The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine has named Indian American physician scientist Dr. Pradeep Y. Ramulu as chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, effective Aug. 3.
One of the world’s foremost glaucoma specialists, Dr. Ramulu is a Bascom Palmer alumnus who returns to lead the institution where his career in glaucoma care was shaped.
He brings nearly two decades of transformative clinical, research and educational leadership from the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University. As chair, Dr. Ramulu will hold the Kathleen and Stanley J. Glaser Chair in Ophthalmology.
Dr. Ramulu is a physician-scientist of international distinction whose career has been dedicated to understanding and reducing the impact of glaucoma on patients’ daily lives.
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Born in Chicago, he earned his bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Stanford University with high honors. He then completed his MD at Johns Hopkins University, along with a PhD in molecular biology/genetics in the lab of Jeremy Nathans. He did an ophthalmology residency at the Wilmer Eye Institute, a glaucoma fellowship at Bascom Palmer and a master’s degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Ramulu joined Wilmer’s faculty in 2007 and serves as the Sheila K. West Professor of Ophthalmology, the chief of the Glaucoma Division and director of the Wilmer StARR (Stimulating Access to Research in Residency) Program. He is also a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Dr. Ramulu succeeds Eduardo C. Alfonso, who has led Bascom Palmer since 2007.
“Bascom Palmer Eye Institute is truly the crown jewel of the University of Miami Health System and the appointment of Dr. Ramulu as chair ensures that Bascom Palmer remains in the hands of a world-class leader who understands, from personal experience as a Bascom Palmer fellow, what makes this institution extraordinary,” said Dipen J. Parekh, chief executive officer of UHealth — University of Miami Health System.
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“I believe deeply that excellence in clinical care, the discovery of transformative new knowledge and training the next generation of physicians and scientists are all part of a single mission, to work towards a world where blindness and visual impairment are vanishingly rare, both here in Miami and throughout the world,” said Dr. Ramulu. “My goal is to inspire and aid my colleagues, my trainees and providers worldwide in achieving this mission through compassion, knowledge and the capable delivery of eye care,”
Dr. Ramulu has received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health since 2007 and has authored more than 280 peer-reviewed publications, 10 book chapters and two books. He has been honored with the Secretariat, Achievement and Senior Awards from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Pisart Award for Vision Science.
He has served as program chair of the American Glaucoma Society, Glaucoma Research Society and World Glaucoma Congress, and directs the Education Committee for the World Glaucoma Association. He is a mentor of the National Advisory Eye Council and will become president of the American Glaucoma Society in 2027.