KEUNEN Jan

Jan Keunen, MD, PhD, has been Professor of Ophthalmology since 1995 and is currently Acting Chair of the Ophthalmology Department at the Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He specialises in medical retina, ophthalmogenetics, ocular oncology, ultrasonography and laser surgery. Dr Keunen has published more than 100 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and 12 chapters in textbooks, with a particular focus on diseases of the macula and retina such as the spectrum of retinal dystrophies caused by mutations in peripherin/RDS and BEST1 gene. He is currently preparing a survey on the pharmacogenetics of anti-VEGF treatment in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Dr Keunen has received awards and distinctions for his contributions to the development of transpupillary thermotherapy and the introduction of pattern lasers and anti-VEGF treatment for macular and retinal diseases in the Netherlands. He is co-founder and Chairman of VISION 2020 Netherlands, a national prevention platform for the recognition of avoidable vision loss, as well as supervisor of a nationally focused intervention project. Recently, a special VISION 2020 Netherlands screening test was designed in order to facilitate the organisation of a National Eye Health Week in 2011. His ultimate goal is the recognition of avoidable vision loss as a national health priority.