Recently, the Institute underwent a transition in the Associate Director position, which offers an opportunity to highlight two of McPherson ERI’s extraordinary scientists and leaders.
The Associate Director serves as an important link to McPherson ERI members and plays a key role in encouraging vision research collaborations. For the past five years, Dr. Aki Ikeda has held this position in addition to his long-standing role on our Leadership Committee. As an exemplar of McPherson ERI research, Dr. Ikeda is unparalleled. His work on the genetic causes of retinal aging and disease shows great promise and ultimately led to his appointment as the first McPherson ERI Timothy William Trout Professor in Eye Research. He has played a key role in strengthening the Institute, and I am personally grateful to him for his wise advice.
McPherson ERI’s new Associate Director, Dr. Kevin Eliceiri, is well-equipped to pick up the baton. Dr. Eliceiri directs the UW Laboratory for Optical and Computational Instrumentation (LOCI) and is an investigator in Medical Engineering at the Morgridge Institute for Research. He is an outstanding scientist and imaging specialist with boundless energy and intellectual curiosity, and is particularly sought after as a collaborator by investigators across UW and the nation. Dr. Eliceiri’s research is situated at the frontiers of medical imaging – one of the most promising areas of vision research in the Institute. In the coming years he will take a lead in helping the McPherson ERI open new pathways for discovery, innovation, and treatment.
These two outstanding researchers are prime examples of the breadth and depth of the over 190 member McPherson ERI that I am fortunate to direct.
David M. Gamm, MD, PhD
RRF Emmett A. Humble Distinguished Director, McPherson ERI
Sandra Lemke Trout Chair in Eye Research