Ian M. MacDonald MSc, MD CM is Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alberta and Edmonton Zone Chief of the Ophthalmology Program of Alberta Health Services. From 2007-2008, he served for a two year term as Branch Chief of Ophthalmic Genetics at the National Eye Institute of the NIH. Dr. MacDonald completed residency training in Family Medicine at McGill University, Montreal, Ophthalmology residency training at the University of Ottawa and Clinical Genetics fellowship training at the University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, Kingston and the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. Dr. MacDonald is a member of the International Society for Genetic Eye Diseases & Retinoblastoma, the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology and Vision. He has been a President of the Canadian Association of Pediatric Ophthalmologists, and President of the Association of Canadian University Professors of Ophthalmology. He is an Editor Emeritus of the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology and currently serves on the Editorial Board of Survey of Ophthalmology and the American Journal of Ophthalmology for Genetics.

Dr. MacDonald has maintained continuous external grant funding throughout his career. Prior to becoming Chair in Edmonton, in 1992, he was a Career Scientist of the Ontario Ministry of Health at the University of Ottawa. His areas of interest are inherited retinal disorders, in particular, maculopathies and choroideremia. In 2009, in recognition of his work in Canada to foster the development of academic Ophthalmology, he was elected to as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Research Support: Choroideremia Research Foundation, Canada; Foundation Fighting Blindness, Canada, Canadian Institutes for Health Research