“The attribution of the Grande Prémio BIAL de Medicina 2012 was particularly important for me as it constituted the recognition of my work on the characterization of different phenotypes of progression of Diabetic Retinopathy, seeking to identify individuals with type 2 diabetes who are at risk of developing complications that cause loss of vision. The prize showed me that I was on the right path and opened important perspectives to continue working on the development of personalized medicine in the monitoring and treatment of diabetic retinopathy.”
José Cunha-Vaz, M.D., Ph.D. is Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology of the University of Coimbra, Portugal, and Honorary President of the Association for Innovation and Biomedical Research on Light and Image (AIBILI). He is now Honorary Editor of Ophthalmic Research and Coordinator of the Diabetic Retinopathy and Retinal Vascular Diseases Section of the European Vision Institute Clinical Research Network (EVICR.net).
José Cunha-Vaz’s work has included laboratory and clinical research with special emphasis on diabetic retinopathy. He was the first to identify the anatomical basis of the Blood-Retinal Barrier and initiated its clinical measurement by developing vitreous fluorometry and OCT-Leakage.
He has received the Diaz Caneja Prize of the University of Valladolid (1993), the Paul Henkind Award of the Macula Society (1998), the Alcon Research Institute Award (1998), the Eva Kohner Award from the European Society of Diabetes (2008), Helmholtz Medal of the European Society of Ophthalmology (2008), the Gian Battista Bietti Gold Medal of the Italian Society of Ophthalmology (2010), the Prémio BIAL de Medicina Clínica (2012) and the Weisenfeld Achievement Award of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (2014), Prémio Nacional de Saúde, (Portugal 2014), the Albert C. Muse Prize in Ophthalmology (2014). Prémio Pfizer / Sociedade de Ciências Médicas de Lisboa (2015) EURETINA Award Lecture (2016), Gold Medal Award (Sociedade Española de Retina y Vitreo (2018). He has been elected an honorary member of Portuguese Society of Ophthalmology, Spanish Society of Ophthalmology and International Retina Society - Club Jules Gonin. José Cunha-Vaz has received the Ordem de Mérito da Instrução Pública and the Ordem do Infante D. Henrique from Portugal.
