John
Penn, PhD

John S. Penn, PhD, is the Knights Templar Eye Foundation Endowed Director of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in Nashville, TN. He earned a doctorate in molecular biophysics from the Kasha Institute of Biophysics at Florida State University and underwent specialized training in retinal diseases at the Cullen Eye Institute of Baylor College of Medicine. At Vanderbilt, he holds appointments as professor of Cell & Developmental Biology, Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, and Medical Education & Administration within the School of Medicine. He previously served as associate dean for faculty affairs at VUMC, a position that afforded him the opportunity to engage its nearly 4,000 faculty. 

Dr. Penn was elected to the governing bodies of the two largest and most prominent international vision research societies: the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (Board of Trustees, 2009-2014; Vice President, 2014) and the International Society for Eye Research (Executive Council, 2008-2019; President, 2016-2018). Over the last 25 years, he has served on the scientific advisory panels of several prominent eye foundations, including previous service to BrightFocus Foundation as a member of its Macular Degeneration Research Scientific Review Committee. Dr. Penn has been continuously funded as principal investigator by the National Eye Institute of NIH since 1984. Additionally, he has authored nearly 150 original scientific publications; written dozens of invited book chapters and review articles; and edited books related to eye disease. Accordingly, he has received a number of awards and accolades for his contributions to the eye research community.

“I’ve dedicated my professional life to understanding blinding eye diseases and developing effective treatments to address them. I am honored by the invitation to serve on the BrightFocus board and look forward with excitement to helping BrightFocus address its mission and achieve its goals.”