© The Calkins Laboratory † Dr. David J. Calkins, Ph.D. † Dept. Of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences † Vanderbilt University School of Medicine †
David J. Calkins, Ph.D.
Vice-
Director, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center
Denis M. O’Day Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Professor, Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University
School of Medicine
Professor, Psychology, Vanderbilt University School of Arts and
Sciences
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
AA7103D MCN/VUIIS
1161 21st Avenue South
Nashville, Tennessee 37232
Tel: (615) 343-
Professor Calkins is considered one of the world’s leading authorities on the neurological
basis of vision loss in blinding eye disease and on neuronal protection, repair and
regeneration for conditions that affect the retina, optic nerve, and early visual
pathways. Professor Calkins completed his Bachelor of Science in Pure Mathematics
from the University of Michigan Honors College and his Doctorate in neuroscience
from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed postdoctoral
fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Germany,
and at the Johns Hopkins University Krieger Mind-
Over the years, Professor Calkins has garnered
over 60 research grants from the National Institutes of Health and many industry
and foundation partners. Professor Calkins has been named an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Neuroscience Fellow and has been awarded the Thomas R. Lee Award for National Glaucoma
Research and the Lewis Rudin Glaucoma Prize of The New York Academy of Medicine.
Professor Calkins was recognized by Research to Prevent Blindness with a Senior Scientific
Investigator Award (2014) and more recently with the Stein Innovation Award (2018).
In 2016, he was named an ARVO Gold Fellow for his contributions to the vision research
community and was named an inaugural awardee of the Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund.
Always committed to education, Professor Calkins is an active mentor for post-
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“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” ~Helen Keller
