Julia A. Haller

Ophthalmologist-in-Chief and William Tasman, MD Endowed Chair, Wills Eye Hospital; Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA.

Profile

A Career of Firsts

Beginning her education at the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, MD, Julia A. Haller went on to Princeton University to complete a Bachelor of Arts, followed by a medical degree at Harvard Medical School. After completing her Halsted internship in surgery at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, she pursued a residency and retina fellowship at the Wilmer Eye Institute, where she made history as the first female Chief Resident in 1986.

Staying with the Johns Hopkins faculty, Haller directed the retina fellowship program from 2001 to 2007, was named as the inaugural Katharine Graham Chair in Ophthalmology in 2002, and was the first holder of the Robert Bond Welch, M.D. Professorship (2006).

In 2007, her expertise and leadership was recognized with her appointment as Ophthalmologist-in-Chief and William Tasman, MD Endowed Chair at Wills Eye Hospital. She also became Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals, and currently serves as a Consultant at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Renowned globally as a retina surgeon, Haller has authored over 400 scientific articles and book chapters. Her research spans retinal pharmacology, macular surgery, venous occlusive disease, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and more.  She has innovated translational advances against blindness on many fronts, including sustained drug delivery devices, retinal "chip" implants, gene therapy, and telemedicine.

Haller chairs the Board of the Society of Heed Fellows and the Council of the American Ophthalmological Society. She also serves on the Boards of the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation and the AAO Foundation Board of Advisors. She has been president of the Retina Society, the American Society of Retina Specialists, the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation, and the Board of Trustees of the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology.

In 2023, Haller told us that her father – one of the pioneers in the field of pediatric surgery – played a key role in her life and career. “He was brilliant and innovative, a supremely skilled cardiac surgeon, and a wonderful educator, mentor and parent,” she said. And last year she revealed to us a little-known fact: “Cathy Ryan, the retina surgeon wife of best-selling author Tom Clancy’s cerebral action hero Jack Ryan, is based on me!”

Awards and Honors

2010–2024 – “Top Doctors,” Philadelphia magazine
2010-2024 – “America’s Top Doctors,” Castle Connolly
2022 – Lifetime Mentorship Award, Vit-Buckle Society
2019 – Member, National Academy of Medicine
2019 – Philadelphia Inquirer's "Physician of the Year
2018 – Women Inc.'s "Most Influential Corporate Directors"
2018 – American Academy of Ophthalmology EnergEYES Award
2015 –  ARVO Gold Fellow, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
2015 – J. Donald M. Gass Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Macula Disease, The Macula Society
2014 – Louis Braille Award, Associated Services for the Blind
2013 – Heed-Gutman Award, Society of Heed Fellows
2011 – American Academy of Ophthalmology, Life Achievement Honor Award 
2010 – Gertrude Pyron Award from the Retina Research Foundation and the American Society of Retina Specialists
2008 – Kreissig Award from EURETINA