Meet a Doctor: Kathryn Colby, M.D., Ph.D.
Kathryn Colby, M.D., Ph.D. has served the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in many different capacities since she first arrived for an ophthalmology residency 14 years ago. A committed believer in the three-pronged mission of the Mass. Eye and Ear, Dr. Colby is now a busy cornea surgeon who sees patients, teaches medical students, residents and fellows, and is actively involved in research into blinding diseases of the cornea.
Dr. Colby’s main research interest is Fuchs’ Corneal Dystrophy, which is an enigmatic condition in which the inner layer of the cornea (the transparent dome that covers the pupil) stops pumping fluid from the normally clear tissue, causing the cornea to become water-logged, thickened and cloudy, eventually resulting in painful blindness. Besides spearheading laboratory studies of this condition, she has been actively involved in advancing new surgical techniques, such as DSEK or selective endothelial transplantation, to treat Fuchs’ Dystrophy.
Dr. Colby’s real love, however, is caring for patients with complicated corneal diseases and passing that knowledge on to those in training. “It’s gratifying to be able to show talented young people why you love your specialty,” she says.
Dr. Colby also directs the Joint Clinical Research Center, a collaborative venture between Mass. Eye and Ear and the Schepens Eye Research Institute. In this role, Dr. Colby, who earned her doctorate in neurobiology at Brown University, works to foster scientific collaboration between laboratory and clinical researchers.
“Bringing scientists and clinicians together creates the potential for the most rapid development of treatments and preventive therapies that can help with a variety of ophthalmic conditions,” says Dr. Colby. “Helping patients, after all, is the real reason we are all here.”
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