Ronald L. Gross, M.D., a 1982 graduate of the West Virginia University School of Medicine, has been appointed chair of the School’s Department of Ophthalmology and director of the WVU Eye Institute.
Dr. Gross has been on the faculty of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, since 1987, and holds the Clifton R. McMichael Chair in Ophthalmology there. He will join WVU in the first half of 2013.
The appointment was announced by Arthur J. Ross III, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the WVU School of Medicine. “To ‘bring home’ a son of West Virginia with such impressive credentials and passionate commitment to West Virginians is especially sweet,” Dr. Ross said, “Dr. Gross is exactly the right person to take the clinical, academic and research endeavors of this fine Department to the next level.”
Gross completed internship and residency training at Baylor, along with a glaucoma fellowship at the Jefferson Medical College and Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, before joining the Baylor faculty. He has been a principal investigator or collaborator on more than 80 research projects and is the author or co-author of 145 publications in peer-reviewed journals. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Glaucoma.
“Ron Gross has been a loyal WVU Mountaineer since graduating from our School of Medicine,” said Judie Charlton, M.D., the previous chair who now serves as chief medical officer of WVU Healthcare. “His research in the field of glaucoma has been transformative, and he has achieved international recognition for his work. He understands the unique challenges faced by people and communities in West Virginia in addressing ophthalmic health disparities.”
