Researchers, statisticians, mathematicians, accountants, possibly gamblers, and sometimes even politicians would agree with the statement that “numbers don’t lie,” but the lead researcher at Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) knows that numbers can be storytellers.

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Yi Pang, OD, PhD came to ICO to join the faculty after completing her OD degree at the New England College of Optometry and, prior to that, her PhD at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she studied Vision Science and Physiological Optics. “Research has always been so fascinating to me because of its power to generate new knowledge and drive meaningful innovation.” 

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Four years after joining the ICO faculty, Dr. Pang was promoted to be the head of research in 2009. “At that time, we only had a small research suite. Small, very small,” says Dr. Pang, laughing, “It had two lanes!” Fifteen years later, ICO opened the Dr. Newton K. Wesley Research Center, a leader in academic optometric research and a state-of-the-art facility.

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Numbers, and talking about them, are part of the story of how the Wesley Research Center came to be. When Dr. Pang started in her position as head of research, there were twenty to thirty research presentations given by ICO faculty or students annually. Dr. Pang hoped to increase those numbers, “I know that you have to do research before you can present and in order to do research, you must have space.” The question that Dr. Pang kept asking herself was, “How can we get space?”

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At the time, much of the research that came out of ICO was done in a tiny footprint of nine hundred square feet on the second floor adjacent to the campus bookstore. Space was so tight that clinical exam rooms had to double as storage units. Patients enrolled in studies would squeeze past equipment and file cabinets just to get to their exam chairs. As they looked across the room at the Snellen chart, there was loads of visual clutter patients had to contend with just to see that signature “E” across the room.

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“The faculty were practically touching noses!,” exclaims Dr. Pang as she recalled the tight quarters, “I knew we were in trouble, as there was just not enough space.” But as this was in the late 2010s, Dr. Pang read the writing on the wall, not the Snellen chart, and started to imagine that a physical bookstore might not be as important to campus culture in the years to come. 

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“I knew that we could triple the size of our current space,” stated Dr. Pang, who had a vision that as the bookstore contracted, research could expand into its space. She made a presentation to the board that included photos of their current cramped area from the patients’ point of view, just so they could see how tight things actually were. “We were told ‘no’ many times. Very fortunately, our President, Dr. Colip, has always been strongly supportive of research.” Seeds were being planted.

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Dr. Pang realized that in order for the research suite to get larger, it would have to be approved both internally by the administration and by the Board of Trustees. This is where numbers were used in service to accomplish the goal of growing research at ICO, both space-wise and in dollars and cents. “We were bringing in a lot of research grants to the college,” says Dr. Pang, “so we started there.”

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“Research needs accurate, high-quality accommodations. With the support of President Colip and his PAC members, and all the hard work of faculty, there was a growing demand for what we could provide. Donations were coming in to support students doing research. If we had more, we could do more.” 

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Then came a pivotal gift in the effort to expand research. “Half of the cost of building out the space to transform it from a bookstore into the research center we have today came from the Wesley family,” in grant form. The Dr. Newton K. Wesley Research Center officially opened its doors in January of 2024, tripling the research footprint at ICO. The school culture that increasingly understood and valued what research could accomplish had a new home on campus.

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In 2008, just before Dr. Pang was promoted to lead research efforts at ICO, there were six student research presentations in national meetings. Last year, that number more than quadrupled to twenty-eight student research presentations. Faculty presentations saw a leap from twenty-eight to one hundred eighteen total in that same time period. 

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“This is teamwork,” says Dr. Pang, “The volume of research we are conducting could not expand without the faculty and students we have here. Everyone contributes. All of our Vice Presidents in administration support research. This is not a one-person job. Our external funding research grants have grown over nineteen times in size since 2018!” Dr. Pang’s passion and enthusiasm are undeniable, as is the culture shift within ICO that nurtures and encourages this degree of growth. 

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These numbers tell the story that Dr. Pang always knew was possible at ICO. “There is a ripple effect to research,” says Dr. Pang, “If I teach one student, that student can go on to teach twenty students, and they go on to teach many more. The numbers cannot be quantified, but they speak for themselves.”

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With a dedicated staff of just two, The Wesley Research Center has transformed the research possibilities that are within reach for ICO. “Elyse Nylin and Jessica Martinez are my superheroes,” says Dr. Pang of the small but mighty research staff. This streamlined approach is by design, as is the flexibility of the space itself. 

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Ms. Nylin, Manager of the Wesley Research Center, has been in the position since it opened. “The number of studies we can accommodate has increased based on the flexibility of our space. The increased interest from students, faculty, and industry has been overwhelming,” she says. That interest is “sparked” as Ms. Nylin calls it, from the moment prospective students step foot on campus and have their first interviews, as the Welcome Center is located just across the hall, “Because of our visibility, students know, even before they enroll, that research is a part of life here at ICO.”

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Since opening in early 2024, over sixty research studies have been completed in the Wesley Research Center, with many more in varying stages of completion or planning. 

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It is hard to ignore the impact the growth of research has had on ICO. As recently as 2018, the annual research fund totaled out at just under $61,000. Last year, that total was over $1.2 million. Those numbers tell a story, and it is a story about generosity, innovation, collaboration, possibilities and opportunities, best practices, relationships, passion, hard work, flexibility, responsiveness, and vision, both literal and figurative. “The demand is there,” says Dr. Pang, “this is teamwork in action. This volume of research could not continue to expand without the faculty and students, the administration, and the Business Department. Everyone contributes.”

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“ Half of the cost of building out the space to transform it from a bookstore into the research center we have today came from the Wesley family.”​

– Yi Pang, OD, PhD.