Joan W. Miller, MD, Receives Mass Eye and Ear Lifetime Achievement Award
At Mass Eye and Ear’s 200th Anniversary Gala earlier this month, Joan W. Miller, MD, Chair of Harvard Ophthalmology received the hospital’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her exceptional contributions as both a clinician scientist and Chair of Ophthalmology.
Dr. Miller has served as Chair of Ophthalmology at Mass Eye and Ear and Chair of Harvard Ophthalmology for 21 years, and under her leadership the department has expanded, built an inclusive and innovative culture, and advanced its research and educational programs.
During Dr. Miller's tenure as Chair, clinical growth has been unprecedented, and, at Mass Eye and Ear alone, the ophthalmology faculty has grown from 35 physicians in 2003 to 91 physicians and 18 optometrists. Dr. Miller also established the department as a national leader in quality and outcomes and expanded our acclaimed training program to include additional residents and several new fellowship programs.
Dr. Miller was instrumental in Mass Eye and Ear combining with the Schepens Eye Research Institute, resulting in the development of one of the world’s preeminent ophthalmology research groups. She was also the driving force behind the development of the Ocular Genomics Institute, recruiting Eric Pierce, MD, PhD, and Luk Vandenberghe, PhD, to build a team that has led to key advances in gene-based therapies to treat eye diseases, including performing the first FDA-approved gene therapy administration for any inherited disease and a groundbreaking clinical trial of CRISPR gene editing for the treatment of Leber Congenital Amaurosis
More recently, Dr. Miller has made significant advances in the use of clinical data science, establishing the Clinical Data Science Institute, which leverages big data to build stronger health profiles and predictive models in order to improve the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases.
Dr. Miller is also an internationally recognized expert on retinal disorders, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Over the last two decades, she and her colleagues at Mass Eye and Ear and Harvard Ophthalmology pioneered the development of photodynamic therapy using verteporfin (Visudyne®), the first approved pharmacological therapy able to reduce and slow vision loss in patients with AMD. The group also identified the key role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in ocular neovascularization, leading to the development of anti-VEGF therapies now administered to millions of children and adults with sight-threatening retinal diseases annually around the world.
In 2003, Dr. Miller became the first female physician to achieve the rank of Professor of Ophthalmology at HMS, and the first woman to serve as Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology. She is also the first woman appointed as Chair of Ophthalmology at both Mass Eye and Ear and Mass General Hospital.
Dr. Miller has authored more than 200 original research articles and nearly 80 book chapters, review articles, or editorials. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the Academia Ophthalmologica lnternationalis, and the Dowling Society, as well as a Gold Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). Among her numerous honors, Dr. Miller delivered the 2012 Edward Jackson Lecture for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and was a co-recipient of the 2014 António Champalimaud Vision Award, the highest distinction in ophthalmology and visual science. In 2015, she became the first woman to receive the Mildred Weisenfeld Award for Excellence in Ophthalmology from ARVO; in 2018, she became the first woman awarded the Charles L. Schepens Award from AAO. Dr.Miller has also been awarded the 2018 Lucien Howe Medal from the American Ophthalmological Society and the 2018 Gertrude D. Pyron Award from American Society of Retinal Surgeons.