Paul Sternberg Jr., MD

Dr. Sternberg is currently an at-large member on the Board of Trustees since 2006. He previously served on the Academy’s Committee of Secretaries, holding the position of Secretary for Communications from 2000 to 2005. Previously, he has served the Academy in a number of capacities, including the State Affairs Secretariat, Associate Secretary to the Committee for State Affairs Organizational Development, Patient Education Committee, Focal Point Editorial Board, EyeNet Editorial Board and Chief Medical Editor for Academy Express.

Dr. Sternberg received his medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed his ophthalmology training at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins. Following a vitreoretinal fellowship at Duke University Eye Center, he returned to Wilmer as Chief Resident for the 1984-85 academic year. In 1985, he joined the faculty at Emory University, where he rose to become the Thomas M. Aaberg Professor and director of the Vitreoretinal Service. In 2003, he relocated to Vanderbilt, where he is the George W. Hale Professor and Chair, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Vanderbilt Eye Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Dr. Sternberg is certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and is a member of the Macula Society, the Retina Society, the American Society of Retina Specialists and the Club Jules Gonin. He serves on the National Eye Institute’s Board of Scientific Councilors and was recently elected to the Board of Trustees of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). He has been a member of the NIH Study Section on Retinal and Choroidal Diseases, chairing that panel from 1997 to 1998.

Dr. Sternberg is the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Academy's Senior Honor Award, Vitreous Society Honor Award, the L.E. Brown Humanitarian Award from the Georgia Society of Ophthalmology and the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Award. He was named one of the Best Doctors in America, 1994 to 2005, and one of America’s Top Doctors in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Dr. Sternberg received the Lew R. Wasserman Award of Merit from Research to Prevent Blindness in 1998.

Dr. Sternberg’s clinical and research interests focus on retinal diseases, with a particular emphasis on age-related macular degeneration. He oversees an active laboratory research program studying the pathogenesis of this condition. He has received funding support from the National Eye Institute, Foundation Fighting Blindness, Research to Prevent Blindness and the Macula Society. In addition, he has participated in numerous clinical trials, sponsored both by NIH and industry, including the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study, the Age Related Eye Disease Study, the Macular Photocoagulation Study and many others.

Dr. Sternberg and his wife, Gloria, have two sons: Matthew and Zachary. Dr. Sternberg is an active member of the Nashville community, participating in leadership capacities for the Cheekwood Museum of Art and Botanical Garden, Mongtomery Bell Academy and the Canby Robinson Society at Vanderbilt.