in Cornea: Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School
Scholars for Teaching Excellence Faculty Fellowship: University of Illinois Chicago

• Patent grant: Treatment and diagnosis of ocular surface disorders
  Inventors: Sandeep Jain, Karthik Musunuri
  Original Assignee: Advaite, LLC
  Publication number: US 110058713 B2
  Publication date: July 13, 2021
• Patent grant: Composition and method for treating Nucleic Acid-related eye Disease
  Inventor: Sandeep Jain, MD
  Publication number: US9867871B2
  Publication date: Jan 16, 2018
• Patent grant: Methods and compositions for treating dry eye disease and other eye
  disorders
  Inventors: Sandeep Jain, Uday Bhaskar Kompella, Shankar Musunuri
  Original Assignee: Ocugen, Inc., University of Illinois
  Publication number: US9877964B2
  Publication date: Jan 30, 2018
• Patent grant: Methods and Compositions for Treating Dry Eye Disease and Other Eye
  Disorders.
  Inventors: Sandeep Jain, Uday Bhaskar Kompella, Shankar Musunuri
  Original Assignee: Ocugen, Inc., The Board of Trustees of The University of Illinois
  Publication number: US9597328 B2
  Publication date: Mar 21, 2017
• Patent grant: Transcorneal Vision Assistance Device
  Inventors: Dimitri Azar, Jose de la Cruz, Sandeep Jain.
  Original Assignee: The Board of Trustees of The University of Illinois,
  Publication number: US8506626 B2
  Publication date: Aug 13, 2013

Seminars for patients (youtube videos)

• Your Eyes and Chronic Graft versus Host Disease
• Ocular GVHD – Diagnosis and Treatment

Recent Presentations at National Meetings on Dry Eye and Ocular GVHD

• Surenkhuu B, Mun C, Atassi N, Dhall N, Mun J, Berek C, Kim C, Akbar Sarwar M, Pradeep A, Jain S. Recombinant Deoxyribonuclease I (DNase) Eye Drops for Ocular Graft-Versus-Host Disease (oGVHD): Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2021;62(8):1276.
• Sunshine S, Katz E, Mun C, Mun J, Berek C, Pradeep A, Surenkhuu B, Jain S. Combinatorial Therapy with Immunosuppressive, Immunomodulatory and Tear Substitute Eyedrops (‘Triple Play’) in Recalcitrant Immunological Ocular Surface Diseases. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2020;62: ARVO Abstract # 3542566.
• Atassi N, Surenkhuu B, Mun J, Berek C, Ahn A, Dhall N, Kim C, Hadi SA, Pradeep A, Mun C, Jain S. Ocular Graft vs Host Disease (oGVHD) After Allogenic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (allo-HSCT): A 2 Year Longitudinal, Observational Study. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2021;62(8):1244.
• Dhall N, Kwon J, An S, Mun J, Illangovan R, Surenkhuu B, Berek C, Mun C, Jain S. Citrullinated protein and Anti-Citrullinated Protein Antibodies (ACPAs) are present in Tear fluid of Dry Eye Disease (DED) patients – Pathophysiological Implications. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2020;61: ARVO E-Abstract 323 – A0143.
• Jain S, An S, Kwon J, Surenkhuu B, Raju I, Atassi N, Pradeep A, Mun C. Anti-Citrullinated Protein Antibodies (ACPA) are Present in Tear Fluid of Dry Eye Disease (DED) Patients: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Implications. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2019;60: ARVO E-Abstract 6786 – B0310.
• Surenkhuu B, Raju I, An S, Kwon J, Pradeep A, Atassi N, Mun C, Jain S. LIGHT Protein is a Potential Biomarker for Ocular Graft-VS-Host Disease (oGVHD). Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2019;60: ARVO E-Abstract 6764 – B0288.
• Mun C, Tibrewal S, Ahn A, Lopez A, Atassi N, Surenkhuu B, Buwick M, Shukla S, Shah H, Mun J, Pradeep A, Raju I, Jain S. Recombinant Deoxyribonuclease (DNase) Eye Drops Use in Patients with Dry Eye Disease: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2019;60: ARVO E-Abstract 6759 – B0283.
• An S, Raju I, Surenkhuu B, Sinha S, Wu PY, Ahn A, Pradeep A, Kwon J, Lopez A, Mun C, Jain S. Sub-Anticoagulant Dose Heparin is a Potential Therapy for Tear Deficient Dry Eye Disease in patients with ocular Graft-Vs-Host Disease (oGVHD). Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2018;59: ARVO E-Abstract 3293 – C0087.
• Arumugham R, Somasekhar G, Upadhyay K, Kalesnykas G, Kaja S, Jain S. Pre-clinical efficacy of OCU300 nanoemulsion for the treatment of ocular graft versus host disease (oGVHD). Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2018;59:ARVO E-Abstract 3287 – C0081.
• Mun C, An S, Raju I, Surenkhuu B, Sinha S, Wu PY, Pradeep A, Ahn A, Kwon J, Lopez A, Jain S. Oncostatin M (OSM) Contributes to Corneal Epitheliopathy in Tear Deficient Dry Eye Disease due to Chronic ocular Graft-Vs-Host Disease (oGVHD). Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2018;59:ARVO E-Abstract 3292 – C0086.

