Dr. Melissa Yuan graduated cum laude from Harvard University with an AB in Neurobiology on the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Track with High Honors. She also completed secondary degrees in Global Health and Health Policy as well as Spanish. As an undergraduate, she worked in the Laboratory for Affective Translational Neuroscience at McLean Hospital, conducting original electrophysiology research using EEG to study the neural event-related responses to reward across the mood disorder spectrum. She subsequently spent one year in the Centro de Tecnologia Biomedica in Madrid, Spain, where she did MEG research on fear conditioning.

Dr. Yuan went on to earn her MD from Weill Cornell Medicine. She performed research in the fields of Neurosurgery, Neuro-oncology, and Ophthalmology. In the Department of Ophthalmology at New York Presbyterian, she assisted with studies on adverse events associated with the XEN gel stent and other MIGS devices, and feasibility of community ophthalmic outreach using a smartphone retinal camera. She also prepared case reports on spontaneously arrested congenital glaucoma and ocular toxicity of a novel chemotherapeutic agent. In the Division of Neuro-ophthalmology, she studied ocular manifestations of spinocerebellar atrophy, orbital apex syndrome in Aspergillosis, and diagnosis of pediatric idiopathic intracranial hypertension. For her area of concentration, she performed basic research in the Molecular Neuroscience Laboratory, where she worked on developing gene therapy for Alzheimer’s disease and on intra-arterial administration of gene therapy. She received the Edward Norton Prize in Ophthalmology, the John Metcalf Polk Prize for graduating as one of the top 3 students of her class, and a Glasgow-Rubin Memorial Achievement Citation, among other awards and honors. 

As a medical student, she co-directed Eye-to-Eye Outreach Program where she conducted monthly screenings across New York City for visual health, including visual acuity, intraocular pressure, and fundus exams. 

Dr. Yuan’s work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Neuroscience, Cancer, Journal of Glaucoma, and Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology. She has presented her work at conferences such as North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society Annual Meeting, Women in Ophthalmology Symposium, and Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. She completed a Transitional Year Internship at Newton Wellesley Hospital as part of Harvard Ophthalmology’s four-year integrated residency program, where she received the internal medicine award for outstanding performance on the internal medicine inpatient service.