Speakers

Carmen Puliafito, MD, MBA
Dean
Keck School of Medicine
Professor of Ophthalmology and Health Management
Doheny Eye Institute
University of Southern California

Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D., M.B.A., is Dean of the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, holder of the May S. and John Hooval Dean's Chair in Medicine, and Professor of Ophthalmology and Health Management at the Doheny Eye Institute. Dr. Puliafito assumed his role at the Keck School on November l, 2007.

Dr. Puliafito is recognized as co-inventor of the technology of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and being the first ophthalmologist to use this technology to study the human macula in health and disease. From the first publication about OCT in 1991, to the implementation of the first clinical system two years later, Dr. Puliafito has led in the development of OCT technology-a technology which has truly revolutionized retinal practice and made a real difference for both patients and retinal specialists. From a single system at the New England Eye Center at Tufts University School of Medicine in 1993, OCT has grown to have a global impact-now with more than 7,000 systems in use every day throughout the world. For his work on OCT, Dr. Puliafito was awarded (along with James Fujimoto and Eric Swanson) the 2002 Rank Prize--the world's most prestigious award in optoelectronics. Throughout his career Dr. Puliafito has been an innovator, most recently participating in the introduction of bevacizumab (Avastin) for the treatment of retinal disorders. He was the first to describe the use of semiconductor diode laser for retinal photocoagulation and did pioneering basic science research in excimer laser photoablation and optical breakdown and photodisruption.

As a chair of two departments of ophthalmology over a 16 year period, Dr. Puliafito established himself as one of most creative and successful leaders in academic ophthalmology. From 2001 to 2007, he served as Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine. He earned acclaim for creating and enacting a strategy for growth that would propel Bascom Palmer to new heights in clinical practice, education and research. The faculty increased from 33 members to 70. Two satellite patient care centers were opened in Naples and Plantation, Florida, extending Bascom Palmer's services across South Florida. He guided fundraising for and development of a $22 million, seven acre campus in Palm Beach Gardens that represents the most technologically advanced eye care center in the United States. Bascom Palmer's research funding rose from $2.5 million in FY 2002 to more than $8 million in FY 2007, and its clinical revenues rose from $16 million to a projected $35 million in 2007.

Bascom Palmer seized back the No. 1 ranking in U.S. News and World Report's rankings of eye hospitals in 2004, three years after his arrival and since increased its lead over Johns Hopkins' Wilmer Eye Institute, having been ranked No. 1, 4 years in a row.

Prior to his work at Bascom Palmer, Dr. Puliafito served as founding director of the New England Eye Center and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Tufts (1991 to 2001). There he accepted and met the challenge of building an eye program at Tufts that could compete with well-established Boston-area counterparts; during this time he solidified his credentials as an administrator by earning an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Puliafito started his career at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, where he was founder of the Laser Research Laboratory , Director of the Morse Laser Center, a member of the Retina Service and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. A graduate of Harvard College and a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Puliafito completed his residency and fellowship at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, as well as fellowships in ophthalmic pathology and vitreoretinal diseases and surgery.