Glaucoma and Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) are two leading causes of blindness in persons over the ages of 40-60. By 2020, 76 million people are projected to have Glaucoma, while 196 million are projected for AMD worldwide. Current standard-of-care approaches to glaucoma and AMD diagnosis and management are limited and are based on detecting loss of vision early and on therapeutic strategies that do not work in all patients. Thus, there is a critical need for technologies that can be used for early diagnosis and that can advance therapeutic strategies such as stem cell-based therapies to halt or reverse vision loss. Here, we will discuss two types of evolving nanotechnologies to advance the field of ophthalmology: 1) a platform for tracking axonal pathways in the eye and that can be used for early diagnosis of glaucoma and 2) a nanoparticle-based tool to advance research in stem cell-based therapies. We will discuss the design approaches to the development of these nanotechnologies that are integral for both areas in ophthalmology. Studies showing that these platforms are biocompatible and can be tailored for enhanced uptake in specific cells found in the eye will be presented. Without these types of technologies, we will not be able to detect early changes in the eye in patients with glaucoma and the development of stem cell-based therapeutics will continue to be significantly hindered.