Shlomit Schaal
Executive VP and Chief Physician Executive
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
Houston Methodist
Chair-Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Professor and Chair
Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Biography
Shlomit Schaal, MD, PhD, MHCM, is President of the UMass Memorial Medical Group, and Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at UM ass Memorial Health and UMass Chan Medical School. A clinician-scientist specializing in the cutting-edge medical and surgical treatment of complex vitreoretinal diseases, she also serves as the Senior Associate Dean for Health Strategies for UMass Chan Medical School. In addition to her professorship at UMass Chan Medical School, Dr. Schaal is a teaching faculty member at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard Macy's Institute, and the Faculty Leadership Development Seminar of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
Dr. Schaal earned her undergraduate, medical, and doctoral degrees from Technion Institute of Technology in Israel before going on to an Ophthalmology residency at Israel's Rambam Medical Center, and fellowships in Vitreoretinal Research and Vitreoretinal Surgery at the University of Louisville. She served on the faculty of the University of Louisville as the Director of Retina and the Director of Vitreoretinal Fellowship, before being appointed as the Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at UM ass Memorial Health. She earned her master’s degree in healthcare management from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Dr. Schaal has published extensively in the field of vitreoretinal diseases and surgery. She serves on the editorial board of the journal, "Retina." She is dedicated to enhancing the teaching and education of the next generation of ophthalmologists-clinician-scientists, and therefore, actively serves on several prestigious, national ophthalmological committees, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), the New England Ophthalmological Society (NEOS), and the Translational Science Working Group (ARVO). Dr. Schaal also served as the Chair of the Professional Development and Education Committee (PDEC) for the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), and as the Inaugural Chair of the Website & Communication Committee of the Retina Society. She is part of the American Board of Ophthalmology (ABO) team that sets the standards for the written board examinations for ophthalmologists. Her research focuses on visionary translational projects in collaboration with bioengineers. She is the inventor of several U.S. patents, of which some have been licensed and commercialized. Recently, her team developed a novel automatic algorithm for the early detection of subtle changes in the retina of diabetic patients.
Dr. Schaal has received numerous awards for academic excellence, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement Award, the American Society of Retina Specialists Senior Honor Award, the MOSAIC Award, the American Medical Association (AMA) Inspirational Physician Award, and the ARVO/Alcon Clinician-Scientist Research Award. She is committed to serving the community and serves as a mentor for the Minority Ophthalmology Mentoring program of AAO and served as a member of the Under-Represented Minorities (URM) Recommendation Prioritization Workgroup at UMass Chan Medical School. For that work, she won the Chancellor's Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence in Diversity in 2018. In the fall of 2021, Dr. Schaal was named to the list of 100 Top Women Leaders in Medicine by "Women We Admire" magazine.
Dr. Schaal is a sought-after speaker and is frequently invited to give scientific, business, and leadership talks all over the globe.