Richard H. Masland, Ph.D., Joins Mass. Eye and Ear as Director of the Howe Laboratory

Contact: Mary E. Leach
(617) 573-4170

BOSTON (April 7, 2009) – Richard H. Masland, Ph.D., a well-known scientist in the areas of  basic and translational research of the retina, and a former Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, has joined Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary as director of the Howe Laboratory and associate chief for ophthalmology research.

The Howe Laboratory and the Berman Gund Laboratory comprise all of the clinical, translational and basic ophthalmology research performed within Mass. Eye and Ear.

“Our search to fill the leadership of the Howe Laboratory has been underway for four years,” said Joan W. Miller, M.D., Henry Willard Williams Professor of Ophthalmology, Chief and Chair, Department of Ophthalmology, Mass. Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School. “I could not be more pleased with the addition of Dick Masland to our team and look forward to working closely with him and our other department leaders to further develop our research capabilities and successes in fighting blindness.”

Dr. Masland is currently the Charles Anthony Pappas Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. He has held a secondary appointment as Professor of Ophthalmology with Harvard Medical School since 1990. 

His recent research has been concerned with the neurome of the retina, an ambitious attempt to specify all of the cell types that underlie the retina's processing of information.  The assembly of this catalogue, in which he has now been joined by several other groups worldwide, is fundamental to the understanding of and intervention in retinal disease.  One such intervention is a gene therapy for restoring vision to retinas in which the photoreceptor cells, the cells that sense light, have degenerated.  The Masland Laboratory has recently published a proof of principle of this therapy in an animal model, and is now attempting to refine it to the point of clinical usefulness.

Dr. Masland, who received his A.B. degree from Harvard College and his Ph.D. degree from McGill University, followed with postdoctoral work at Stanford and Harvard medical schools.  Among his awards are the Hoopes Prize and Irving M. London Awards, both for excellence in teaching, and the Brian Boycott Prize for research on the retina.

His move to Mass. Eye and Ear will be complete within the next two months.  Dr. Masland will bring four members of his current lab with him: Tatjana Jakobs, M.D., Bin Lin, Ph.D., Daniel Sun O.D., Ph.D., and lab manager Ming Lye, B.S.

Dr. Miller also announced that Janey Wiggs, M.D., Ph.D., of Mass. Eye and Ear, will continue as the associate director of the Howe Laboratory and will be appointed as the associate chief for clinical research. “Dr. Wiggs will work closely with Dr. Masland on the broad areas of research recruiting, intellectual property, physical space and enhancing the administrative structure of the ophthalmology research program,” Dr. Miller said.   “Together, they will work to increase our connection to basic science departments at Harvard Medical School, as well as increase collaboration within the department of ophthalmology through the centers of excellence.”

Founded in 1824, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary is an independent specialty hospital, an international center for treatment and research, and a teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School. Information about Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary is available on its website at www.MassEyeAndEar.org.