Dr. Michael A. Sandberg retires after 44 years of service

November 2, 2017
Dr. Michael A. Sandberg retires after 44 years of service

Michael A. Sandberg, PhD retired from Mass. Eye and Ear at the end of September.  Dr. Sandberg was recruited by Dr. Eliot Berson to the Berman-Gund Laboratory for the Study of Retinal Degenerations and the Electroretinography Service (now the Inherited Retinal Disorders Service) at Massachusetts Eye and Ear following his graduate training under Dr. Lorrin Riggs at Brown University in 1973. His 44-year tenure at Harvard Medical School/Mass. Eye and Ear was briefly interrupted while he pursued a post-doctoral fellowship under Dr. Edgar Auerbach at Hadassah University in Jerusalem.

Michael Sandberg sitting with Eliot Berson

Dr. Sandberg (left) with Dr. Eliot Berson

During his tenure at the Mass. Eye and Ear, Dr. Sandberg developed and maintained electroretinographic instrumentation to monitor focal and low-level retinal function. He also mentored numerous research and clinical fellows — some of whom brought their new skills and training back to their home countries to study and care for patients with inherited and other retinal disorders. Dr. Sandberg also has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and a dozen book chapters on topics related to patient management and to animal models of human retinal disease. He was principal investigator on studies of age-related macular degeneration, and was co-investigator on three randomized clinical trials that evaluated potential treatments for retinitis pigmentosa.

Dr. Sandberg and his wife Louise reside in Reading, Massachusetts. He is looking forward to continuing a number of his favorite activities in retirement, including writing a weekly science blog, screening patients for eye disease as a member of the Lions Clubs of Massachusetts, playing tennis, swimming, and being an active Freemason.