Pair to serve on vision research group’s board
Paul Sternberg, M.D.
John Penn, Ph.D.
Paul Sternberg, M.D., chair of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and director of VEI, was elected as vice president of the association during its annual meeting in May. Sternberg, a member since 1976, is completing his final year as a trustee on the board.
John Penn, Ph.D., vice chair of the department, was recently elected to the board as a trustee. Prior to his board appointment, Penn served on the ARVO Long Range Planning Committee.
“There are 13 board members and two of them are Vanderbilt Eye Institute faculty,” said Sternberg. “This is a wonderful representation of Vanderbilt and highlights the amount of quality scientific research going on here.”
ARVO, founded in 1928, has more than 13,000 members.
The multidisciplinary group includes about 40 percent M.D./Ophthalmologists, while the remainder of the members are Ph.D.s and vision scientists.
“The association facilitates basic and clinical scientist interaction,” said Penn, who conducts translational research at Vanderbilt.
“Basic scientists are inherently encouraged to consider the context and relevance of their work, while the clinical scientists are exposed to the latest research techniques being used in labs around the world. It's ideal.”