Joan W. Miller
Dr. Joan W. Miller is Chair of Harvard Ophthalmology, Chair of Ophthalmology at Mass Eye and Ear and Mass General Hospital, and Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her clinical interests include diseases and surgery of the retina and vitreous; age-related macular degeneration; diabetic retinopathy; and photodynamic therapy.
She is an internationally recognized expert on retinal disorders, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Over the last two decades, she and her colleagues at Mass Eye and Ear/HMS pioneered the development of photodynamic therapy using verteporfin, the first approved pharmacological therapy able to reduce and slow vision loss in patients with AMD. The group also identified the key role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in ocular neovascularization, leading to the development of anti-VEGF therapies now administered to millions of children and adults with sight-threatening retinal diseases annually around the world. Miller’s current studies focus on the genetics of AMD, strategies for early intervention in AMD, neuroprotective therapies for retinal diseases, and MacTel and other maculopathies.
Miller is the first female physician to achieve the rank of Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and the first woman to chair the Department of Ophthalmology. She is also the first woman appointed as Chair of Ophthalmology at both Mass Eye and Ear and Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition to these roles and responsibilities, she also co-directs Mass Eye and Ear's Ines and Frederick Yeatts Retina Research Laboratory.