Dr. José-Alain Sahel is the Chair and Professor of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Director of the UPMC Eye Center, and Eye and Ear Foundation Endowed Chair of Ophthalmology. Sahel also serves as Professor at the School of Medicine at Sorbonne University and Director of the Hospital-University Institute FOReSIGHT, Paris. Sahel received his medical degree at Paris University Medical School and obtained specialty certification in ophthalmology at Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg, France. He was then a research fellow at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and a visiting scholar in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. Before Sahel accepted the position in Pittsburgh (2016), he held many academic faculty and leadership positions in Europe, including Biomedical Sciences at the Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, and Departments of Ophthalmology at the Quinze-Vingts National Eye Hospital, Rothschild Ophthalmology Foundation, and Ophthalmology Clinical Investigation Center, Paris, and Technological Innovation at the Collège de France. Dr. Sahel holds an honorary degree from the University of Geneva.
Dr. Sahel is an international expert in treating retinal diseases and developing vision restoration interventions, including retinal implants, gene therapy, and other advanced biomedical technologies (e.g, high-resolution imaging technologies for retinal and optic nerve conditions), for untreatable vision impairments or diagnoses (e.g., retinitis pigmentosa, retinal dystrophies, age-related macular degeneration, and Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy). Sahel and his research team have led the field of optogenetic vision restoration. These pioneer techniques potentially help patients who are blind or visually impaired. Based on a neuroscience perspective, Sahel’s recent research starts exploring the brain-computer interface technology in ophthalmology. With his research development, Sahel has been a co-inventor on more than 40 patents and a co-founder of many innovative healthcare and research-based companies (e.g., Fovea Pharmaceuticals (later merged with Sanofi Aventis), GenSight Biologics Inc., Pixium Vision Inc., Tilak Healthcare, Chronolife, Prophesee, Sparing Vision). Most distinctly, Sahel founded and directed the French National Reference Center for Retinal Dystrophies from 2006 to 2019 and Vision Institute in Paris from 2008 to 2020. Under his leadership, a network of more than 90 European clinical trial centers has been formed. Dr. Sahel has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including Officer of the Legion of Honour (2018), the National Order of Merit (2014), Grand Prix for Neurosciences of the Foundation NRJ, Institut de France (2006); the CNRS Medal of Innovation (2012); the Foundation for Fighting Blindness Trustee Award (2005), Liura Liggett-Gund Award (2015), and the Breakthrough of the Year in Life Sciences - Falling Walls Foundation (2021). He was elected to the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis, Académie des Sciences-Institut de France, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, National Academy of Technologies of France, Association of American Physicians and American Ophthalmology Society.
Dr. Sahel, with his strong research and clinical background in preserving and restoring sight for patients with low vision or blindness, will be the Co-Investigator to lead the multi-disciplinary research and clinical teams of Pittsburgh Low Vision Research Collaboration. Sahel will guide the research developments, as well as assemble resources among research, clinical, and industrial partners at the regional, national, and international levels.
Dr. Sahel also holds the following titles and credentials:
- Exceptional Class Professor of Ophthalmology - Sorbonne Université Director of the Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire FOReSIGHT
- Adjunct Professor of Robotics and Bioingeneering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh
- Adjunct Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
- Honorary Professor, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London
Expertise and Roles
- Retinal dystrophies: fundamental and clinical research
- Gene therapy
- Optogenetics
- Retinal prosthesis