The UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute and the department of ophthalmology of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have appointed Dr. Michael Gorin the Harold and Pauline Price Chair in Ophthalmology and professor of ophthalmology in the retina and vision science divisions.

The appointment represents a homecoming for Gorin, who completed his medical internship at the David Geffen School of Medicine before pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship and ophthalmology residency at the Jules Stein Eye Institute.

"It is a great pleasure to welcome Dr. Gorin back to UCLA and to the full-time faculty at the Jules Stein Eye Institute," said Dr. Bartly Mondino, institute director and chair of the ophthalmology department. 

Gorin returns to UCLA from the University of Pittsburgh, where he served as assistant vice chancellor for strategic initiatives for the university's six graduate health sciences schools. He joined the Pittsburgh campus in 1990, rising to the rank of professor of ophthalmology and human genetics and serving as interim chair for both departments. He also was the founding director of the university's Center for Human Genetics and a founding senior associate of the Center for Biomedical Informatics. 

Prior to joining academics, Gorin worked at the U.S. National Eye Institute as a medical officer in the clinical branch of ophthalmic genetics. He earned his medical degree and doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and completed a combined clinical fellowship in medical retina and ophthalmic genetics at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.

In his new UCLA post, Gorin will divide his time between treating patients with retinal diseases, conducting genetic research on inherited eye disorders and training young ophthalmologists. His primary focus is the molecular genetics of hereditary eye disorders, particularly age-related macular degeneration (AMD), retinitis pigmentosa and Stargardt disease.

Gorin's research team was the first to pinpoint genetic regions that contribute to AMD, the leading cause of blindness in people over 50. His laboratory's findings led to the identification of several macular degeneration genes by multiple scientists.

Gorin was elected to the Omega Delta Honor Society for graduate studies in public health and has been the recipient of both the Lew R. Wasserman Merit Award and the Senior Scientific Investigator Award from the Research to Prevent Blindness foundation. He is co-editor of the journal Current Eye Research, has published more than 100 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and is the author of five book chapters.                

-UCLA-

ES012