Daniel Palanker
The Power List 2020 – Power List
Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Hansen Experimental Laboratory, Stanford University, CA, USA
Your three wishes?
Without violating the laws of nature: to absorb all the human knowledge; to stumble upon a very significant problem, which I could solve; to be able to effectively transfer human culture (knowledge, art and experience) to future generations.
Piece of advice you would give to your younger self?
Find a very important problem to work on rather than wasting time on minor issues.
The most unexpected turn your career took?
About 22 years ago, I visited Mark Blumenkranz as a patient, with a laser injury of my retina. At that time, he became a chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Stanford, and I was a postdoc in the Department of Physics, and just accepted an offer for a faculty position in Harvard Medical School. Our conversation turned to a discussion of my research in laser technologies, and I was counter-offered a position in the Department of Ophthalmology at Stanford, which I hold until today.
