UK HealthCare

Ambati Receives William R. Willard Dean's Recognition Award

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 25, 2013) − Jayakrishna Ambati, professor and vice-chair in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, professor in the Department of Physiology, and the E. Vernon and Eloise C. Smith Endowed Chair in Macular Degeneration Research, at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, recently  received the 2013 William R. Willard Dean's Recognition Award.  The award recognizes faculty members who have made outstanding contributions in all of the College's mission areas.

Since Ambati's arrival at UK in 2001, he has made significant contributions to the University as a teacher, physician-scientist, and researcher. His published studies appear in top-tier journals such as, Cell, Nature, and the New England Journal of Medicine. On a national and international level, Ambati and his team are perhaps most noted for groundbreaking discoveries and contributions to the body of knowledge related to Age Related Macular Degeneration.

Ambati's research has led to numerous coveted physician-scientist awards such as the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Translational Research Clinical Scientist Award, the Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar in Aging, the Prix Soubrane de la Recherehe en Ophthalmalogie in Paris, France, for his contributions to research in age-related macular degeneration, and the Mark Brothers Award from the Indiana University School of Medicine.  Additionally, he was recently inducted as a member of Club Jules Gonin, which is regarded as the most exclusive society of retina physicians and surgeons in the world.

"All of these well-deserved awards are directly related to Dr. Ambati's development of a prolific and robust research program in eye disease," said Andrew Pearson, professor and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. "It is truly amazing to hear at national and international conferences that our institution is considered to have one of the best macular degeneration research programs in the world, a feat which Jay has personally and masterfully engineered and executed. The development of a top-tier ocular biology research program along with the multitude of Dr. Ambati's other professional attributes embodies the spirit of the William Willard Award."

Ambati received the award at the Academic Convocation and Honors Day at the College of Medicine on Oct. 9.

Media Contact: Ann Blackford at 859-323-6442 or ann.blackford@uky.edu