Faculty and Physicians

Hans E. Grossniklaus, MD, MBA

F. Phinizy Calhoun Jr. Professor of Ophthalmology
Director, L.F. Montgomery Pathology Laboratory
Director, Section of Ocular Oncology and Pathology

Dr. Grossniklaus, founding director of the Ocular Oncology and Pathology service and director of the L.F. Montgomery Laboratory, is board certified in both ophthalmology and anatomic pathology. He has expertise in diagnostic ophthalmic pathology, ocular oncology and ophthalmic pathology research, including drug delivery. In 2012, under his directorship, the Montgomery Lab reached an accumulated 65,000 specimens evaluated since the 1940s, with Grossniklaus having signed out over 50,000 cases himself.

Diagnostic ophthalmic pathology includes surgical pathology of ocular and periocular tissue, including cornea, vitreous, retina, uvea, conjunctiva, eyelid, and orbit. Ocular oncology includes conjunctival, retinal, iris, ciliary body and choroidal tumors.

He has expertise in translational research, having served as the director of the Submacular Surgery Trials (SST) Pathology Center and a clinical trial to treat patients with uveal melanoma.

His clinical areas of interest are ocular oncology and ophthalmic pathology. His research areas of interest are treatment of primary ocular melanoma and retinoblastoma and control of metastatic melanoma from the eye to the liver. Dr. Grossniklaus regularly sees and treats patients with ocular malignancies and other ophthalmic conditions.

National Recognition

Dr. Grossniklaus has received the Senior Achievement Award and two Secretariat Awards from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. In 2012 he was tapped as one of Emory University's eight Distinguished Teaching Scholars, its only School of Medicine designee. He is currently the President of the American Association of Ophthalmic Oncologists and Pathologists (2012-2014) and is the nominated President of the American Ophthalmological Society (2013-2014). He received the Zimmerman Medal from the American Association of Ophthalmic Oncologists and Pathologists (2012) for outstanding contributions to ophthalmic pathology. He has been named to deliver the Jackson Memorial Lecture to the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2014. This is the most prestigious lecture in clinical ophthalmology in the United States.

Grossniklaus was also tapped as an F1000 Faculty Member of the Year for 2011, an international honor for academic physicians. He received an Alcon Research Institute award for $100,000, given annually to six outstanding senior ophthalmic research scientists selected from a pool of 50 to 100 nominees. He is consistently ranked as a top doctor by U.S. News & World Report, where he ranks in the top 1% of doctors so listed.

Areas of Clinical Interest

•  Eye tumors

•  Macular degeneration (AMD)

•  Ocular malignancies

•  Retinal disease

Publications (PubMed link)

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Medical School: Ohio State University, Columbus OH: 1977-80

Internship: Riverside Methodist Hospital, Columbus OH: 1980-81

Residency in Ophthalmology: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland OH: 1981-84

Residency in Pathology: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland OH: 1985-88

Fellowship: Wilmer Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD: 1984-85

Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC: 1988-89

Preceptorship: Emory Eye Center (Thomas. M. Aaberg Sr. MD)

Ophthalmology (Board certified since 1985); Pathology - Anatomic (Board certified since 1987)