February 2014
NEWS | HONORS, AWARDS & GRANTS | PHILANTHROPY | PRESS | RECENT PUBLICATIONS | CALENDAR
Welcome to our February edition of Eye News. I hope everyone is keeping warm during this snow-laden winter!
As you know, philanthropy is a critical source of department funding and goes to support many of our mission objectives. Beginning with this issue, we’ll include a select list of these gifts each month in a new Philanthropy section. It’s nice to acknowledge our supporters, keep our faculty apprised, and highlight some of the great work going on throughout the department.
I also want to remind everyone that our faculty retreat is just around the corner. We’ve made great headway over the year and we’ll hear updates from across the Department, including from our Center of Excellence Directors and HMS Vice Chairs. We also have a new HMS Department of Ophthalmology Institute to introduce, which we’ll learn more about from Mike Gilmore. Also joining us is guest speaker, Daniel Shapiro, PhD, Founder & Director of the Harvard International Negotiation Program, who will lead a discussion on negotiation and conflict resolution.
It’s shaping up to be a great two days of exchange and I look forward to seeing everyone there.
Joan W. Miller, MD, FARVO
Henry Willard Williams Professor of Ophthalmology
Chair, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School
Chief of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and
Massachusetts General Hospital
HMS Ophthalmology News
Attention researchers! Don’t miss out on HMS Foundation Funds. Information on funding opportunities offered through the HMS Foundation Funds will be available online beginning February 19 at www.hms.harvard.edu/foundationfunds. Each year several foundations invite HMS junior faculty members and postdocs to apply for their fellowships and grants, which serve as critical funding at the early stages of a research career. The Department of Ophthalmology Nominations Committee, led by Pat D’Amore, will oversee initial selection of candidates to HMS with a limit of 1 to 3 candidates per award. If you would like to apply for one of these awards, please send Erin Long (erin_long@meei.harvard.edu) a one-page Letter of Intent indicating (1) which award you would like to apply for (2) project background, (3) specific project goals, and (4) a Biosketch. Please send your letter by February 28, 2014 at 5:00pm. Late Letters of Intent will not be accepted. You will be notified the following week if you have been selected to prepare a full grant to meet the April 1, 2014 HMS deadline.
The Biomedical Science Careers Program (BSCP) is seeking faculty members to serve as advisors for the 12th Biomedical Science Careers Student Conference, which will take place at the Westin Copley Place on Saturday, April 5, 2014 from 7:45 am to 1:00 pm. Students in attendance will include postdoctoral fellows; medical, dental and graduate students; post-baccalaureates; college and community college students; and high school juniors and seniors (particularly African-American, Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native individuals). Student advisors will be responsible for two to four students. The founding sponsors of BSCP are the Harvard Medical School Minority Faculty Development Program, the New England Board of Higher Education and the Massachusetts Medical Society. Please contact Hollie Borek DeSilva if you are interested in volunteering for this program, hollie_desilva@hms.harvard.edu or call 617-432-1133.
Louis Pasquale is serving as the Massachusetts spokesperson for World Glaucoma Awareness Week. The campaign “BIG – Beat Invisible Glaucoma,” runs from March 9-15, 2014.
Roberto Pineda II and Sherleen Chen served as Associate Editors on the 2nd edition (2014) of The Essentials of Cataract Surgery, scheduled for release in April at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting in Boston. Bonnie An Henderson, former Director of Comprehensive Ophthalmology and Cataract Consultation at Mass. Eye and Ear, is the Editor of the book.
HMS Faculty Updates
Promotions:
Matt Gardiner, Associate Medical Director of Ophthalmology Quality and Outcomes, Mass. Eye and Ear
New Recruits:
Intermediate resident Kat Talcott will become Chief Resident and Director of the Trauma Service for the 2015-2016 academic year, following Alice Lorch, who starts this July.
With the recruitment of retina specialists Magdalena Krzystolik and her partner, Paul B. Greenberg, we are extending our network into southern Massachusetts and crossing the border into Rhode Island in acquiring the assets of their busy retina practice, based in Plainville, MA and Providence, RI. Magda completed her residency, chief residency, and fellowship at Mass. Eye and Ear, following her medical school education at the University of Chicago. Magda will remain site director of Mass. Eye and Ear Southern New England Retina Associates, which will be formally launched when all the necessary licenses and arrangements are in place. Paul completed his medical school training at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, his residency at Tulane University, and his fellowship in medical retina at New England Eye Center, Tufts University. Paul is now the Chief of Ophthalmology at the Providence VA Medical Center and Associate Program Director at Alpert Medical School, Brown University.
Ambika Sud Hoguet also will be joining the faculty this fall. Ambika is finishing her Glaucoma fellowship training at Bascom Palmer this summer. Previously, she obtained her medical degree from Duke, worked with Janey Wiggs as a research fellow, and completed her residency at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, where she was chief resident. Ambika has garnered awards for scholarship and research, including a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Training Fellowship and undergraduate Phi Beta Kappa at Stanford University.
