When he joined the UIC faculty as head of UIC’s Department of Ophthalmology, Dimitri T. Azar, MD, had a clear vision of the future for his new department: “My goal is to lead this outstanding department to become one of the top departments of ophthalmology in the country.”
With a resume boasting some of the most highly regarded ophthalmology institutions in the country, Azar is more than equipped to reach that goal. After earning his medical degree at the American University of Beirut, Azar completed his residency in ophthalmology and a clinical fellowship in corneal and external diseases at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Harvard Medical School. Since then, he’s held key positions at Johns Hopkins Hospital School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Schepens Eye Research Institute.
Research has played a vital role in Azar’s career—he’s published approximately 330 scholarly articles and chapters and edited or co-edited more than 10 textbooks— but he feels his role as a teacher is a necessary complement to his work in the lab. “One of the best ways of propagating the information that we gain from our teaching and clinical activities is by teaching,” says Azar.