Reza Dana

Reza Dana is the Claes H. Dohlman Chair in Ophthalmology, Senior Scientist and W. Clement Stone Clinical Research Scholar, Director of Cornea at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Vice Chair for Academic Programs at the Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Harvard-Vision Clinical Scientist Development Program.

Dana is an internationally recognized expert in the field of corneal disorders and ocular inflammation. He is best known for his work on the mechanisms of ocular inflammation with translational applications to transplantation, autoimmunity, and angiogenesis. He is a member of editorial boards of 10 journals, including as editor-in-chief of Cornea.

Education and training Dana attended the Tehran International School during his early years and graduated summa cum laude from St. Paul's School, New Hampshire. He pursued his baccalaureate degree at Johns Hopkins University School of Arts and Sciences, where he was invited to join the Phi Beta Kappa. Dr. Dana attended medical school at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and also obtained a master's degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Research and career Dana joined the ophthalmology faculty at the Harvard Medical School as an Instructor in 1995 and has been a faculty member there ever since. In 2006, he was named the director of the Cornea Service at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and in 2007, he was appointed the Claes H. Dohlman Chair in Ophthalmology and Vice Chairman for Academic Programs.

Dana's research focus is in the area of immuno-inflammatory disorders of the cornea and ocular surface. He has published over 400 peer-reviewed publications and over 150 reviews, and edited several books. His work has been cited more than 53000 times and carries an h-index of 110 as per Google Scholar. His is widely recognized for (i) identifying, phenotyping and functionally characterizing resident bone marrow-derived antigen-presenting cells (APC) of the cornea, (ii) identifying novel mechanisms of corneal APC trafficking, (iii) defining novel functional interactions between lymphatic endothelia and APC, (iv) identifying selective topical cytokine and chemokine targeting to promote transplant survival by suppressing effector T cells, (v) defining novel mechanisms employed by the corneal epithelium to maintain angiogenic privilege including the VEGFR-3 sink and PD-L1 mechanisms, (vi) developing strategies to promote corneal endothelial cell survival in transplantation, including gene therapy. (vi) demonstrating the function of memory Th17 cells in pathogenesis of ocular surface autoimmunity. (vii) evaluating the role of regulatory T cells in corneal graft tolerance. (viii) insights into the contribution of diabetes to alterations in corneal graft immunity. (ix) developing novel biomaterials for therapeutics delivery to the eye.

Lectures, awards and honors Dr.Joan Miller introducing Dr. Dana at the Friedenwald Award reception at Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting 2018 in Honolulu.

1981 – National Cum Laude Society 1984 – Phi Beta Kappa (Junior Year), Johns Hopkins University 1981-85 – Dean's List (every semester), Johns Hopkins University 1989 – Henry Strong Dennison Award for Research, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine 1990 – National Eye Institute/ARVO Travel Fellowship 1995 – Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Fellowship (Ocular Immunology) 1996 – Knapp Fellow of the Society of Heed Fellows 1996 – Clinical Scientist Career Award (KO8) from NIH 1999 – Research to Prevent Blindness William & Mary Greve Special Scholar 2002 – Achievement Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology 2002 – Kronfeld Memorial Lecturer, Illinois Eye & Ear Infirmary 2002 – Fry Memorial Lecturer, Wills Eye Hospital Biennial Cornea Conference 2009 – Research to Prevent Blindness Lew R. Wasserman-Merit Award 2011 – David Easty Lecturer, Bowman Club, Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh 2011 – Joaquin Barraquer Lecture, Spanish Congress of Ophthalmology 2011 – LSU Chancellor's Award in Neuroscience and Ophthalmology 2012 – Mentoring Award, European Young Investigator Network for Ocular Surface Inflammation 2013 – Senior Scientific Investigator Award, Research to Prevent Blindness 2013 – Gold Fellow, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2013 – Keynote Speaker, Biennial Meeting of the European Society of Ophthalmology, Copenhagen, Denmark 2014 – Thygeson Lecture, Ocular Microbiology and Immunology Group 2014 – A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award, Harvard Medical School 2015 – Kersley Lecture, British Ocular Surface Society, London, England 2015 – Keynote Address & Certificate of Honor, European Association for Vision and Eye Research, Nice, France 2016 – Roger Meyer Lecture, University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center 2016 – Elected, Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis Dr. Dana presenting the Inaugural Joseph Markoff, PhD, MD Endowed Lecture with the Vickie & Jack Farber Vision Research Center at Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA. 2016 – Endre A. Balazs Prize, International Society for Eye Research 2017 – Plenary Address, 121st Meeting of Japanese Ophthalmological Society 2017 – Senior Achievement Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology 2017 – Streilein Lecture, 30th Biennial Cornea Conference 2018 – Friedenwald Award, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2018 – Research to Prevent Blindness Stein Innovation Award 2019 – Ellis Island Medal of Honor 2020 – Power List 2020 – The Ophthalmologist 2021 – Snell Memorial Lecture, University of Rochester 2021 – Bowman Club-David Easty Lecture, UK 2021 – Susruta Lecture, University of Pittsburgh 2022 – Plenary Lecture, San Rafaele Biomedical Center, Milan Italy 2023 – Award Medal, Quinze-Vingts-University of Paris 2024 – Robert B Nussenblatt MD MPH Memorial Lecture, American Uveitis Society 2024 – Harvard Ophthalmology Distinguished Research Achievement Award 2024 – Robert Eugene Anderson Lectureship, University of Oklahoma Dean McGee Eye Institute 2025 – Endre A Balazs Medal for Achievements in Ophthalmology, European Association for Vision and Eye Research 2025 – Richard Lindstrom Award, American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery 2025 – Joseph Markoff PhD MD Endowed Lecturer, Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia 2025 – Harvard Ophthalmology Lifetime Achievement Award in Mentoring 2025 – Thomas H. Pettit Lecture, UCLA Stein and Doheny Eye Institutes Annual Meeting thumb Dr. Dana receiving the Richard Lindstrom Award 2025 at American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA.

Teaching and Mentoring Dana is the Vice Chair for Academic Programs at the Department of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and a faculty for the Graduate Program in Immunology, Harvard Medical School.