News Release: Emory Healthcare, Research, School of Medicine
May 5, 2009
Emory Eye Center Scientists Named Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2009 Fellows
The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) has announced this year's inaugural class of distinguished Fellows. Three Emory University scientists will be honored at this year's annual meeting in May. ARVO awards two levels of Fellows - Gold and Silver - each determined by a rigorous point system. Emory's doctors are recognized for their accomplishments, leadership and contributions to ARVO.
By accepting this honor, ARVO anticipates that Fellows will continue to serve as role models and mentors for individuals pursuing careers in vision and ophthalmology research and to further ARVO's vision "… to facilitate the advancement of vision research and the prevention and cure of disorders of the visual system worldwide." This includes advancing basic and clinical knowledge and serving as the leading international forum for vision research and the primary advocate for vision science worldwide.
Emory's recipients:
- Henry F. Edelhauser, PhD - awarded the highest distinction, Gold Fellow
- Hans E. Grossniklaus, MD, MBA, and John M. Nickerson, PhD, Silver Fellow
"We are grateful that ARVO has recognized and honored the distinguished research and careers of these three members of Emory Eye Center," says Timothy W. Olsen, the F. Phinizy Calhoun Sr. Professor and director, Emory Eye Center. "These three individuals represent the backbone of the basic vision research at Emory for the past two decades. Collectively, they have engaged in more than 90 research-years and have firmly influenced each of their respective fields of study. We congratulate Drs. Edelhauser, Grossniklaus and Nickerson for their continued dedication to careful science and remarkable progress."
ARVO President Todd P. Margolis MD, PhD, says, "We are very excited to offer this new prestige to our membership. We know that it will galvanize current members and inspire future ones."
Edelhauser is the Sylvia Montag Ferst and Frank W. Ferst Professor of Ophthalmology and director of Research, Emory Eye Center. He received his undergraduate education at Paterson State College with honors. He completed graduate school with a master's degree in physiology from Michigan State University, where he also earned his postdoctoral degree.
Edelhauser served on the faculty at the Medical College of Wisconsin prior to joining Emory in 1989. He has served as president of ARVO and received the honor and senior achievement awards from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. In 1999 he was awarded the Castroviejo Medal and the Alcon Research Award. In 2005 he received the prestigious Proctor Medal Award, ARVO highest honor in Ophthalmic Research.
He co-chaired the 2006-2007 Toxic Anterior Segment Syndrome (TASS) task force to establish guideline for "Recommended Practices for Cleaning and Sterilizing Intraocular Surgical Instruments." Most recently, he received the R. Townley Paton M.D. award (2007) from the Eye Bank Association of America for his research contributions to national and international eye banking.
His research interest includes corneal endothelial physiology, surgical pharmacology, ocular drug delivery and toxicology. He has been involved in developing intraocular irrigating solutions for phacoemulsification and vitrectomy, and his research has bridged the gap in many areas between the laboratory and the clinic.
Grossniklaus, the F. Phinizy Calhoun Jr. Professor of Ophthalmology and director of the L.F. Montgomery Pathology Laboratory at Emory Eye Center, graduated from the Medical School at Ohio State University and completed an internship at Riverside Methodist Hospital, in Columbus. He finished his residency at Case Western Reserve University where he also completed a residency in pathology, followed by a fellowship at the Wilmer Institute, Johns Hopkins University. He attended the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, in Washington, D.C., and completed a preceptorship at Emory Eye Center (under Thomas. M. Aaberg Sr., MD). Serving as director of the L.F. Montgomery Laboratory and Clinical Eye Pathology Service, Grossniklaus has expertise in diagnostic ophthalmic pathology, ocular oncology, age-related macular degeneration and ophthalmic pathology research, including drug delivery. He is director of the Eye Center's Ocular Oncology Service.
Nickerson, professor in the research section of Emory Eye Center, graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, did graduate study at the University of Texas Medical Branch, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, where he was a Senior Fellow and a tenured biologist. He is an editor-in-chief of Molecular Vision, a peer-reviewed journal, based at Emory Eye Center. The award-winning online publication is dedicated to the dissemination of research results in molecular biology, cell biology, and the genetics of the visual system (ocular and cortical). Nickerson's interests are in retinal proteins and their expression in normal animals and in animal models exhibiting characteristics of human eye diseases.
The ARVO Fellows will be officially inducted at the Association's annual meeting this month. ARVO is the largest eye and vision research organization in the world. Members include some 12,500 eye and vision researchers from over 73 countries. The Association encourages and assists research, training, publication and dissemination of knowledge in vision and ophthalmology. For more information, visit www.arvo.org.
Emory's Department of Ophthalmology and Emory Eye Center have a mission to conduct pioneering research into blinding eye diseases, to educate and train eye professionals, and to provide excellent patient care. The Department includes 35 ophthalmologists, seven optometrists, nine basic scientists, 11 post-doctoral fellows, and nine researchers in other Emory departments who hold joint appointments in the Department of Ophthalmology. Ophthalmology research is supported by $6 million in NIH funding. The Department remains in the top rankings (#9 – 2008) by U.S. News & World Report for the 12 years the magazine has held a ranking for Ophthalmology. It also ranks in the Top Ten in all four categories surveyed by Ophthalmology Times annual report. http://eyecenter.emory.edu
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