Age-related Macular Degeneration

Emily Y. Chew is the Director of the Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications (DECA), at the National Eye Institute, the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. She is also the Chief of the Clinical Trials Branch. Emily received her medical degree and her ophthalmology training at the U. of Toronto, School of Medicine, in Toronto, Canada. She completed her fellowship in Medical Retina at the Wilmer Eye Institute, the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes and the U. of Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Her research interest includes designing and conducting phase I/II;III clinical trials and epidemiologic studies in chronic retinovascular diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, the leading causes of blindness in the US. She was actively involved with leadership roles in the conduct of clinical trials such as Age-Related Eye Disease Study, the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2, the Actions to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) Eye Study, the Macular Telangiectasia Project (Mac Tel Project) with phase 1 to 3 clinical trials using ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF). She chairs the current international study, known as the AMD Ryan Initiative Study (ARIS), which evaluates the natural course of early AMD. She also collaborates with colleagues at the National Library of Medicine (NLM/NIH) utilizing of artificial intelligence/deep learning on the detection and progression of age-related macular degeneration.

Emily Chew has been recognized for her scientific accomplishments, and mentoring efforts by the National Institutes of Health and numerous professional societies in the area of retinal research.

Dr. Anand Swaroop obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. After his postdoctoral training at Yale University, he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in the Departments of Ophthalmology and inHuman Genetics in 1990 and held the Harold F. Falls Collegiate Professorship from 2003-07. Dr. Swaroop was recruited to establish Neurobiology-Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory at the National Eye Institute, NIH, in 2007 to advance research in all aspects of retinal biology, disease and therapies.

The studies in Swaroop laboratory have focused primarily on genetic and epigenetic regulation of photoreceptor development and aging, genetics of inherited retinal diseases and of age-related macular degeneration, and design of new therapeutic paradigms using cell, gene or small molecule-based approaches.

Dr. Swaroop is leader in the field of retinal development and degeneration and has received many awards for his contributions. He has published almost 350 peer-reviewed articles and reviews (Scopus h -index=71), and delivered 300 invited lectures including named and keynote talks worldwide. Dr. Swaroop routinely reviews for many prestigious journals, contributes to institutional committees for promotions and tenure, and evaluates grants for national and international funding agencies.