Dan-Ning Hu, MD

Born in Shanghai, 1936.

Graduated from Shanghai First Medical College in 1955. Postdoctoral fellow of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University, 1980-81.

Long been engaged in the clinical, teaching and research activities in the field of ophthalmology, medical genetics and cell biology.

Currently Professor of Ophthalmology at New York Medical College, Director of Tissue Culture Research Center, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary.

Prior to 1990 in China served as Director of Department of Genetic Counseling and Deputy President of National Center for Genetic Medicine, (Shanghai); Director, Shanghai Zhabei Eye Hospital; Chairman and Professor, Departments of Ophthalmology and Medical Genetics, Tiedao Medical College (Shanghai).

In recent years have been appointed as Honor Professors, Visiting Professors, Consultant Professor of Fudan University, Capital Medical University, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Shandong University, Wenzhou Medical College, Jilin University, Nanjing University and Shanghai First People's Hospital (all in China); Director of Myopia Research Institute, National Optometry Research Center (Wenzhou, China); Consultant of several major pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer, Merck, Allergan, Pharmacia/Upjohn, AstraZeneica, etc.) Research advisers of Taiwan Show Chwan Medical Group, Kaohsiung Medical University and National Chung Hsing University.

Published more than 300 papers, 84 of them were published in SCI collected major medical journals, such as Am J Human Genet, Am J Med Genet, J Med Genet, Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, Arch Ophthalmol, Exp Eye Res, Am J Ophthalmol and J Am Acad Dermatol. Cited for 333 times in 4 papers on the uveal melanocytes and mitochondrial inheritant deafness. More than 70 papers present at international scientific conferences.

The major contribution include: Development of methodology for isolation, cultivation and in vitro study of uveal and conjunctival melanocytes and iris pigment epithelial cells.; demonstration of the nature of mitochondrial inherited antibiotic induced deafness； organization and leading the study of prevalence and genetic aspects of major genetic eye diseases in China; study of function and modulation of biological activities of uveal melanocytes; study of cell biology of and medical treatment for proliferative vitreoretinopathy; study of population incidence of various melanomas in different races and ethnic groups and the role of sun radiation in the occurrence of melanoma; development of individual designed ocular prosthesis and related plastic surgery; development of multifactorial inheritant hypothesis as the etiology of simple myopia; establishment of the Myopia Classification System based on the accommodation aspects; development of transplantation of cultured autologous melanocyte for the treatment of vitiligo (currently the largest series in the world) and the transplantation of chondrocyte for the treatment of joint injuries in Taiwan (the first reported case in Asia); participating in the development of a variety of ophthalmic drugs in the United States and Sweden (FDA approved).

Has numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Glaucoma Foundation, Leon Lowenstein Foundation and other Foundations. Repeatedly awards from the Chinese Health Ministry and other sources. The study on simple myopia (collaborated with Prof. Qu Jia) obtained the 2009 National Scientific and Technological Progress Second Prize. Owner of several U.S. patents.

Is the first winner of Outstanding Achievement Award in Ophthalmology and Visual Science for Oversea Chinese, Chinese Ophthalmological Society.

Establishment and served as the Chairman of Section of Ophthalmic genetics; participating in the establishment and served as the deputy Chairman of the Section of Ophthalmic Refraction in Chinese Ophthalmological Society. Organized and hosted 11 international symposia on ocular pigment cells and myopia. Organized and hosted several national courses in Ophthalmic Genetics and Ocular Cell Culture in China. Organized and hosted a number of Genetic Counseling Courses in China (Chinese Ministry of Health). Served as member of Executive Board of International Society for Genetic Eye Diseases; the Chairman of Society of Ocular Pigment Cell Research and Chairman of Ocular/Noncutaneous Pigmentation Expert Group of the International Federation of Pigment Cell Research; Executive Member of  Ophthalmology Committee, World Federation of Chinese Medicine Society, Member of Councils of Chinese Society of Genetics, Chinese Ophthalmological Society and Chinese Society of Medical Genetics; Consultant of Chinese Taipei Society of Ophthalmology and Honor President of Oversea Chinese Association of Vision and Eye Research.

Served as Associate Editor, journal of “Pigment Cell Research”, Vice-Editor in Chief of “Ophthalmology” (China), Editor in Chief of “Journal of Prevention and Treatment of Juvenile Myopia” (China); Member of Editorial Committees, Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology, Chinese Journal of Medical Genetics, Chinese Journal of Optometry, etc; Reviewers of Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, Am J Med Sci, Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, Pigment Cell Res, Melanoma Res, etc.  Authors of reference books “Ophthalmic Genetics” (China) and “The Myopias” (China).  Co-authors of “Ocular Oncology” (USA), “Myopia Updates” (Japan), “Transplante de Retina” (Spain), “Photobiological Sciences Online” (USA), “Melatonin in the Promotion of Health” (USA), “Encyclopedia of Medicine” (China), “Medical Genetics” (China) and many other reference books in the fields of ophthalmology and medical genetics.

