Professor of Ophthalmology Thaddeus Dryja, MD, received this year's Simmons Lessell Excellence in Education Award Presented during our clinical graduation ceremony on June 18, the award recognizes faculty who have made—and continue to make—sustained and profound contributions to education—just like Dr. Simmons Lessell. A key leader of education in the Harvard Department of Ophthalmology for over 30 years and one of the most gifted diagnosticians of all time, Dr. Lessell passed away in May 2016.
Career Highlights
Dr. Dryja trained as a resident and fellow at Mass Eye and Ear and also pursued a research fellowship in molecular genetics and ophthalmology at Boston Children’s Hospital. He then joined the faculty at Mass Eye and Ear in 1983, establishing an ocular genetics laboratory and joining Eye Pathology under the direction of Dr. Dan Albert. His research was dramatically successful, and he was promoted to Professor in less than 10 years in 1992, and was appointed the David G. Cogan Professor of Ophthalmology.
In the 1980s Dr. Dryja and his team identified the gene that causes retinoblastoma, providing crucial insights into the pathophysiology of this childhood cancer, and allowing for accurate diagnostic testing. In the 1990s Dr. Dryja, working with Eliot Berson, MD, at Mass Eye and Ear, discovered the first genes responsible for retinitis pigmentosa, and went on to discover over 20 genes linked to inherited retinal degenerations.
Dr. Dryja has received many awards for his research contributions, including the Hermann Wacker Prize and the Helen Keller Award. He was also elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1996, at the age of 46.
In 2006, Dr. Dryja left academia for industry, serving as the Head of Translational Medicine at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts. From 2009 to 2017, he was the Global Head of Ophthalmology Research, supervising a group of over 200. Notably, throughout that period Dr. Dryja joined the department for grand rounds, where he provided clinical and pathological insights. In 2017, Dr. Dryja rejoined Mass Eye and Ear’s Eye Pathology Service, training residents and fellows, and contributing to clinical care and academic efforts.
Dr. Dryja has been a wonderful teacher and mentor for generations of trainees and faculty in Harvard Ophthalmology and beyond. His intellect is unparalleled, and his ethics and professional standards are above reproach. He is an inspirational role model in our department and very deserving of the Simmons Lessell Excellence in Education Award.