New Fellowship in Ophthalmic Genetics

Image

NEI director Dr. Paul Sieving (c) signs agreement with International Council of Ophthalmology CEO Neeru Gupta (l) and ICO president Dr. Peter Wiedemann at the 2019 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting.

The National Eye Institute is partnering with the International Council of Ophthalmology to offer a fellowship at NEI in ophthalmic genetics research.

This first such collaboration between the two organizations will bring to NEI an early-career clinician from a country designated by the World Bank as lower- or middle-income. The fellow will spend a year working in NEI’s Ophthalmic Genetics and Visual Function Branch. NEI clinical director Dr. Brian Brooks will serve as the fellow’s mentor.

The fellow will gain experience that is likely unavailable in his or her home country. For NEI, the fellowship is an opportunity to engage in “soft diplomacy,” according to Dr. John Prakash, associate director for NEI international programs. 

“Following this kind of experience, fellows will not only promote NEI,” said Prakash. “They will become opinion leaders in their home countries and influence their government’s policies. And the ultimate benefit will be to the patient population around the world.”