Wallace Thoreson, Ph.D., recently received the 2003 University of Nebraska
Medical Center College of Medicine Joseph P. Gilmore Outstanding Investigator
Award for his research into understanding how the eye works.
Dr. Gilmore, for whom the award is named, was professor and chairman
of the UNMC department of physiology from 1970 to 1987. He was funded by
the National Institutes of Health for his entire career, supervised numerous
graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, and published more than 200
scientific papers. The award was established by the department of physiology
and biophysics upon Dr. Gilmores retirement in 1987 to recognize outstanding
research contributions by a faculty member.
When he was in college, his textbooks seemed to indicate that scientists
had perfect vision on almost everything about human eyesight. However,
as he progressed through his graduate and post-graduate training, Dr. Thoreson
realized that the science worlds focus of vision function and disease
was more than a little blurry.
As you study it more, instead of understanding everything and filling
in all of the gaps, you see all of the gaps, said Dr. Thoreson, an associate
professor in the departments of ophthalmology and pharmacology at UNMC,
and in the department of biology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Thats what makes it exciting. There are major gaps in our knowledge,
and were working to find answers to some of those gaps.
Carl Camras, M.D., chairman of the department of ophthalmology, said
Dr. Thoresons exemplary scientific work is leading to his recognition
as one of the worlds outstanding retinal physiologists.
Dr. Thoresons innovative research on basic mechanisms of visual processing
within the retina supplies us with important new information, which helps
us to better understand vision in health and in disease, Dr. Camras said.
In addition to his important contributions to research, he provides our
department with valued administrative skills. He is a wonderful person
who is so very deserving of this prestigious award.
Dr. Thoreson studies early steps in the processing of visual information
by the retina, a tissue that lines the inside of the eye. His research
has been funded by the National Institutes of Health since he came to UNMC
a decade ago.
We need a better fundamental understanding of how this works normally,
so that we can better understand what goes wrong in eye disease, and ultimately
how we can treat people better who have specific eye diseases, Dr. Thoreson
said.