Long-time colleague Michael Pinnolis, MD, will soon join the Retina Service and Mass. Eye and Ear Retina Consultants in Stoneham on a part-time basis. Michael has been with Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates through several corporate name changes dating back to 1982, where he has practiced and served in several leadership roles including Executive Vice President for the Clinical Practice, Chief of Healthcare Improvement, and Director of Central Surgical Specialties. He attended Tulane University Medical School, and completed his residency at Stanford University, followed by his retina fellowship at Mass. Eye and Ear. He is a highly accomplished and talented physician, and we welcome him to the group working at Woodland Road with Deeba Husain, Dean Eliott, Leo Kim, and Jason Comander.
Honors, Awards & Grants
According to Expertscape, Lloyd P. Aiello, the Beetham Eye Institute, and the Joslin Diabetes Center are individual and institutional specialists ranking in the top 3 in the world for research and treatment of diabetic retinopathy.
Peggy Chang was appointed to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Registry Measure Development Workgroup. A recent focus of this group has been the creation of the AAO’s new IRIS™ Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight), the world's first comprehensive eye disease clinical registry.
More than 223 employees were recognized for their years of service at a recent breakfast held at Mass. Eye and Ear. Claes Dohlman was lauded for his 55 years at the hospital, and Eliot Berson was honored for 45 years. Thanks to the many Mass. Eye and Ear Ophthalmology employees who have reached 5, 10, 15, 20 or more years of service.
Eric Pierce was awarded $545,000 by Novartis for his project entitled, “The Role of Complement in an Inherited Macular Degeneration: in vivo and in vitro models.” He also received an award of $315,000 from the Foundation for Retinal Research and the Gavin R. Stevens Foundation for his project, “Gene Therapy for NMNAT 1 LCA.”
Paolo Silva was recently recognized by Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III with The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award for Medicine. The TOYM Award was established in 1959 and is widely recognized as the Philippines’ most prestigious award for young men and women who have excelled in their respective fields and have significantly contributed to the welfare and development of the Philippines and the Filipino people.
The HMS Department of Ophthalmology received a Research to Prevent Blindness Innovative Ophthalmic Research Award on behalf of Joshua R. Sanes of Harvard University Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. The $100,000 award will support Dr. Sanes’ research collaboration with Demetrios Vavvas for the project “Molecular Basis of Age-related Synaptic Alterations in Outer Retina.”
Janey Wiggs was appointed to the Research to Prevent Blindness Scientific Advisory Panel.
Philanthropy
Trustee Chris Snook and Susan Stoddart for gene therapy research ($100,000) led by Eric Pierce, and stem cell research ($100,000) led by Reza Dana and Ula Jurkunas
Dr. Ralph & Marian Falk Medical Research Trust for cornea research led by Reza Dana, Ula Jurkunas, Pedram Hamrah, and James Chodosh ($200,000)
American Macular Degeneration Foundation for AMD research directed by Neena Haider ($150,000)
Grimshaw-Gudewicz Charitable Foundation for general support of AMD research ($140,000)
Estate of Merrill Goldwyn for general support of eye research ($132,000)
Estate of Robert Chase for retina research and general Schepens support ($104,400)
Press
Roberto Pineda was recently featured on the SiriusXM Satellite Radio show, “Doctor Radio” (Ch. 81) for a segment on cataract and refractive surgery.
What determines the perceived contrast of an image? (Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 2014) Authored by Andrew Haun and Eli Peli, this article was highlighted in the latest issue of Attention, Perception & Psychophysics. This is the fourth paper in 2013 from the Peli Laboratory selected for distinction. The other papers have been noted in Translational Vision Science & Technology, JAMA Ophthalmology and the Journal of Vision.
Postmenopausal Estrogen Therapy Tied to Lower Glaucoma Risk: January 31, 2014 (HealthDay). Women who take estrogen-only hormone-replacement therapy to relieve menopausal symptoms might also be reducing their risk for a common form of the eye disease glaucoma. Angela Turalba weighed in on the paper published online January 30 in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology. Louis Pasquale is an author on this work.
New Insight on the Genetics of Glaucoma: February 5, 2014 (Academy Express)
Appearing in Ophthalmology in February 2014, this paper by Louis Pasquale, Janey Wiggs and co-authors was recently highlighted in AAO’s Academy Express membership communication. The paper assesses the association between CAV1/CAV2 single nucleotide polymorphisms and POAG in a large case-control dataset and explores the associations by gender and pattern of visual field loss.
Visual Plasticity: Even after Extended Early Blindness, Visual Function Can be Retained: February 11, 2014 (Harvard Medical School website) Researchers in the Bex Laboratory working with Project Prakash, a joint scientific and humanitarian effort led by MIT Professor, Pawan Sinha, have challenged a long-standing theory that deprivation of vision during critical periods of childhood development results in irreversible vision loss. By studying a unique population of pediatric patients who were blind during these critical periods from bilateral cataracts and then had the cataracts removed, the group has found improvement after sight onset in contrast sensitivity tests. The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA early edition. Peter Bex, senior author on the work, weighed in on their positive findings.
