Demetrios Vavvas, MD

Demetrios G. Vavvas, M.D.,Ph.D. earned his B.Sc. in Biology/Neurosciences with First Class Honors from McGill University with a thesis on active potassium transport in plant vacuoles. He obtained his MD, PhD degree in Medicine and Physiology from Boston University School of Medicine, where he studied metabolism and enzyme regulation in skeletal muscle in normal and diabetic states under Prof. N. B. Ruderman. At the same time he also studied proto-oncogene regulation with Prof. Joseph Avruch at MGH where he co-discovered a novel pro-apoptotic effector of Ras (Nore-1). Subsequently he completed his ophthalmology training at Harvard Medical School/Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary. He served as Associate Chief Residency Affairs and Director of the Eye Trauma Service at Mass Eye and Ear and subsequently he stayed on for a vitreoretinal fellowship, becoming Chief Fellow in 2006. He joined the faculty in late 2007 as an attending of the Retina Service at Mass. Eye and Ear and Principal Investigator at the Angiogenesis Laboratory. He currently is the J.W. Miller Scholar in Retinal Research. His lab focuses on Neuroprotection in neurodegenerative diseases with particular attention to the role of RIP Kinases and the significance of combinatorial approaches. He also investigates the role of the energy sensor of the cell (AMP-dependent Kinase), and he is studying novel anti-inflammatory medications and metabolic regulators in ocular cancers. His clinical interests involve Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy, Cancers and Trauma as well as surgical innovation, and he is investigating improvements in surgical techniques and advancement of minimal invasive surgery. He was the first to describe use of small gauge vitrectomy for intraocular foreign bodies and for complications of cataract surgery. His active in clinical studies of AMD and Retina Detachment.