Highlights from the Past Year

Our diverse and talented faculty are innovators in transformational research, clinical care, and medical education. Vision-saving treatments that were not previously available are now offering hope and sight to people around the world. Some exciting recent discoveries and achievements from our ophthalmology team include:

Harvard Ophthalmology Receives Champalimaud Award—Boasts Most Laureates to Date

In September, Claes H. Dohlman, MD, PhD, whose pioneering research at Harvard Ophthalmology and Mass Eye and Ear has forever changed the way conditions of the cornea are understood and treated, received the 2022 António Champalimaud Vision Award for his vast contributions to vision research.

Considered the “Nobel Prize of Vision,” the Champalimaud Vision Award, presented by the Portugal-based Champalimaud Foundation, is the highest distinction bestowed in ophthalmology and vision science.

Harvard Ophthalmology is the only ophthalmology department to receive the Champalimaud Award multiple times and boasts the most laureates to date.

Genetic Variant Associated with Alzheimer’s Disease may Protect Against Glaucoma

In a new study, scientists from Mass Eye and Ear and Brigham and Women’s Hospital were the first to examine the role of Galectin-3 in the development of glaucoma and show the value of inhibiting this molecule to prevent retinal ganglion cell death.

Future studies by this research team will look more closely at Galectin-3 inhibitors as treatments for glaucoma, testing them in additional animal models, as well as looking at more minimally invasive approaches of inhibitor delivery, such as oral administration or in a slow-release gel.

Surgeons Rebuild Damaged Corneas Using Patients’ Own Stem Cells

Surgeons at Mass Eye and Ear were the first in the United States to replace the eye surface of patients who each experienced chemical burns to one eye—by using their own stem cells taken from the other healthy eye—in a technique known as cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell transplantation (CALEC).

This novel technique was developed by researchers at Mass Eye and Ear, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Boston Children’s Hospital. This represents a big step for regenerative medicine and may pave the way for better care for patients with corneal blindness.

Mass Eye and Ear Leads the Nation in Ophthalmology Outcomes Reporting

Mass Eye and Ear leads the medical community in developing and implementing ophthalmology outcome measures in every subspecialty area—setting the standard for transparency, accountability, and continued quality improvement in the field. View the full report online. 

EYE Can Program

Inclusion, diversity, and equity are core values, central to our mission and culture. We are proud to have a faculty made up of over 50% women, with many serving in leadership roles, and we recognize the need to continue to diversify our department by taking steps to include all demographics underrepresented in medicine and science.

The EYE CAN program, envisioned by Ankoor Shah, MD, PhD; Alice Lorch, MD, MPH; and Joan W. Miller, MD, continues to diversify the pipeline of individuals interested in ophthalmology at every level of the professional development lifecycle, from school-aged children to faculty leaders. We are proud to promote inclusion, diversity, and equity.