Dr. Wiggs Inducted into AOI
May 1, 2017Mass. Eye and Ear’s Department of Ophthalmology was well-represented by Reza Dana, M.D., M.Sc., M.P.H., FARVO, and Janey Wiggs, M.D., Ph.D., FARVO, at the February 2016 Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis (AOI) annual meeting in Mexico.
As one of eight members elected in 2015, Dr. Wiggs was inducted into AOI after delivering her inaugural lecture, “Genome-wide studies in glaucoma.”
Dr. Dana was one of four ophthalmologists elected to AOI membership at this year’s meeting.
“Election into AOI is one of the highest honors conferred in the field of ophthalmology,” said Joan W. Miller, MD, FARVO, who is also a member of AOI.
Dr. Wiggs has been a leader in glaucoma research for more than three decades. As the principal investigator of the NEIGHBORHOOD consortium, she aims to identify genes that contribute to glaucoma, gain insight into the underlying disease mechanisms, and ultimately to develop new gene-based therapies and diagnostic tests. At Mass. Eye and Ear, Dr. Wiggs directs the Genetic Diagnostic Testing Laboratory, where she helped develop the GEDi test, a panel test for mutations in 250 genes known to contribute to inherited retinal degenerations. She has also mentored numerous HMS students and research fellows from the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom and India.
Dr. Dana is an internationally recognized clinician-scientist and a leader in the field of corneal immunology and transplantation biology. As an ophthalmologist and an immunologist, he has a particular interest in the cellular and molecular mechanisms of inflammation as they pertain to ocular surface and anterior segment pathologies, including dry eye, allergy, wound healing responses, and transplant rejection. At Mass. Eye and Ear, he directs the Cornea and Refractive Surgery Service. He has mentored more than 100 clinical and research trainees, and directs the K12 Harvard-Vision Clinical Scientists Development Program (see page 14 for details).