John A. Moran Eye Center physician and researcher Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD, has been ranked a distinguished professor of ophthalmology at the University of Utah.
The rank is reserved for selected individuals whose achievements exemplify the highest goals of scholarship, demonstrated by recognition accorded to them from peers with national and international stature and whose record includes evidence of a high dedication to teaching as demonstrated by recognition accorded to them by students and/or colleagues.
Hartnett embodies all of these attributes as a professor, clinician, and prolific researcher.
As founder and director of Moran鈥檚 Pediatric Retina Center and Principal Investigator of a , she is a sought-after research collaborator and a care innovator who has expanded pediatric retina services at Moran and Primary Children鈥檚 Medical Center. Her latest research focuses on retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a blinding disorder affecting premature infants.
Hartnett鈥檚 long list of honors includes the 2019 Macula Society鈥檚 Arnall Patz Medal. The Macula Society is an invitation-only group focused on new research in retinal and macular diseases. She was recently appointed the Calvin S. and JeNeal N. Hatch Presidential Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology by University of Utah President Ruth Watkins and is a new member of the National Eye Institute鈥檚 (NEI) advisory council. She has also joined the editorial board of the American Journal of Ophthalmology and was elected to serve as a Vice President (Americas) of the International Society for Eye Research.
Hartnett will receive the rank at commencement proceedings in May. She joins two other distinguished professors from the Moran Eye Center: Kathleen B. Digre, MD, distinguished professor of neurology; and Robert E. Marc, PhD, distinguished professor emeritus of ophthalmology.