Dr. Ernest specializes in the medical problems of the retina, including diabetic retinopathy. He received his training at the University of Chicago, and has been chairman since 1985. Dr. Ernest is a comprehensive ophthalmologist caring for general medical and surgical eye problems.

An experimental study in animals by his group deals with the important circulatory phenomenon of autoregulation. Results from this study suggest that hyperglycemia per se impairs retinal vascular autoregulation. We speculate that, when tight blood glucose control is suddenly imposed on a person with chronic diabetes, the impaired retinal vascular autoregulation caused by the prolonged diabetic state may result in a sudden decrease in the retinal oxygen supply, producing areas of retinal infarction.