Faculty and Physicians

Robert L. Church, PhD

Professor of Ophthalmology
Research (Basic Science) Section

Dr. Church uses biochemical and molecular biological techniques to investigate the nature of the mammalian ocular lens fiber cell membrane proteins. These membrane proteins have been implicated in several forms of cataract, especially aging cataract. He is investigating the genetic elements which control the expression of lens membrane proteins and how these genes are altered in cataract.

Dr. Church is a founding and current senior editor for Molecular Vision, a peer-reviewed vision research journal published on the World Wide Web.

Dr. Church was recently recognized by a team of health economists at Columbia University currently doing research on the careers of top National Institutes of Health (NIH) grantees. Their hypothesis is that prominent researchers positively influence the research productivity of the colleagues around them. NIH records have placed Dr. Church above the 95th percentile in the distribution of (extramural) NIH grants over the last 25 years.

Education
Kansas State University, Manhattan KS: BS
1962-1966

Kansas State University, Manhattan KS: MS
1966-1968

Kansas State University, Manhattan KS: PhD
1968-1970

Postdoctoral
Department of Biochemistry, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington CT:
1970-1973

Professional
Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington CT:
1973-1975

Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh PA:
1975-1980

Senior Scientist, W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center, Lake Placid NY: 1980-1982

Professor of Cellular Anatomy and Research, Professor of Ophthalmology, Albany Medical College, Albany NY:
1982-1984

Professor of Ophthalmology and Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA:
1984-present