Neuropharmacology

Biography

Dr Katz is a native New Yorker, born and bred here, and a product of its public schools. After graduating from the Bronx High School of Science, he attended Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, and graduated at the tender ago of 19, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He was an Austen Colgate Scholar and thereafter went on to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, where he graduated with Honors, and was given the Binz Scholar award for academic excellence. During his medical school years he served as an honorary registrar at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases at Queen’s Square, London, England. Following medical school Dr. Katz went on to train in Internal Medicine at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Thereafter he went to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland where he did research in Neuro-Virology. Following that, he completed a Neurology residency at Harvard Medical School, the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital and the Beth Israel Medical Center, all in Boston. Next he completed an Ophthalmology residency at the Tufts-New England Medical Center, again in Boston. Following that he went for fellowship to the University of California at San Francisco, in Neuro-Ophthalmology. Forced to find work, he joined the faculty of the University of Arizona and continued to pursue an academic career that brought him to the University of California at San Diego, UCSF and Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, and the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he served as Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology. While there he established the first FDA Fellowship in Ophthalmology Drug Development. Along the way he obtained an M.B.A. in Health Care and Finance form the University of Rochester’s School of Business. He moved to industry full time, and has been part of three starts up Ophthalmology Drug development companies. The first, Eyetech, in NYC, brought the first drug for macular degeneration to market. He then served as CMO of Fovea Pharmaceuticals in Paris, and next as CEO of Danube Pharmaceuticals, in NYC. All were successfully sold. He came back to academia and joined Roy Chuck M.D., Ph.D. at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in NYC. There he has worked with Dr. Chuck to make that department one of the strongest in the Northeast. He serves as the Francis DeJur Chair of Ophthalmology, and is Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology and Neurosurgery. In addition, he serves as Executive Director of the Office of Clinical Trials, which manages all trials in all arenas for the medical college and the hospital. He is a renowned teacher, educator and diagnostician, a much sought after consultant, and truly a doctor’s doctor. He is widely published with over 200 citations, has been an invited speaker and visiting professor at over 100 centers, has served on the editorial board of several major specialty journals, has been a funded research from both the NIH and industry. He has held active leadership positions in multiple organizations such as the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society. He has served on the board of several companies, delivered many named lectureships, and is still Chairman of the Board of both World Eye Missions and the Center for Ophthalmology Research and Education, both philanthropic ventures. He has led and done surgery in medical missions around the world from Bulgaria to Zimbabwe, from Guatemala to Peru, from Trinidad to St Lucia. He holds several patents in Ophthalmology drugs and technology. He is an avid fly fisherman, a mediocre golfer, a devoted sailor, and a frustrated country western musician on the 5 strings Banjo and 12-string guitar. He has been married to Deborah Ann for 35 years; together they have four children – Nathaniel, Sarah, Matthew and Jacob - five grand daughters and one grandson. They live and reside in Manhattan.

Research Interest

Reserach Interest: NEURO-Ophthalmology