Zhiyong Yang, MD, PhD
- Assistant Professor
- Retina Disease
Contact
Biography
Dr. Zhiyong Yang is a board-certified ophthalmologist and assistant professor in the Ruiz Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at McGovern Medical School, where he holds the Walter and Ruth Sterling Professorship in Ophthalmology. He specializes in the medical and surgical management of complex vitreoretinal diseases.
Dr. Yang received his medical degree at Harbin Medical University in Harbin, China. He earned his PhD in neuroscience at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in Rochester, New York, where he conducted research in developmental neuroscience of the retina. Following completion of his doctorate, he continued his research in retinal biology and diseases as a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. Dr. Yang was a recipient of the Douglas Johnson Award from the BrightFocus Foundation, recognizing his scientific contribution to our understanding of retinal ganglion cell degeneration in glaucoma.
He completed residency training in ophthalmology at Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, where his academic excellence and dedication to education were recognized with the Outstanding Knowledge and Academic Performance Award and the Residency Teaching Award. Dr. Yang completed his advanced specialty training in medical and surgical retina at Wilmer Eye Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Dr. Yang has clinical interests in macular degeneration, diabetic eye diseases, myopic retinopathy, vitreous hemorrhage, retinal vascular diseases, retinal vein occlusion, retinal detachment, macular hole, epiretinal membrane, macular pucker, eye trauma, and retinal surgery.
As a clinician-scientist, the research in Dr. Yang’s laboratory is focused on the molecular mechanism of vision loss in age-related macular degeneration, retinal detachment, and other retinal degenerative diseases, with the goal of developing novel treatments to preserve vision for patients with retinal degenerative diseases. He has authored articles in peer-reviewed journals, including Development, Developmental Biology, Investigational Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Neuron, Human Molecular Genetics, Journal of Glaucoma, Experimental Eye Research, Ophthalmology, PloS One, and the American Journal of Ophthalmology, among others. He holds several patents for the treatment of retinal and neurodegenerative diseases.
Education
- Medical Degree
- Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
- PhD
- University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York
- Postdoctoral Fellowship
- Wilmer Eye Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore
- Residency
- Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego
- Advanced specialty training
- Wilmer Eye Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore