Ula Jurkunas, MD, Promoted to Professor of Ophthalmology
Dr. Jurkunas' groundbreaking research in Fuchs’ dystrophy has significantly advanced our understanding of its pathogenesis and established the direction corneal research has taken to develop molecular targets for a disease previously regarded as only treatable by surgical intervention. As a K12 scholar, she was able to develop the fist in vivo model for the study of late-onset Fuchs’ dystrophy. Ula and her team also found that that lifelong accumulation of oxidative DNA damage leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and subsequent cell death in the tissue of the corneal endothelium. More recently, Dr. Jurkunas' research uncovered a novel pathway for Fuchs’, where ultraviolet light causes increased expression of an enzyme called CYP1B1 that jumpstarts an estrogen metabolite pathway that ultimately causes DNA damage; thus shedding the light on the mechanism behind the greater prevalence of Fuchs’ dystrophy in females. These studies are significant in understanding the key regulators of antioxidant defense and oxidative stress-induced cellular damage and may facilitate development of pharmacotherapeutic treatment for patients with the disease.
Another area of Dr. Jurkunas' clinical expertise is the development of cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell (CALEC) constructs for patients suffering from corneal blindness due to limbal stem cell deficiency. Her work in corneal regeneration has led to the development of the first stem cell therapy of this kind in ophthalmology. When she first joined our faculty, cultivated epithelial stem cell therapy for limbal stem cell deficiency was not available and not on the horizon in the U.S. for patients with corneal blindness. After spending one month at the Kyoto Prefectural University in Japan, Dr. Jurkunas brought the basic concepts of cell therapy to Mass Eye and Ear and forged a multi-institutional collaboration within the Harvard system to design a first-in-human clinical trial for the cell therapy product CALEC. She is currently the PI of an investigator-initiated phase I/IIa trial that has drawn a national referral base for treatment of unilaterally blind patients from limbal stem cell deficiency.
Along with a unique subspecialty in treating patients with Fuchs’ dystrophy, she has become one of the highest volume refractive and corneal transplantation surgeons at Mass Eye and Ear, often receiving referrals for patient requiring complicated and technically challenging cases. One of Dr. Jurkunas' main areas of surgical expertise is endothelial keratoplasty, the least invasive and most effective procedure available to restore vision in an eye limited by Fuchs’ dystrophy. She first introduced Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) to Mass Eye and Ear in 2014, and has continued to collaborate with eye banks on the innovative use of pre-loaded tissue to streamline the procedure in a cost effective manner. She further developed techniques to perform Descemet's stripping only (DSO, also known as Descemet’s stripping without keratoplasty, or DWEK), which does not require donor endothelium.
Dr. Jurkunas has received multiple awards throughout her career, including the ARVO/Alcon Early Career Clinician-Scientist Research Award in 2008, the Physician-Scientist Award from Research to Prevent Blindness in 2010, and the Young Investigator Award from the Alcon Research Institute in 2013. In 2017 she was awarded the ARVO Foundation/Pfizer Ophthalmics Carl Camras Translational Research Award. She has also lectured extensively at national and international meetings in North America, Europe, and Asia, giving over 40 invited lectures and keynote presentations.