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National Eye Institute Names Sheldon S. Miller, Ph.D. Scientific Director
NEI Press Release
National Institutes of Health
National Eye Institute
Photo available in downloadable, camera-ready format on the NEI website at http://www.nei.nih.gov/photo/miller/index.asp
August 12, 2002
The National Eye Institute (NEI) has named University of California, Berkeley Professor Sheldon S. Miller, Ph.D. as Scientific Director, Division of Intramural Research.
"Dr. Miller has outstanding scientific credentials," said Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., director of the NEI. "Dr. Miller's critical administrative experience -- through his work with the UC Berkeley faculty -- will help to bolster the NEI's Intramural Research Program and enhance its national prominence."
Dr. Miller said overseeing the National Eye Institute's Intramural Research Program "presents an exceptional professional opportunity and challenge. It is exciting to be part of the government's premier institution for eye and vision research. The Bethesda campus is an unparalleled national resource that houses a large and interactive community of talented biomedical scientists and clinicians whose research is focused on a wide variety of diseases throughout the body. In this unique atmosphere, NEI researchers and clinicians can employ the full range of modern biological and physical sciences to help prevent and treat visual system disorders and diseases that afflict millions of people worldwide."
As Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley, Dr. Miller has focused his research on understanding the regulation and function of epithelial layers throughout the body. Epithelial cell layers surround and protect all of the major organs and line all the cavities of the body. Specifically, Dr. Miller's research has focused on epithelia from the breast, lung, and eye. His work utilizes techniques from membrane biophysics and cell and molecular biology. Dr. Miller is also developing animal models of retinal disease to help establish therapeutic interventions.
Dr. Miller received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Case Institute of Technology, and his Master's degree in Physics from The Ohio State University. After earning his Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Michigan, he completed an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship -- and was appointed assistant research physiologist -- at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Miller also served as assistant professor, associate professor, and professor of vision science in the School of Optometry at UC Berkeley.
Dr. Miller has authored or co-authored more than 60 scientific papers, and has received continuous grant support from NIH since 1978 to further his research. He has a patent pending (Use of Recombinant Gene Delivery Vectors for Treating or Preventing Diseases of the Eye), and is a member of several professional societies, including The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, The American Physiological Society, and The Biophysical Society.
The NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is the Federal government's lead agency for vision research that leads to sight-saving treatments and plays a key role in reducing visual impairment and blindness. The NIH is an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
