Posts by Reza Dana, MD, MSc, MPH
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The Neuropeptide Alpha-Melanocyte–stimulating Hormone Prevents Persistent Corneal Edema After Injury
Reza Dana, MD, MSc, MPH; Jia Yin, MD, PhD, MPH; Ula V. Jurkunas, MD; and colleagues have discovered a critical role for neuropeptides in maintenance of corneal endothelial cells and potential therapeutic applications for α-melanocyte–stimulating hormone after corneal injury or intraocular surgery.
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Alpha-Melanocyte–stimulating Hormone Is Critical to Corneal Graft Survival
Researchers at Mass Eye and Ear have differentiated the cytoprotective action of alpha-melanocyte–stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) on corneal graft tissue from its effect on the graft recipient's immune response by alternating use of transgenic mice with a truncated alpha-MSH receptor as the graft donor or host.
Biography
Dr. Reza Dana is an internationally recognized expert in corneal disorders and ocular inflammation. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins and Harvard Universities, who holds the Claes Dohlman Chair in Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. He is Director of the Cornea Service at Mass Eye and Ear, Senior Scientist at the Schepens Eye Research Institute/Mass Eye and Ear, and a member of the Harvard Medical School Graduate Program in Immunology (Committee on Immunology), and directs the Harvard-Vision Clinical Scientist Development Program. He conducts both basic and translational research in the field of corneal and transplantation immunology. He studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms of ocular inflammation with applications to autoimmunity, transplantation, dry eye disease and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).
A Gold Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), he has authored more than 390 peer-reviewed articles and over 120 reviews and book chapters, and has presented more than 200 invited and named lectures worldwide. His published work has been cited more than 28,000 times and has an h-index of 86. Dr. Dana's translational research has led to several successful physician-sponsored IND applications to the FDA. His research is supported by several federal grants.
Dr. Dana has trained over 80 clinical fellows, and 125 postdoctoral fellows and students in his laboratory from over 33 countries to date, the significant majority holding full-time academic positions in ophthalmology and vision research. He is recipient of the Harvard Medical School A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award, ARVO's Cogan Award (2003) and ISER's Endre A. Balazs Price (2016), Friedenwald Award (2018) and the Stein Innovation Award from Research to Prevent Blindness.
Mass Eye and Ear/Mass General Ophthalmology
An international center for ophthalmology treatment and research, Mass Eye and Ear/Massachusetts General Hospital is the primary teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School’s Department of Ophthalmology, and is consistently recognized as one of the nation’s top hospitals for eye care. Led by Chief and Chair Joan W. Miller, MD, the department provides seamless access to the most innovative care available anywhere in the world.
