OHSU Casey Eye Institute researcher David Huang, M.D., Ph.D., has been awarded the 2017 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize by the National Academy of Engineering. The Russ Prize recognizes an outstanding bioengineering achievement in widespread use that improves the human condition in areas ranging from biomedical instrumentation and prosthetic technologies to pharmaceutical processing and diagnostic technologies.
Huang, the Peterson Professor of Ophthalmology and professor of biomedical engineering, was a member of the James Fujimoto team that invented optical coherence tomography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The National Academy of Engineering cites the team for dramatically improving the quality of life for people with diminished eyesight by leveraging creative engineering to invent imaging technology essential for preventing blindness and treating vascular and other diseases.
OCT has had a tremendous scientific, clinical, and economic impact on society. In the 25 years since its invention, OCT has become one of the most widely used technologies for imaging the human eye. Huang has contributed to the advances that make OCT an essential tool for treating blinding diseases ranging from macular degeneration to diabetic retinopathy. He has contributed to polarization-sensitive, swept-source, spectroscopic, and anterior eye OCT, as well as OCT angiography.
Ranked the 4th most influential figure in the world of ophthalmology in the Ophthalmologist PowerList 2016, Huang has 16 issued patents and 14 pending patents in the areas of OCT, mobile health testing, tissue engineering, and corneal laser surgery. He is also an inventor of laser therapeutic devices and mobile diagnostic technology, and a founder of Gobiquity Mobile Health, which makes mobile diagnostic apps for professional and home use. Huang shared the 2012 António Champalimaud Vision Award and is a recipient of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology’s Jonas Friedenwald Award and the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Senior Achievement Award. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.
The $500,000 biennial Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize will be presented to Huang, James Fujimoto, Adolf Fercher, Christoph Hitzenberger, and Eric Swanson at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., at 5:30 EST on Feb. 21. The event will be live streamed.
