Dr. Lois Smith is a pediatric ophthalmologist and molecular biologist at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital in Boston MA. She developed a mouse model of oxygen induced retinopathy which is now widely used for elucidating the basic mechanism of retinopathy of prematurity, diabetic retinopathy and aspects of macular degeneration. This has allowed substantial progress in our understanding of the disease process and allowed clinical trial testing of new drugs to prevent and treat these diseases. Her early work established the role of vascular endothelial growth factor in the development of retinal neovascularization as well as the role of insulin-like growth factor 1 and growth hormone in proliferative retinopathy.

Dr. Smith also continues to see patients in her clinical practice. She has a BSc degree in chemistry from the University of British Columbia in Canada. She received a PhD from the California Institute of Technology and an MD from Boston University. She trained as a pediatric ophthalmologist at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Children’s hospital at Harvard. She is a member of the National Eye Institute’s National Advisory Eye Council. She is the Executive Director of the Eye Research Collaborative of the V Kann Rasmussen Foundation. Dr. Smith is an editor of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science and a 2005 recipient of the Research to Prevent Blindness Lew Wasserman Merit Award. Dr. Smith is a joint citizen of Canada and the US.