Dr. Xin Zhang Named the New Vision Science Research Director at CUIMC

We are very pleased to announce that Xin Zhang, PhD is our new Vision Science Research Director for the Department of Ophthalmology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center! Dr. Zhang follows in the footsteps of Rando Allikmets, PhD, who led the research division for more than 20 years through a period of unparalleled growth.  

Prior to coming to Columbia, Dr. Zhang was a tenured Professor of Medical & Molecular Genetics at Indiana University School of Medicine. He completed his undergraduate degree in Physics at Beijing University and received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University. He completed his post-doctoral training within the Division of Genetics in the Department of Medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Upon joining Columbia in 2013, Dr. Zhang was honored with the Jules & Doris Stein Professorship from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB). He quickly rose through the ranks at Columbia achieving tenure in less than five years and being promoted to Full Professor. In 2021, he was appointed the Herbert & Florence Irving Professor of Ophthalmic Science. Throughout his career, Dr. Zhang has received robust extramural funding, including having four simultaneous NEI/NIH grants on two separate occasions. His work in anterior segment development and genetics has been published in high impact journals, while his leadership in the field has been widely recognized. He has served on numerous study sections for both federal and private funding agencies and has held editorial roles in numerous journals, such as PLoS Genetics, PNAS, PLoS ONE, and PloS Biology.

Beyond his academic achievements, Dr. Zhang leads by example. In recent years,  he facilitated a smooth transition out of the Eye Institute Research Annex to Hammer Health Sciences Building. This success was achieved through close collaboration with the entire research division to achieve a clear vision for the future that will enable us to take our next steps in Vision Science.