Patricia Ann D'Amore is a professor at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

, where she is the Charles L. Schepens Professor of

Ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

, and Professor of

Pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

Early life and career

D'Amore grew up in

Everett, Massachusetts Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, directly north of Boston, bordering the neighborhood of Charlestown. The population was 49,075 at the time of the 2020 United States census. Everett was the last city in the ...

and graduated from

Matignon High School The Cambridge Matignon School (originally Father Matignon High School) was a private, co-educational Roman Catholic college-preparatory school in Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. The school was under the auspices of the ...

in Cambridge. After a 1973 BA at

Regis College (Massachusetts) Regis College is a private Catholic university run by the Sisters of St. Joseph in Weston, Massachusetts, United States. Regis was founded as a women's college in 1927. In 2007, Regis became co-educational; it was the last Catholic women's co ...

, she received a PhD in biology at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in 1977 under the direction David Shepro. She then became a postdoctoral fellow in Physiological Chemistry and Ophthalmology at

Johns Hopkins Medical School The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established in 1893 following the construction of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, the ...

, and became Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology there in 1980. In 1981 she moved to the Surgical Research Lab at

Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital (formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2013) is the main pediatric training and research hospital of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University. It is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children ...

and joined the Harvard Medical School faculty as Assistant Professor of Surgery. She was appointed Associate Professor at Harvard in 1989, and full professor in 1998. In 2012 she was appointed Charles L. Schepens Professor of

, and in 2013, Professor of

. She has been the Director of the Howe Laboratory at

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Massachusetts Eye and Ear (Mass Eye and Ear, or MEE) is a specialty hospital located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, which focuses on ophthalmology (eye), otolaryngology (ear/nose/throat), and related medicine and research. Founded in 18 ...

since 2014, and its Associate Chief of Basic and Translational Research since 2014. She also obtained an MBA from

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

(1987).

Research

Her research focuses on the pathogenesis of eye disease, in particular in

angiogenesis Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, formed in the earlier stage of vasculogenesis. Angiogenesis continues the growth of the vasculature mainly by processes of sprouting and ...

, and in the contribution of lipids and inflammation to the development of

age related macular degeneration Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no symptoms. Some people experien ...

. She is one of a group of scientists that discovered the importance of

Vascular endothelial growth factor Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF, ), originally known as vascular permeability factor (VPF), is a signal protein produced by many cells that stimulates the formation of blood vessels. To be specific, VEGF is a sub-family of growth factors ...

(VEGF) in rapidly developing "wet" Macular Degeneration, which led to

anti-VEGF therapy Anti–vascular endothelial growth factor therapy, also known as anti-VEGF () therapy or medication, is the use of medications that block vascular endothelial growth factor. This is done in the treatment of certain cancers and in age-related macu ...

, which is widely used in western countries to slow down disease progression. D'Amore's research group has authored over 150 original research papers. She is highly cited, with 4 papers cited more than 1000 times. She is the founder of the Boston Angiogenesis Meeting, which started its annual meetings in 1998. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal ''Microvascular Research'', and has been an associate editor of '' The American Journal of Pathology''. She has also been on the editorial board of ''FASEB Journal''.

Awards and honors

* 1994: The Alcon Research Award and the Cogan Award * 2004: Elected to The Academy at Harvard Medical School * 2006: Senior Scientific Investigator Award from Research to Prevent Blindness * 2009: Appointed an Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Fellow * 2010: Invited lecturer for the 5th Annual Jeffrey M. Isner, M.D. Endowed Memorial Lectureship * 2012: Rous-Whipple Award from the American Society of Investigative Pathology * 2013: Everett Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award from Harvard University * 2013: Invited lecturer for the Hans Vilbertn Lecture, University of Regensburg, Germany * 2013: Women Physicians Sector Mentorship Award from the American Medical Association * 2014: Endre Balazs Prize from the International Society for Eye Research * 2014: António Champalimaud Award * 2015: Proctor Medal from the Association For Research & Vision Ophthalmology * 2018: Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

References

External links

Profile at Massachusetts Eye and Ear

CV at Harvard
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Amore, Patricia Living people Harvard Medical School faculty American pathologists American ophthalmologists American vision scientists Women vision scientists Year of birth missing (living people) American women scientists American women academics American women ophthalmologists 20th-century American women physicians 20th-century American physicians 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians