Joan Miller

Dr. Joan W. Miller
Born	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Residence	Massachusetts
Alma mater	MIT (SB Biology) Harvard Medical School (MD)
Known for	Development of Visudyne® (verteporfin photodynamic therapy) Scientific basis of anti-VEGF therapy for eye disease
Awards	Champalimaud Vision Award (2014) Mildred Weisenfeld Award (2015)
Scientific career
Fields	Ophthalmology (vitreo-retinal surgery) Angiogenesis Neuroscience Genetics
Institutions	Harvard Medical School Massachusetts Eye and Ear Massachusetts General Hospital

Joan W. Miller is a Canadian-American ophthalmologist and scientist who has made notable contributions to the treatment and understanding of eye disorders (particularly diseases of the retina). She is credited for developing photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin (Visudyne®), the first pharmacologic therapy for retinal disease. She also co-discovered the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in eye disease and demonstrated the therapeutic potential of VEGF inhibitors, forming the scientific basis of anti-VEGF therapy for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, and related conditions.

Joan Miller (née Whitten) was born in Toronto, Canada, and attended Bishop Strachan School. She received her SB in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she also rowed crew for four years, taking 2nd place in the Head of the Charles Regatta in 1978 and 3rd nationally in 1980. She received her MD at Harvard Medical School in 1985 and interned at Newton-Wellesley Hospital; she then completed residency training in ophthalmology in the Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology in 1989, and a research and clinical fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery at Massachusetts Eye and Ear (the primary affiliate hospital of the Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology) in 1991.