The title of ARVO Fellow is an honor established to recognize current ARVO members for their individual accomplishments, leadership and contributions to the Association. ARVO Fellows serve as role models and mentors for individuals pursuing careers in vision and ophthalmology research and help further ARVO's vision, which includes advancing basic and clinical knowledge and serving as the leading international forum for vision research and the primary advocate for vision science worldwide. In 2017, two HMS Ophthalmology faculty members, one former faculty member, and several...

Boston, Mass. — Ula V. Jurkunas, MD, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, Associate Scientist at Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass. Eye and Ear, and a resident of Winchester, Mass., has been selected to receive a 2017 ARVO Foundation/Pfizer Ophthalmics Carl Camras Translational Research Award. Supported through a donation from Pfizer Ophthalmics, the award includes a $12,000 scholarship in support of Dr....

New research by Larry Benowitz, PhD, and colleagues shows how zinc regulates the survival of retinal ganglion cells, and by binding it (zinc chelation), can help the optic nerve to regenerate. Their findings, published in PNAS (January, 2017), could potentially lead to therapies that help patients with optic nerve injuries due to trauma, glaucoma or other causes, including spinal cord injury....

Jennifer K. Sun, MD, MPH, has been selected to become the 4th National Chair of the world-renowned Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network (DRCR.net), one of the most prestigious positions for a clinical researcher in...

Eric Ng, PhD, and ...

As part of the National Eye Institute Audacious Goals Initiative, the National Institutes of Health awarded $12.4 million to six research teams to identify biological factors that affect neural regeneration in the retina. Larry Benowitz, PhD, Boston Children’s Hospital, and colleagues at Stanford University and the Scripps Research Institute, received funding to support their research toward the molecular discovery of optic nerve injury. By...

Boston, Mass. — Researchers from Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear have uncovered two factors responsible for the chronic, lifelong nature of autoimmune disorders, which tend to “flare up” intermittently in affected patients. These two factors are cell-signaling proteins called cytokines—specifically Interleukin-7 and -15 (IL-7 and IL-15)—that are secreted by cells of the immune system and help modulate memory Th17 cells, a subset of T cells which are known to contribute to autoimmune disorders. Until now, it was unclear how Th17 cells...

Boston, Mass. — Luk H. Vandenberghe, PhD, Director of the Grousbeck Gene Therapy Center at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, has been awarded a Nelson Trust Award for Retinitis Pigmentosa by Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) in the amount of $100,000 over two years. The Nelson Trust Award was established to stimulate, strengthen and accelerate research to improve...

Information for this release was provided by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

Rockville, Md. — Vision scientists may have discovered how to reduce pedestrian collisions in crowded and chaotic open space environments like bus terminals, shopping malls and city plazas involving individuals with partial blindness. Researchers have determined from which direction collisions with partially blind pedestrians are most likely to originate. This understanding will guide the development of new glasses that expand the sight of a person...

Boston, Mass. — Massachusetts Eye and Ear recently opened the Center for Thyroid Eye Disease and Orbital Surgery, a multidisciplinary initiative to address complex conditions affecting the eye sockets, including orbital tumors and thyroid eye disease. Led by world-renowned experts with...

Amy Watts, OD, received the 2016 Norman Knight Leadership Development Award in Ophthalmology. This award provides important financial support for promising young physicians.

Expanded Mass. Eye and Ear’s Optometry and Contact Lens Service

The service has more than tripled in size under her leadership. It includes nine optometrists across the main campus and Longwood, Stoneham, and Waltham outpatient offices. It has expanded to...

Leo Kim, MD, PhD, received a grant from the E. Matilda Ziegler Foundation for the Blind, Inc. in the amount of $80,000 over three years for his project studying Runx1 in retinal neovascularization. He is working on this project in collaboration with Joseph Arboleda-Velasquez, MD, PhD.

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As part of the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR) Emerging Vision Scientists Program, Petr Baranov, MD, PhD, Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass. Eye and Ear, met with Congress members and their legislators on September 14, 2016 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to advocate for vision research.  

The major topic for this year’s event was potential treatments for age-...

Lloyd Paul Aiello, MD, PhD, presented the Inaugural Kresge Eye Institute Robert N. Frank Clinical Translational Lecture, "From the Edges to the Depths of the Retina: Changing the Care of Diabetic Eye Disease through Translational Research & Advanced Retinal Imaging," on October 28, 2016 at the 3rd Annual Vision Research Day at Wayne State Medical School in Detroit, MI.  

Ambika Hoguet, MD, received a Mentoring for the Advancement of...

On October 15-18, 2016 (with subspecialty days from October 14-15), the world’s largest association of eye physicians and surgeons met in Chicago for the 2016 American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting. Harvard Ophthalmology was well-represented, with more than 40 faculty members presenting lectures; moderating sessions; and instructing workshops, laboratory sessions, and courses on subspecialty topics. At the annual Harvard Ophthalmology Alumni Reception, held Sunday, nearly 200 alumni, friends, faculty, and trainees gathered for an evening of networking, socializing, and...