Alfredo A. Sadun

Dr. Alfredo A. Sadun, MD, PhD, is a Professor and Vice-Chair of Ophthalmology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, holding the Flora L. Thornton Endowed Chair at Doheny Eye Centers-UCLA. A graduate of MIT (1972), Albert Einstein College of Medicine (MD, 1978; PhD, 1976), and Harvard Medical School (Ophthalmology residency and Neuro-Ophthalmology fellowship, 1983), he transitioned Doheny Eye Institute to UCLA in 2014 and has led research on optic nerve diseases for over 40 years.

• Key Contributions: First to map human eye-brain pathways (1980s), identify Alzheimer’s-related optic neuropathy, and resolve the 1993 Cuban blindness epidemic.
• Research Focus: Mitochondrial dysfunction in blindness (LHON, Dominant Optic Atrophy), neurodegenerative links to Alzheimer’s, and gene therapies like Lenadogene Nolparvovec.
• Current work spans gene therapy trials, retinal imaging, and ocular manifestations of systemic neurodegeneration.

Scientific Recognition:

• 1999 Pisart Award (Vision Science)
• 2002 Straatsma Prize (Residency Education)
• 2012 Hoyt Award (Neuro-Ophthalmology)
• 2014 Heed Award (Academic Ophthalmology)
• 2016 Purpura Award (American Science)
• 2017 AAO Life Achievement Award
• 2020 ARVO Gold Medal Fellow

With 400+ peer-reviewed articles, 5 patents, and 25+ years of NIH funding, his work bridges ophthalmology, neuroscience, and public health.