The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, a nonprofit independent research institute, is located at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. Dedicated to research on human vision, it was founded to encourage a productive collaboration between the medical clinic and the scientific laboratory. Smith-Kettlewell's research staff, numbering some fifty professionals, is drawn from diverse scientific and medical backgrounds, including ophthalmology, neurology, experimental psychology, engineering, physics, optometry, biophysics and audiology. The accounting, secretarial and administrative personnel contribute another twenty individuals to Smith-Kettlewell's working staff. In addition, it supports several post-doctoral fellows annually and the combined laboratories may host as many as eight fellows in the various training programs.

The Institute occupies about 50,000 square feet of space in several buildings which hosts research supported by several Federal agencies, foundations and its own endowment income. Computers, optical systems, and electronic instruments are available for experimenters, and for data analysis. The Institute also possesses an SRI eye-tracker which is a special high-precision device for non-invasive measurements of eye movements. Core facilities include design engineering, computer programming, medical illustration, photography, and a well-equipped machine shop.

Smith-Kettlewell conducts research on many different topics, but its main interests are:

• Clinical studies which relate directly to the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases and disorders.
• The development of devices and vocational programs to aid the partially sighted, blind and hearing impaired - the major focus of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Research Center (RERC).
• Basic research to understand how the eye and brain work, providing a fundamental background for both the clinical and rehabilitation programs.