Highlights from the 2025 Annual Meeting and Alumni Reunion

Harvard Ophthalmology hosted its 2025 Annual Meeting and Alumni Reunion on June 12 and 13. The two-day event featured faculty and alumni lectures; a reception for Joan W. Miller, MD, in recognition of her nearly 22 years as Chair of Ophthalmology at Mass Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School; four award presentations; a poster contest; gala dinner; and special lectures on our exciting programs to expand the ophthalmology talent pipeline. The event was co-chaired by Dr. Miller, and faculty members Joseph B. Ciolino, MD; Eric Gaier, MD, PhD; Rachel Huckfeldt, MD, PhD, and Joseph F. Rizzo III, MD.

Mariana Dieste Mead Lecture

Alumnus Jan A. Kylstra, MD, a former Chief Resident and former Lecturer on Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), presented the 2025 Mariana Dieste Mead lecture. Dr. Kylstra, a retinal specialist and outstanding educator, reflected on his career journey—completing his training at Mass Eye and Ear, establishing his academic career at the University of North Carolina and the University of South Carolina, and then returning to Mass Eye and Ear—highlighting his ability to adapt to change along the way.

This lecture was created to honor the memory of Dr. Mariana Dieste Mead, a distinguished ophthalmologist who trained and worked at Harvard Ophthalmology and Mass Eye and Ear before her passing in 2002. 

Faculty Presentations and Program Updates

The Annual Meeting portion of the event featured 11 faculty lectures and presentations on a range of topics, including the psychosocial perspective on the impact of vision loss, using genetics in the glaucoma clinic, new advances in treating antibiotic-resistant infections, and the latest treatments for dry eye disease. 

Silas Wang, MD, Co-Director of the Harvard Ophthalmology Research Scholars Program, provided an overview of the summer program, now entering its fifth year. The program offers rising second- and third-year medical students an immersive eight-week experience in ophthalmology at Mass Eye and Ear and creates opportunities for each student to build a competitive application for ophthalmology residency. Following this, Dr. Cherrell Price, MS, MD, a member of the 2021 Summer Scholars class, shared her personal experience and how the program has positively impacted her career. We were also excited to welcome several current and former Research Scholars at the Annual Meeting and Alumni Reunion.

Edward S. (Ned) Lu, MD, a rising PGY-4 ophthalmology resident, also shared an update on the Harvard Retinal Imaging Laboratory Undergraduate Mentoring Program, which offers early ophthalmology exposure to premedical students at Harvard College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Boston University. 

Celebrating Joan W. Miller, MD

On Thursday evening, Mass Eye and Ear hosted a special reception to celebrate Dr. Miller and her exceptional contributions as both a clinician scientist and Chair of Ophthalmology at HMS and Mass Eye and Ear. More than 300 faculty, alumni, staff, trustees, patients, family, and friends attended the celebration. The event was emceed by Mass Eye and Ear President CarolAnn Williams, and featured several speakers, including Dr. Miller’s daughter, Mary Miller, a partner at the law firm Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP; Julia Haller, MD, Chair of Ophthalmology at Sidney Kimmel Medical College and Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at Wills Eye Hospital; Janey Wiggs, MD, PhD, the Paul Austin Chandler Professor of Ophthalmology at HMS and Associate Chief of Ophthalmology Clinical Research at Mass Eye and Ear; Alice Lorch, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at HMS and Associate Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Mass General Hospital and Mass Eye and Ear; and David Brown, MD, President of Academic Medical Centers at Mass General Brigham. 

Dr. Miller has served as Chair for nearly 22 years, and under her leadership the department has expanded, built an inclusive and innovative culture, and advanced its research and educational programs. Dr. Miller is also a globally renowned expert in retinal diseases, particularly age-related macular degeneration (AMD). She and her team at Mass Eye and Ear and Harvard Ophthalmology pioneered the development photodynamic therapy with verteporfin (Visudyne®), the first drug approved to slow and reduce vision loss in AMD patients. Their research also uncovered the crucial role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in abnormal blood vessel growth in the eye, paving the way for anti-VEGF treatments that are now used worldwide by millions of people. 

Alumni Reunion and Achievement Award Lectures

The Alumni Reunion program included alumni presentations from representatives of ten graduating classes and three Achievement Award lectures.