Recent Invited talks on Dry Eye and Ocular GVHD

• AAMDSIF “Ocular GVHD – Diagnosis and Treatment” Webinar. March 15, 2022.
• Webinar Presentation ‘Immunotherpay for Ocular Surface Diseases’ Grupos de Investigación con Enfoque Estratégico (GIEE). May 21, 2020.
• ARVO Special Interest Group (SIG): New-Perspective: Ocular Graft-versus-Host Disease is More Than Just Another Form of Dry-eye Disease. Webinar. May 1, 2021.
• Translational Oncology (TO) Program Annual Retreat: Translational Oncology Aspects in Ophthalmology. Chicago, IL. Webinar August 12, 2021.
• ARVO CRC Webinar Workshop Meeting “Preparing for Partnering: Core Competencies”:Regulatory/Clinical Aspects. Webinar. August 18, 2021.
• BMT Infonet National GVHD Patient Summit. Your Eyes and Chronic GVHD. Chicago, IL October 12, 2019.
• ARVO Special Interest Group (SIG) meeting on Tear Biomarkers of Ocular Surface Diseases in the Clinic, Vancouver, Canada. May 2019.
• International Ocular Surface Society (IOSS) 22nd Annual Meeting. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and NET-associated proteins in the pathogenesis of ocular graft-versus-host-disease (oGVHD). Vancouver, Canada. April 27, 2019.
• Chicago Subspecialty Lecture Series: Clinical and Translational Aspects in ocular GVHD. Chicago, IL. Loyola University of Chicago. November 2018.
• ISER XXIII Biennial Meeting of the International Society for Eye Research. Sub-anticoagulant Dose Heparin Is a Potential Therapy for Inflammation and Ocular Surface Disease in Dry Eye and oGVHD. Belfast, UK, September 2018.
• UChicago Medicine Transplant Research Meeting. Ocular GVHD: Current Management. Chicago, IL. University of Chicago. July 2018.
• The 7th International Chronic Ocular Graft-vs-Host Disease Consensus Meeting. Ongoing Clinical Trials on Ocular GVHD, Honolulu, HI. April 2018.
• NIH Chronic GVHD Study Group Intramural Retreat. Neutrophils and NETs in Chronic Ocular GVHD. Bethesda, MD. February 2018.
• The Chronic GVHD Meeting: Intersecting Aspects in Systemic and Ocular Disease. Neutrophil and NETS in Chronic Ocular GVHD. Chicago, IL. October 2017.
• 7th Annual National GvHD Health Symposium. Translational and Clinical Research in Chronic Ocular GVHD. Meredith A. Cowden Foundation. Columbus, OH. October 2017.