Janey L. Wiggs

About Janey L. Wiggs

Paul Austin Chandler Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Mass Eye and Ear, USA 

Why did you decide to pursue ophthalmology/your subspecialty?

I liked the combination of medicine and surgery. Also, many eye diseases are inherited and have a strong genetic basis.

What’s been the biggest breakthrough in ophthalmology/your specific field over the last 10 years?

One of the biggest breakthroughs has been the development of polygenic risk scores that use data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for glaucoma risk prediction and risk stratification. This work is highly likely to change the way that we practice glaucoma in years to come.

Is there a particular tool, technological advance, or instrument you would not have been able to live without over the past 10 years?

In genetics, the tools and methods change very rapidly, but whole exome/genome sequencing, GWAS and polygenic risk prediction tools are all recent methodological developments in genetics that have made our work possible.

What would you like to see change in ophthalmology/your subspecialty over the next 10 years?

I would like to see increased use of genetic prediction and risk assessment in the clinics, and I do believe that this will happen in the next 10 years.

What is your prediction for where ophthalmology/your subspecialty will be 10 years from now?

We will use genetics for risk prediction in the glaucoma clinic.