Faculty member Constance Cepko, PhD, the Bullard Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience and Professor of Ophthalmology at HMS, presented the 2025 Distinguished Research Achievement Award lecture. Dr. Cepko has made significant scientific contributions throughout her career, including designing some of the earliest retroviral vectors for gene insertion into cells. More recently, she has been a pioneer in gene-agnostic strategies for treating inherited retinal degenerations, and her groundbreaking work continues to push forward the frontiers of retinal disease therapy.

Faculty member and alumnus Joseph F. Rizzo III, MD, the Simmons Lessell Professor of Ophthalmology at HMS and Director of the Neuro-Ophthalmology Service at Mass Eye and Ear, presented the 2025 Distinguished Clinical Achievement Award lecture. An accomplished clinician-scientist, Dr. Rizzo attracts patients worldwide seeking treatment for complex neuro-ophthalmic conditions. He continues to advance the field with significant discoveries, including identifying a link between GLP-1 agonists and an increased risk of optic neuropathy.

Faculty member Luk Vandenberghe, PhD, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and the Grousbeck Family Chair in Gene Therapy and Director of the Grousbeck Gene Therapy Center at Mass Eye and Ear, presented the Distinguished Innovator Award lecture. Dr. Vandenberghe joined our department in 2012 and established a leading viral vector program for gene-based therapies at Mass Eye and Ear. In addition to his incredible work at Mass Eye and Ear, he has also been highly successful in the industry and innovation sphere, including developing viral vector and gene therapy technology currently used in more than 20 clinical programs, founding several for-profit gene therapy startups: Affinia Therapeutics; GenSight Biologics; Akouos; and Ciendias Bio, and one non-profit biotech company, Odylia Therapeutics. He has also had successful partnerships with GSK, Novartis, Lonza, and numerous small biotech companies.

Trainee Poster Contest

On Friday evening, attendees gathered at The Newbury hotel for our annual Trainee Poster Contest, reception, and gala dinner. Thank you to Poster Contest judges Inas Aboobakar, MD; Mohammad Dahrouj, MD, PhD; Patrcia D'Amore, MD, MBA; Marcela Garita-Hernandez, PharmD, PhD; Thomas Dohlman, MD; Katie Luo, MD, PhD; Elizabeth Rossin, MD, PhD; Nurhan Torun, MD; and Menglu Yang, MD, PhD, and thank you to all our 57 trainees for your participation.

Drs. Eric Gaier and Rachel Huckfeldt announced the Poster Contest winners. Congratulations to:

• Hannah Rana, PhD, a research fellow at Schepens Eye Research Institute, of Mass Eye and Ear, for her poster, Retinal Encoding Using a Difference of Gaussians Filter: Advancing Spiking Neural Networks for Inspiring Retinal Prosthetics for Human Vision Restoration
• Meenakshi Maurya, MSc, PhD, a research fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital, for her poster, Genetic Deletion of REV-ERBα Regulates Retinal Mitochondrial Metabolism and Age-related Synaptic Remodeling in Mice
• Haemin Kang, MD, PhD, MPH, a research fellow at Mass Eye and Ear, for her poster, Metabolic Signatures of Multiple Dietary Patterns and Their Association With Age-related Macular Degeneration
• Muhammad Abidi, a student at Harvard Medical School, for his poster, Cost Savings of the FIRST-ROP and TWO-ROP Algorithms - Eliminating Initial Screening Examinations for Retinopathy of Prematurity in Medium- and Low-Risk Cohorts
• Angelica Piccini, a research fellow at Mass Eye and Ear, for her poster, Infectious Keratitis in the Pediatric Population at a Tertiary Referral Center
• John Fallon, a research assistant at Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear, for his poster, Ocular Surface Mast Cells Contribute to Injury-induced Neuroinflammation
• Liangju Kuang, PhD, a research fellow at Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear, for her poster, Mucoadhesive Micellar Eyedrops for the Treatment of Ocular Inflammation
• Hui-Chen Cheng, MD, PhD, a visiting research scholar at Mass Eye and Ear, for her poster, Gene Therapy Rescues Visual Function in Familial Dysautonomia Associated Optic Neuropathy
• James Harris, MD, PhD, a PGY-4 ophthalmology resident, for his poster, The Immune System in Health and Glaucoma

Save the Date for 2026

Thank you to all our event organizers, speakers, honorees, and attendees for such a terrific event. Please save the date for our 2026 Annual Meeting and Alumni Reunion on Thursday and Friday, June 11 and 12, 2026.