About Ajay E. Kuriyan

There are so many exciting things happening in the retina space right now, it’s hard to highlight just one aspect, says Ajay Kuriyan. But he believes that gene therapy – with “its potential for vision restoration in inherited retinal degenerations, either through targeted applications for specific genetic mutations or genotype-agnostic approaches using optogenetics” – is a great example of how the retina space is evolving. “Gene therapy offers the potential for decreasing treatment burden by inducing patients' intraocular cells to produce anti-vascular endothelial growth factor for some of our most commonly treated diseases, such diabetic retinopathy, neo-vascular age-related macular degeneration, and vein occlusion,” Dr. Kuriyan observes.

Over the next few years, Dr. Kuriyan’s primary career goal is to work towards developing an effective medical therapy to prevent proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). While a safe, effective, and well-tolerated treatment to prevent PVR remains a key unmet need in retina, he points out that Wills Eye’s collaborative translational research program has “identified several promising therapeutic targets that have demonstrated efficacy in preclinical models.” His team’s goal now is to complete the laboratory and translational studies that are needed to advance these therapies into early-phase clinical trials.

“The opportunity to translate discoveries from the laboratory into treatments that preserve vision is what motivates and inspires my research every day,” Ajay says. “I hope to complete the necessary experiments to move these agents to early clinical studies and eventually develop a treatment for PVR.”

Looking to his mentors, Dr. Kuriyan thanks Steven Feldon for spurring his love of research, and credits Jean-Marie Parel – one of the most prolific inventors in ophthalmology – for teaching him “the importance of perseverance.” He also points to the “outstanding faculty across all the specialties at Bascom Palmer,” paying tribute to “tremendous mentors” such as Harry Flynn, Nina Berrocal, Bill Smiddy, Justin Townsend, Tom Albini, Sander Dubovy, Phil Rosenfeld, Ninel Gregori, and Janet Davis for both his clinical and surgical training. He adds: “Although I never trained with Sunil Srivastava, he has also been an important mentor to me.”

“At the Retina Service of Wills Eye Hospital, I also have fantastic peer collaborators and mentors, especially Jay Sridhar and Yoshi Yonekawa, with whom I’ve worked closely through every stage of training and my career,” Dr. Kuriyan continues. And while his former and current trainees are not his mentors, “their energy constantly inspires me and they are major contributors to so many of our research projects.”

Outside ophthalmology, Kuriyan is an avid basketball supporter and “diehard Knicks fan.” He loves to spend time with his family – his wife, Tuma, and their two children, Asha and Ashish – exploring hiking trails, playing board games, and taking vacations together. “Their love, patience, and support have been the foundation of everything I've been fortunate to achieve,” he says.

From the nominator: “Dr. Ajay Kuriyan has devoted his career to perfecting the latest surgical techniques and is making great strides in the lab with PVR pathogenesis on the path towards finding effective prevention treatments.”