“It is an honor for me to serve as the first director of clinical research at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute,” said Dr. Harris, who currently is the director of the Glaucoma Research and Diagnostic Center at IU School of Medicine. “I look forward to the many opportunities in front of us as we increase our research capabilities with the new Glick Eye Institute at the School of Medicine.”
Dr. Harris is recognized as a world leader for his extensive research in ocular blood flow and imaging in glaucoma and other eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. He has served on numerous national and international organizations throughout his career; recently he was named an executive committee member for the International Glaucoma Symposium. He also has co-chaired the consensus subcommittee on blood flow in glaucoma for the World Glaucoma Association and is a founding charter member of the Von Graefe’s Society. Among his many awards is the William and Mary Greve International Research Scholars award from Research to Prevent Blindness. Dr. Harris is a Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
“I’m excited that Dr. Harris will be leading our clinical research programs into the future,” said Louis B. Cantor, M.D., chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology. “Dr. Harris has been recognized as world leader in research and his numerous publications and grants speak to the quality of his leadership, innovation and experience.”
Dr. Harris has published more than of 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 11 books and more than 40 book chapters. He is a principle investigator on dozens of grants which have resulted in the acquisition of more than $4 million in funding. He serves as an associate editor on several journals and as a scientific advisor to federal grant agencies in multiple countries around the world. Dr. Harris has extensive international collaborations and serves as a co-principal investigator of the largest population-based study in ophthalmology, The Thessaloniki Eye Study.
Born in South Africa, Dr. Harris and his family moved to Israel when he was a child. He received his undergraduate training at Wingate Institute in Israel and made his way to Indiana University in Bloomington where he received a master’s degree and a doctoral degree in human performance and physiology. Dr. Harris pursued post-doctoral training at the IU School of Medicine in physiology from 1988 to 1989.