Research
Resident Research Day
The UMMC Ophthalmology Resident Research Day and Samuel B. Johnson, MD, Memorial Lecture is the annual conference to showcase resident and faculty research projects as well as hear lectures from a leader in the field on ophthalmic research.
Each Department of Ophthalmology resident is responsible for one clinical or basic science research project every year. Results of their projects are presented with their faculty preceptors at Resident Research Day. In addition, there is a guest lecturer present to give the featured lecture in honor of Dr. Samuel B. Johnson, the first UMMC Department of Ophthalmology chair.
The June 19, 2026, Resident Research Day guest lecturer will be Eric Gaier, MD, PhD. Dr. Eric D. Gaier is an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, a pediatric neuro-ophthalmologist, and strabismus surgeon at Boston Children’s Hospital and Massachusetts Eye and Ear. Dr. Gaier received his MD/PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Connecticut, followed by ophthalmology residency, neuro-ophthalmology fellowship, and pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus fellowship at Harvard-affiliated institutions.
He is also a research affiliate at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT.
Dr. Gaier’s research program bridges basic visual neuroscience and clinical translation, with a focus on binocular vision, amblyopia, and cortical plasticity. His laboratory studies experience-dependent mechanisms of binocular integration using mouse models, electrophysiology, imaging, and behavior, while his clinical and translational work evaluates novel neuroplasticity-based therapies for amblyopia, including investigator-initiated clinical trials. His work is supported by the National Eye Institute and multiple foundation awards.
Nationally, Dr. Gaier serves as Chair of the Research Committee for AAPOS and is active in ARVO, NANOS, and the AAO. He is committed to education and mentorship, serving as Director of Residency Training at Boston Children’s Hospital and receiving multiple institutional and national teaching awards.
His lecture is titled "Direct Translation of Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity to Treat Amblyopia."
For more information about details of the program, contact our Ophthalmology chair, Dr. Kimberly Crowder.
To register, click here. For questions, email the Ophthalmology Department.