Kip Connor, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), was selected for a 2017 Young Mentor Award, which recognizes faculty who are in the early stages of their careers, and are dedicated mentors and educators. This award is one of three Excellence in Mentoring awards established by the Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership at HMS to recognize the value of quality mentoring relationships and the impact they have on professional development and career advancement in basic/clinical medicine, research, teaching, and administration. Each year, only 18 out of more than 18,000 HMS faculty members are honored with an award.
Previously, Dr. Connor received Harvard Medical School Excellence in Tutorial Awards for teaching faculty in 2008, 2013, and 2014. He was also nominated for an HMS Excellence in Mentoring Award in 2013.
“I have always considered mentorship to be an extremely important aspect of academic research, one I take very seriously,” Dr. Connor said. “One of my primary goals in running my laboratory is to support the next generation of scientists by preparing trainees for the next phase of their scientific careers through mentorship.”
Dr. Connor was a post-doctoral fellow and instructor at Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology and Boston Children’s Hospital from 2005 to 2010, before joining Massachusetts Eye and Ear in 2010. His research focuses on the role of immunity and inflammation on disease severity and duration in neovascular and neurodegenerative eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinal detachment.
A celebration to honor the Excellence in Mentoring Award recipients will be held at Harvard Medical School on Monday, June 12, 2017 from 4:00-6:00pm in the Carl Walter Amphitheater, Tosteson Medical Education Center. An informal reception will immediately follow the ceremony. Colleagues, mentees, staff, and friends are encouraged to attend.
Jason Comander, MD, PhD, Instructor in Ophthalmology at HMS, and Associate Director of the Inherited Retinal Disorders Service at Mass. Eye and Ear, was also nominated for a 2017 Young Mentor Award - an honor in itself.