Alfred Sommer

ALFRED SOMMER, MD, MHS, is a professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute and Dean Emeritus and professor of epidemiology and international health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He was the founding Director (1980-1990) of the Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins, which focuses on clinical epidemiology and public health aspects of blindness prevention and child survival.

Dr. Sommer’s current research interests include outcomes assessment; clinical guidelines; the screening, diagnosis, and management of glaucoma and other blindness prevention strategies; and cost containment. He demonstrated the impact of vitamin A deficiency on childhood blindness and mortality in developing countries. His newest efforts concern the growing interface between medicine and public health. He has published five books and over 300 scientific articles and has received numerous awards. His current research interests include child survival and blindness prevention strategies, micronutrient interventions, and the interface between public health and clinical medicine.

Dr. Sommer received his MD from Harvard Medical School and his MHS in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His many honors include, among others: the Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research, the How Medal of the American Ophthalmologic Society, the Duke Elder Medal and the Gonin Medal of the International Council of Ophthalmology, the Prince Mahidol Award for Contribution to Medicine and Public Health (from the King of Thailand), and the Helmut Horten, Charles A. Dana, and Pollin Prizes for medical research.