Miguel González, MD, PhD, Research Fellow at Mass. Eye and Ear, and Hajirah Saeed, MD, Instructor in Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, are co-winners of the 2017 Claes Dohlman Fellowship Award.
This award recognizes outstanding fellows and junior faculty members who are training in the area of Cornea, Refractive Surgery, and External Diseases. They will receive these awards on November 11, 2017 at the Claes Dohlman Society Dinner during the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting.
Dr. González is a research fellow who works with Claes H. Dohlman, MD, PhD, as part of the keratoprosthesis group at Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass. Eye and Ear and Mass. Eye and Ear. As a clinician-scientist, his research focuses on developing new materials and new designs for the Boston Keratoprosthesis that could improve its biocompatibility and biointegration into corneal tissue. He evaluates its complications and develops new therapeutic and bioengineered approaches to improve the clinical results of this device.
Dr. Saeed is a full-time member of the Cornea and Refractive Surgery Service at Mass. Eye and Ear, who specializes in ocular surface disease and refractive surgery, with specialized expertise in burns, keratoprosthesis, ocular surface tumors, and pediatric cornea. As the inaugural Gliklich Innovation Scholar at Mass. Eye and Ear, she is developing a Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS)/toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) registry and bio-repository in order to investigate the immunopathogenesis and genetics of the disease. SJS/TEN is a rare, immune-mediated mucocutaneous disease with the potential for severe ocular complications including corneal blindness. She aims to identify genetic risk factors for developing this fatal and blinding disease and identify biomarkers to help detect early disease.