In late September 2026, Robotrak installed the Charis Adaptive Optics Multimodal Ophthalmic Imaging System for Animals at NYU Langone Health.
The system will support the retinal research program led by Dr. Dimitra Skondra, Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Ophthalmology, focusing on retinal disease mechanisms, advanced imaging, and translational ophthalmic research.
NYU Langone Health is a leading academic medical center in the United States. In September 2026, Vizient named NYU Langone the No. 1 comprehensive academic medical center for quality for the fifth consecutive year — the first health system to achieve this distinction.
Dr. Dimitra Skondra, MD, PhD, is the Terry and Mel Karmazin Endowed Professor of Ophthalmology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Ophthalmology at NYU Langone Health. A vitreoretinal specialist and translational researcher, her work spans retinal diseases, the gut–retina axis, and emerging diagnostic and therapeutic technologies.
Charis is a preclinical adaptive optics imaging platform designed for longitudinal in vivo retinal imaging in animal models. By combining adaptive optics with multiple imaging modalities, the system provides high-resolution observation of retinal microstructures, vascular changes, and cellular-level phenotypes over time within the same study subject.
In Dr. Skondra’s research on the gut–retina axis and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), Charis enables longitudinal documentation of retinal disease progression and treatment-related changes. These imaging findings can be integrated with microbiome and molecular biology data to explore relationships between systemic biological changes and retinal phenotypes.
The installation of Charis at NYU Langone Health represents another step in Robotrak’s collaboration with leading international research institutions in advancing adaptive optics imaging for retinal disease research and translational medicine.