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Moran Eye Center Celebrates Faculty Holding Endowed Chairs and Professorships

endowed chairs
Top, from left: Jeff Pettey, MD, MBA; Gregory S. Hageman, PhD; David Krizaj, PhD; Randall J Olson, MD; Nick Mamalis, MD; Craig J. Chaya, MD; Paul S. Bernstein, MD, PhD; and Wolfgang B. Baehr, PhD. Bottom, also recognized but not present at the event, from left: Iqbal 鈥淚ke鈥 K. Ahmed, MD, FRCSC; Alessandra Angelucci, MD, PhD; Steffen Schmitz-Valckenberg, MD; and Liliana Werner, MD, PhD.
Ike Ahmad, MD
Alessandra Angelucci, PhD
Steffen Schmitz-Valckenberg, MD
Liliana Werner, MD, PhD

The John A. Moran Eye Center recently honored 12 of its 香蕉视频 of Utah faculty scholars who hold endowed chairs and professorships and the generous donors who made the positions possible.

鈥淎s the 香蕉视频鈥檚 primary means of recognizing academic distinction, endowed chairs and professorships promote excellence, and enable the university to attract, retain, and honor distinguished faculty members,鈥 explained Randall J Olson, MD, Moran CEO and Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.

鈥淲e are grateful to all of the donors who, across generations, make the Moran Eye Center the object of their lasting and generous philanthropy.鈥

Moran Eye Center Endowed Chairs Program 2023

Faculty honored at the June 15, 2023 event were:

Iqbal 鈥淚ke鈥 K. Ahmed, MD, FRCSC鈥擩ack R. and Hazel M. Robertson Presidential Endowed Chair

Ahmed is recognized as one of the most experienced surgeons for complex eye conditions worldwide and is renowned for his groundbreaking work in the surgical treatment of diseases, including glaucoma and surgical complications. He coined the term micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) as a new genre of surgical devices and his research has shaped the field. Ahmed has designed microsurgical instrumentation and other devices, implants, and techniques to manage dislocated cataracts, iris reconstruction, and glaucoma. He directs Moran鈥檚 , which conducts research to develop better diagnostics and therapies, a deeper understanding of glaucoma and its genetics, and to expand access to care.

Alessandra Angelucci, MD, PhD鈥擬ary H. Boesche Endowed Chair

is a National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation grantee and focuses her lab鈥檚 research on visual cortex circuitry and function鈥攌ey knowledge in understanding exactly how vision occurs in the brain and how it might be reproduced. She is leading efforts to develop a visual prosthesis that could provide a form of artificial sight to people who have lost their vision. She is also developing the Utah Optrode Array, a device that uses optogenetics to selectively activate neurons using light. This new approach will allow brain researchers to activate neurons more precisely.

Wolfgang B. Baehr, PhD鈥 Ralph and Mary Tuck Presidential Endowed Chair

joined the Moran Eye Center in 1995, and his work has impacted the understanding of phototransduction鈥攖he process by which light is converted into electrical signals in the retina. Among his lab's many discoveries, he is known for identifying the second and third components of the phototransduction 鈥渟ignaling鈥 cascade. His was the first breakthrough since the light-sensing pigment, rhodopsin, was identified 100 years earlier.

With his retirement this summer, effective July 1, 2023, the Ralph and Mary Tuck Presidential Endowed Chair chair will be held by Liliana Werner, MD, PhD.

Liliana Werner, MD, PhD鈥 Ralph and Mary Tuck Presidential Endowed Chair

is co-director of the and Moran鈥檚 vice chair of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her research focuses on ophthalmic implantable biodevices, particularly intraocular lenses (IOLs) used to replace the eye鈥檚 natural lens during cataract and other surgeries. She is recognized as a foremost authority in the IOL field and was the first woman to receive the prestigious American Academy of Ophthalmology鈥檚 Charles D. Kelman Award and Lecture. She is also the first woman and the first Latina to hold the position of U.S. Associated Editor for the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.

Paul S. Bernstein, MD, PhD鈥擵al A. and Edith D. Green Presidential Endowed Chair

Bernstein, Moran鈥檚 vice-chair for clinical and basic science research, is a retinal specialist and a leading expert in nutritional interventions against inherited and acquired macular disease. His research includes a focus on the genetics and imaging of macular telangiectasia type II (MacTel), a difficult-to-diagnose hereditary disease that causes central vision loss. He has also made a series of discoveries that will change the paradigm of diagnosis and treatment for several other blinding eye diseases using the Heidelberg Engineering Spectralis-based Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Ophthalmoscope. 

