J. William Harbour

J. William Harbour, M.D., is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He specializes in ocular oncology, particularly uveal melanoma, retinoblastoma, and lymphoma. Dr. Harbour earned his M.D. at Johns Hopkins University, completed ophthalmology residency at Wills Eye Hospital, and advanced training in vitreoretinal surgery, ocular oncology, and molecular oncology at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, UCSF, and Washington University in St. Louis.

His research focuses on genomic technologies to understand and treat eye cancers, including identifying genomic drivers of uveal melanoma metastasis and retinoblastoma progression. He developed a 15-gene prognostic test for uveal melanoma, now a clinical standard. Dr. Harbour is a member of the Association of American Physicians, American Academy of Ophthalmology, and founder of the Collaborative Ocular Oncology Group.

Key scientific awards include the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology’s Cogan Award and the Macula Society’s Paul Henkind and Rosenthal Awards. His lab at UT Southwestern explores mechanisms of tumor progression in eye cancers, including BAP1 mutations and PRAME expression in uveal melanoma and ESRRG’s role in retinoblastoma.