Thomas F. Freddo, OD, PhD

Thomas F. Freddo, OD, PhD, is a semi-retired senior research specialist at the Wilmer Eye Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He also serves as a part-time professor at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He completed his BA at the University of Connecticut, his OD degree at the Massachusetts College of Optometry, and his PhD at Boston University School of Medicine, where he also completed fellowship training in surgical ophthalmic pathology. He served for 25 years as a professor of ophthalmology, pathology, and anatomy at Boston University School of Medicine. During this time, he maintained a part-time, clinical practice in the Department of Ophthalmology and directed the Surgical Eye Pathology Service. At Boston Medical Center, Dr. Freddo also directed his NIH-funded research programs in anterior uveitis and glaucoma. He also received several grants from BrightFocus Foundation’s National Glaucoma Research program. He then served as professor and director of the School of Optometry at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.  

During his full-time career, Dr. Freddo received several research awards, a dozen teaching awards from three institutions, and two honorary doctorates from the State University of New York and the University of Montreal. He was named a distinguished practitioner by the National Academies of Practice and a Gold Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. He was elected president of the International Society for Eye Research in 2008. He has served in various committee positions for NIH, the FDA, the WHO, and Prevent Blindness America. He also served on BrightFocus Foundation’s National Glaucoma Research Scientific Review Committee for 35 years. He is the author of the most widely used text on anatomy of the eye and currently serves as a Senior Fulbright Fellow, appointed by the U.S. State Department.

“My career has been dedicated to improving understanding of the eye and discovering new avenues for potential treatments of vision diseases like glaucoma. Some of my earliest research was made possible by grants from National Glaucoma Research (NGR). Later, serving as a longstanding member of the NGR Scientific Review Committee, I took great pride in having helped promote and recommend funding for innovative, cutting-edge research in glaucoma. I look forward to continuing to advance the crucial mission of BrightFocus in my new role as a board member."