We are pleased to announce the promotion of Dr. Mark Anthony Fields, MPH, PhD, to Associate Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the Yale University School of Medicine. As you know, Dr. Fields is a clinical research scientist with expertise in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other inherited retinal degenerations.
Dr. Fields earned his PhD in Cellular Biology and Anatomy at the Medical College of Georgia, investigating the immune mechanisms of viral retinitis. His work, in the laboratory of Dr. Sally Atherton, focused on the etiology of acute retinal necrosis (ARN). He completed his postdoctoral work at the Edward Harkness Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, investigating the use of stem cells to treat degenerative diseases of the eye. At Yale, Dr. Fields has established disease models using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) to investigate disease pathology associated with AMD. His work has led to an understanding of the role of epigenetics in AMD, culminating in his development of a disease-in-a-dish model of the disease that has been important for drug discovery. Using this platform, he was able to screen over 85,000 compounds from different libraries to identify a handful of compounds that are protective against an AMD phenotype in a tissue culture dish and in vivo. His work has resulted in the filing of 3 patent applications, in addition to encouraging venture capital investment in this important technology.
Dr. Fields has presented his research at national and local meetings and served as an external reviewer for journals such as The Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Stem Cell Translational Medicine, and The Journal of Retinal and Vitreous Diseases (Retina). He has received grants from the Blavatnik Fund for Innovation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Alonzo Family Fund. Dr. Fields has completed the Yale Emerging Leaders Program at the Yale School of Management also holds an Executive Master of Healthcare Management from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Fields on his promotion.