Iowa Eye Association News Sept, 2002. Series 2, no. 37.

University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

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Faculty Activities

Stone named as Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator

Edwin M. Stone, MD, PhD, is one of only 12 scientists nationwide to be appointed as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator in 2002. He is the first practicing ophthalmologist and the fifth University of Iowa investigator to receive such an appointment.
Dr. Stone calls his appointment “a tribute to the power of the team approach.” He attributes the fact that he is the first ophthalmologist to become an HHMI Investigator to the nature of ophthalmology in academic medical centers. “Ophthalmology departments tend to be small, surgically oriented departments with clinically trained staff. At Iowa, I have been given sufficient support and encouragement to allow me to remain active in the clinic as well as the laboratory.” Anyone who has spoken to Dr. Stone or attended one of his presentations knows he is fond of analogies and metaphors. He says, “It’s like watching a Springer Spaniel go flying over a house. And you say ‘Wow!’ And your first impulse is to go ask the dog how he did it. Well, obviously it wasn’t the dog, it was the group of people who put the dog on the catapult who got him over the house. You should ask the catapult team how they did it, not the dog. Of course, you can talk to the dog about how it felt to make the trip over the house (great!) or how he survived (I’m not sure). But, you have to give credit to the people who got him over the house safely. I work with an amazing group of people, and it is their work that got me over the house.”
Dr. Stone is director of the Roy J. Carver Molecular Ophthalmology Laboratory, the UI Center for Macular Degeneration, and the Kolder Electrodiagnostic Laboratory. He has worked closely with national and international research teams that have located genes responsible for 14 different eye diseases and identified more than 70 different mutations that cause a range of diseases. Stone and colleagues identified a gene that causes primary open angle glaucoma and helped identify genes for an inherited form of macular degeneration, three forms of corneal dystrophy and enhanced S-cone syndrome, a rare developmental form of visual impairment.
Aviator-industrialist Howard Hughes founded the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, based in Maryland, in 1953. The HHMI fosters the translation of basic science discoveries into treatment advances for patients. The institute supports investigators who study cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience and structural biology at academic medical centers and universities. This prestigious renewable award includes research support exceeding $1 million annually for five years.