Dr. Donald Zack

Dr. Don J. Zack is an ophthalmologist and researcher at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins. He serves as co-director of the Center for Stem Cells and Ocular Regenerative Medicine (STORM) and holds the Guerrieri Professorship in Genetic Engineering and Molecular Ophthalmology. Dr. Zack's clinical and research focus is on glaucoma, a leading cause of irreversible vision loss.

His laboratory investigates the control of gene expression in retinal ganglion cells and the mechanisms by which these cells die in glaucoma. Dr. Zack is also pioneering studies to differentiate stem cells into retinal ganglion cells, with the goal of developing treatments that could restore vision in patients who have already lost significant sight due to glaucoma.

Dr. Zack completed his medical and doctoral training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, followed by a residency in ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Harvard University. He went on to complete a fellowship in glaucoma and molecular biology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he joined the faculty in 1991.