Craig J. Chaya, MD鈥擩ohn E. and Marva M. Warnock Presidential Endowed Chair

Chaya is the senior medical director of Moran鈥檚 Global Outreach Division. He received training in international ophthalmology as a Himalayan Cataract Project/Freedom Foundation Fellow in Kathmandu and Hetauda, Nepal, and volunteered on many outreach trips locally and internationally. Chaya helped launch the Utah Assessment and Review of Community Health Eye Care Study, which surveyed eye care needs of residents of the Navajo Nation, people experiencing homelessness, former refugees, and the underinsured or uninsured. He is now leading efforts to implement its findings.

Gregory S. Hageman, PhD鈥擩ohn A. Moran Presidential Endowed Chair

directs Moran鈥檚 . With the support of committed donors, Hageman has turned a series of groundbreaking discoveries into a new gene therapy hoped to halt or even prevent a prevalent form of AMD. His research has transformed our understanding of AMD, determining it is at least two biologically distinct diseases. With a world-class research team, Hageman has also importantly identified genetic protections against the disease. The gene therapy is now being tested as part of phase one clinical trial. Additional therapies are in the SCTM pipeline.

David Krizaj, PhD鈥擩ohn Frederick Carter Endowed Professorship

is associate director of Moran鈥檚 . Glaucoma can cause blindness as increases in the eye鈥檚 fluid pressure damage the optic nerve responsible for carrying visual information to the brain. Krizaj has dedicated his research to understanding exactly how cells in the eye sense and interpret mechanical signals such as pressure. He has developed a new therapy that could lower eye pressure and protect retinal neurons that make up the optic nerve. If successful, the therapy will offer a new, first-in-kind approach to treating glaucoma.

Nick Mamalis, MD鈥擟alvin S. and JeNeal N. Hatch Presidential Endowed Chair

Mamalis directs Moran鈥檚 Ophthalmic Pathology Laboratory and is a renowned expert on intraocular lenses as co-director of the The non-profit center performs research for physicians and companies worldwide to vet new lens designs, technologies, and complications. Mamalis has also helped hospitals around the country protect patients from a rare but potentially sight-threatening inflammatory syndrome known as Toxic Anterior Segment Syndrome. He is a past president of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) and has received the ASCRS Binkhorst Medal and the American Academy of Ophthalmology Life Achievement Honor Award. 

Randall J Olson, MD鈥擟umming Presidential Endowed Chair

Olson is a distinguished professor at the 香蕉视频 of Utah, chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, CEO of the Moran Eye Center, and director of the 香蕉视频 of Utah Vision Institute. Specializing in external eye diseases and anterior segment disorders, Olson is a renowned expert in cataract surgery complications and intraocular lens surgery. He is a former Association of 香蕉视频 Professors in Ophthalmology president and has earned many of his field鈥檚 highest honors, including the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Binkhorst Medal, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Kelman Award, and the AAO Lifetime Achievement Award.

Jeff Pettey, MD, MBA鈥擠r. Ezekiel R. and Edna Wattis Dumke Endowed Chair

Pettey is Moran鈥檚 clinical vice chair. He co-created Moran鈥檚 Operation Sight program, which provides cataract surgery for underserved Utahns, and has served as co-medical director of the Global Outreach Division. In 2020 as Moran鈥檚 Vice Chair of Education, Pettey launched the Global Ophthalmology Resident Scholar Program to expand Moran鈥檚 commitment to outreach work. In 2017, the American Academy of Ophthalmology awarded Pettey its Artemis Award to recognize his efforts to go above and beyond for patients. 

Steffen Schmitz-Valckenberg, MD鈥擩on M. Huntsman Presidential Chair 

Schmitz-Valckenberg directs the at Moran. His research focuses on multimodal retinal imaging technologies and fine-detailed functional testing in macular and retinal diseases. Analysis of this imaging helps develop new therapies by establishing, developing, and validating targeted outcomes during clinical trials. As founding director of the GRADE Reading Center in Bonn, Germany, and UREAD, he has been involved in several clinical trials as part of the systematic and standardized analysis of imaging data on an international level in AMD and other retinal diseases.