Thaddeus P. Dryja, MD is a physician and noted biomedical researcher. A 1976 graduate of Yale Medical School, he specializes in ophthalmology and is recognized for his 1986 discovery of the Rb tumor suppressor gene, mutations in which lead to a cancer of the eye known as retinoblastoma

Retinoblastoma

Retinoblastoma is a rapidly developing cancer that develops in the cells of retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye. In the developed world, Rb has one of the best cure rates of all childhood cancers , with more than nine out of every ten sufferers surviving into...

. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences

United States National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...

 in 1996, and currently is Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....

. He led a research group at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, known locally as Mass. Eye and Ear, is a specialty hospital providing patient care for disorders of the eye, ear, nose, throat, head and neck. Founded in 1824, MEEI is an international leader in Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology research and a teaching partner of...

in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, where his group identified the first gene to cause typical retinitis pigmentosa (the rhodopsin gene). In 2006 he started work at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, where he currently is Vice President and Global Head of Ophthalmology Research.

External links

• http://www.meei.harvard.edu/shared/staff/ophthodocs/tdryja.htm