LSU Health Helped Launch Career of Internationally Recognized Ophthalmologist

April 15, 2021

A Danish professor whose career as a clinician-scientist was shaped by her training at the LSU Health New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence has just been named one of the Top 100 Women in Ophthalmology in the world. She is on the Ophthalmologist’s 2021 Power List. Miriam Kolko, MD, PhD, a professor at the University of Copenhagen, spent more than five years as a medical student, during her PhD program and as a postdoctoral fellow at LSU Health in the laboratory of Nicolas Bazan, MD, PhD, Professor and Director of LSU Health New Orleans Neuroscience Center.

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“She was a dedicated, creative, and highly productive superstar from the beginning,” recalls Dr. Bazan. “She came in here in her early 20s as a Fulbright scholar (1994-1996) and then as a PhD student from 2000-2002. I was a major professor when the University of Copenhagen granted her a PhD in 2003.”

While at LSU Health, Dr. Bazan’s mentorship included involving Miriam Kolko in innovative research studies as well as designing new research projects from conceptualization to publication.

“From the outset, Miriam devoted long hours of dedicated reading and careful thinking about the experimental design and ideas being tested,” adds Dr. Bazan.

She contributed to studies on neuroprotection, uncovering fundamental mechanisms of neurotransmission, defining the significance of lipid mediators and describing first-time novel neuroprotective signaling. Drs. Bazan and Kolko published a number of papers. Though Dr. Kolko went on to specialize in glaucoma, she continued her passion for science and has contributed to advancements in the fields of glaucoma and neuroprotection.

“We have continued fruitful collaborations ever since,” says Dr. Bazan. “She has visited my labs often, and I have enjoyed visiting her and witnessing her progress in Denmark.”

Dr. Kolko is also President of the Danish Glaucoma Society; Head of Eye Translational Research Unit (EyeTRU); Head of Personal Medicine Research Cluster at the Department of Ophthalmology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet-Glostrup and Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

“Her transformative thinking has led her to build innovative, experimental, and clinical models to understand the pathophysiology of glaucoma and to contribute to improving the current management of glaucoma,” notes Dr. Bazan. “She is an outstanding ophthalmologist, has received many distinctions, and is truly an exemplary and inspirational leader in ophthalmology. I cannot think of anyone else who fits this recognition better than her.”

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