Ian M. MacDonald MSc, MD CMtrained first as a clinical geneticist. Having been introduced to patients with genetic eye diseases, he then qualified as an ophthalmologist to better understand the complexities of inherited disorders of vision. After beginning his professional career in Ottawa as clinician scientist, he moved to Alberta in Western Canada where he served as Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences of the University of Alberta in Edmonton. In recognition of his work in Canada to foster the development of academic Ophthalmology, he was elected as a Fellow to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.
Dr. MacDonald’s area of clinical and research interest is inherited retinal disorders, in particular, disorders of the macula and choroideremia, an X-linked condition. With funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions, the Foundation Fighting Blindness Canada, and the Choroideremia Research Foundation, Canada Inc., he led a team that completed, in 2017, the first trial of ocular gene therapy in Canada.