Paul Sieving

About Paul Sieving

Paul Sieving

Director, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

Paul Sieving was the founder of the Center for Retinal and Macular Degenerations at the University of Michigan, and spent almost 16 years in Ann Arbor, before moving to Bethesda in Maryland to become the Director of the National Eye Institute, where he also runs a research group. Sieving is known internationally for studies of human progressive blinding genetic retinal neurodegenerations, including retinitis pigmentosa, and rodent models of these conditions. His laboratory study of pharmacological approaches to slowing retinal degeneration in transgenic animal models led to the first human clinical trial of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) for retinitis pigmentosa. He developed a mouse model of X-linked retinoschisis and is embarking on human ocular gene therapy for this condition.