Chi-Chao Chan MD
Honorary Chairwoman of OCAVER
Immunopathology, Laboratory of Immunology
National Eye Institute/NIH
10 Center Driv Bldg 10 Rm 10N103 NIH/NEI
Bethesda, MD
20892-1857
UNITED STATES
Phone: (301)496-0417
Fax: (301)402-8664
Email: chanc@nei.nih.gov

Chi-Chao Chan, M.D.

Dr. Chi-Chao Chan, an American board certified ophthalmologist, was born in Chengdu, China.  After she completed her education at Chungzhan Medical College (Sun Yat-sen University) in 1967, she moved to the United States in 1968 to earn her B.A. and M.D. degrees from Johns Hopkins University in 1972 and 1975, respectively.  She later completed her ophthalmology residency at Stanford University Medical Center in 1979.  Subsequently, she fulfilled two post-doctoral trainings in ophthalmic pathology under Dr. W. Richard Green at the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital (1979-1982); and in clinical ocular immunology under Dr. Robert B. Nussenblatt at the National Eye Institute (NEI), National Institutes of Health (1982-1986).  Dr. Chan continued her academic endeavors as medical officer at the NEI.

Since 1992, Dr. Chan has been the chief of the Immunopathology Section, Laboratory of Immunology at the NEI and she has also headed the NEI Histology Core since 1999.  Her clinical activities primarily include ophthalmic pathology and uveitis.  Her research interests are molecular pathology, experimental pathology, immunopathology, and ocular immunology.  She was the first published the immunopathological details of uveitis, the differential diagnoses of primary retinal lymphoma and uveitis with vitreal cytokine levels and molecular pathology, and the molecular pathology of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).  Her group has developed several murine models for human diseases, notably the Ccl2/Cx3cr1 double deficient mouse model for AMD and the mouse endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) model for acute anterior uveitis.  Dr. Chan is an author or co-author of 526 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 43 book chapters, and one textbook.  Currently, her research focuses on AMD, ocular inflammation, and primary retinal lymphoma.  She is presently on the Editorial Boards of 15 medical journals, such as British Journal of Ophthalmology (Section Editor), Current Eye Research, and Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences.

Dr. Chan has received quite a few honors and awards, including the Honor Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, NEI Director’s Award, NIH Academy Program Mentor, 2009 ARVO Silver Fellow, Achievements in Ophthalmic Research Award from the Chinese American Ophthalmological Society, and the Special Recognition by the President of the China Association for Science and Technology.  From 2007-2009 the American Health Assistance Foundation awarded her group the Macular Degeneration Research Grant.

In addition, Dr. Chan has given distinguished national and international lectures, including the Bi Hua-De Memorial Lecture in China, the King Khaled Memorial Lecture in Saudi Arabia, the Guy Chan Memorial and the Winifred Mao Memorial Lecture in Hong Kong, the first David BenEzra Memorial Lecture in Prague, the Distinguished Lecture Series at Cole Eye Institute in Cleveland, the Alcon Visiting Professor Lecture at the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in University of Toronto, and the Distinguished Seminar Series Lecture at the Vision Discovery Institute in Medical College of Georgia, Augusta.

She is a member of several prestigious professional organizations, including the American Ophthalmological Society, American Academy of Ophthalmology, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and American Society for Investigative Pathology.  In 2006, the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University established the Chi-Chao Laboratory in her honor.  Dr. Chan is also the honorary director of the Eye Research Institute, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center in Guangzhou, an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a Visiting Professor at the Department of Ophthalmology at the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) in Beijing.  She is also an honorary chair of the Oversea Chinese Association for Vision and Eye Research. 

Dr. Chan truly believes that a cooperative relationship, founded on mutual understanding and respect, will enable physicians and investigators to collaborate and gain knowledge freely, to understand disease pathogenesis better, and ultimately to treat patients more effectively.  For this reason, she has helped in the development and improvement of ophthalmology and vision sciences in China and, in this process, has promoted exchange among ophthalmologists and vision researchers within China, the United States, and the world.  She assisted the First International Ophthalmological Conference in China (IOCC), which was organized by her late parents, Prof. Yao-Zhen (Eugene) Chan and Wenshu (Winifred) Mao, in 1985.  With the strong support of Prof. Shi-Yuan Zhang, the President of the Chinese Ophthalmology Society, she initiated and co-organized the Second IOCC in 1995.  She joined Profs. Shi-Yuan Zhang, Mark Tso, Arthur Lim and Jorn-Hon Liu, to open the First Global Chinese Ophthalmology Congress in Beijing in 1998.  Since then, she has become a frequently invited speaker and moderator of the Chinese Ophthalmology Society Congresses. 

Dr. Chan currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Lingnan Foundation, an American philanthropy founded in 1893, which seeks to contribute to the advancement of higher education in South China.  She has certainly made differences in supporting scholarly exchange, educational innovation, and service to human society.