Innovative Contact Lens Delivers Glaucoma Medication Continuously for a Month: February 13, 2014 (WBZ-TV Channel 4 Boston). Joseph Ciolino appeared on the evening news broadcast as part of a report covering major medical advances from Boston hospitals.
Recent Publications
(JANUARY 2014)
Adini I, Ghosh K, Adini A, Chi ZL, Yoshimura T, Benny O, Connor KM, Rogers MS, Bazinet L, Birsner AE, Bielenberg DR, D'Amato RJ. Melanocyte-secreted fibromodulin promotes an angiogenic microenvironment. The Journal of Clinical Investigation – 2014 January 2
Aiello LP; DCCT/EDIC Research Group. Diabetic retinopathy and other ocular findings in the diabetes control and complications trial/epidemiology of diabetes interventions and complications study. Diabetes Care – 2014 January
Alasil T, Wang K, Yu F, Field MG, Lee H, Baniasadi N, de Boer JF, Coleman AL, Chen TC. Correlation of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and visual fields in glaucoma: A broken stick model. American Journal of Ophthalmology – 2014 January 29
Amparo F, Jin Y, Hamrah P, Schaumberg DA, Dana R. What is the value of incorporating tear osmolarity measurement in assessing patient response to therapy in dry eye disease? American Journal of Ophthalmology – 2014 January
Andreoli MT, Yiu G, Hart L, Andreoli CM. B-scan ultrasonography following open globe repair. Eye – 2014 January 10.
Cade F, Paschalis EI, Regatieri CV, Vavvas DG, Dana R, Dohlman CH. Alkali burn to the eye: Protection using TNF-α inhibition. Cornea – 2014 January 30
Chauhan SK, Saban DR, Dohlman TH, Dana R. CCL-21 conditioned regulatory T cells Induce allotolerance through enhanced homing to lymphoid tissue. The Journal of Immunology – 2014 January 15
Chen Y, Chauhan SK, Lee HS, Saban DR, Dana R. Chronic dry eye disease is principally mediated by effector memory Th17 cells. Mucosal Immunology – 2014 January
Ciolino JB, Stefanescu CF, Ross AE, Salvador-Culla B, Cortez P, Ford EM, Wymbs KA, Sprague SL, Mascoop DR, Rudina SS, Trauger SA, Cade F, Kohane DS. In vivo performance of a drug-eluting contact lens to treat glaucoma for a month. Biomaterials – January 2014
Jackson ML, Bex PJ, Ellison JM, Wicks P, Wallis J. Feasibility of a web-based survey of hallucinations and assessment of visual function in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Interactive Journal of Medical Research – 2014 January-March
Jung JH, Peli E. Impact of high power and angle of incidence on prism corrections for visual field loss. Optical Engineering– 2014 January
Lei H, Kazlauskas A. A reactive oxygen species-mediated, self-perpetuating loop persistently activates platelet-derived growth factor receptor α. Molecular and Cellular Biology – 2014 January
Newman-Casey PA, Talwar N, Nan B, Musch DC, Pasquale LR, Stein JD. The potential association between postmenopausal hormone use and primary open-angle glaucoma. JAMA Ophthalmology – January 30
Ozel AB, Moroi SE, Reed DM, Nika M, Schmidt CM, Akbari S, Scott K, Rozsa F, Pawar H, Musch DC, Lichter PR, Gaasterland D, Branham K, Gilbert J, Garnai SJ, Chen W, Othman M, Heckenlively J, Swaroop A, Abecasis G, Friedman DS, Zack D, Ashley-Koch A, Ulmer M, Kang JH; NEIGHBOR Consortium, Liu Y, Yaspan BL, Haines J, Allingham RR, Hauser MA, Pasquale L, Wiggs J, Richards JE, Li JZ. Genome-wide association study and meta-analysis of intraocular pressure. Human Genetics – 2014 January
Sethi RV, Shih HA, Yeap BY, Mouw KW, Petersen R, Kim DY, Munzenrider JE, Grabowski E, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Yock TI, Tarbell NJ, Marcus KJ, Mukai S, Macdonald SM. Second nonocular tumors among survivors of retinoblastoma treated with contemporary photon and proton radiotherapy. Cancer – 2014 January
Stryjewski TP, Andreoli CM, Eliott D. Retinal detachment after open globe injury. Ophthalmology – 2014 January
Turalba AV, Shah AS, Andreoli MT, Andreoli CM, Rhee DJ. Predictors and outcomes of ocular hypertension after open-globe injury. Journal of Glaucoma – 2014 January
Wallis TS, Taylor CP, Wallis J, Jackson ML, Bex PJ. Characterization of field loss based on microperimetry is predictive of face recognition difficulties. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science – 2014 January