Rate My Professor Thomas Wolfensberger

Thomas J. Wolfensberger is a Full Professor (Professeur ordinaire) in the Faculty of Biology and Medicine at the University of Lausanne. He serves as Medical Director, Chairman of the Department, Head of the Posterior Segment, and Head of the Vitreoretinal Surgery Unit at the Jules Gonin Eye Hospital in Lausanne. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Zurich in 1991, following studies in medicine at the University of Zurich and the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London from 1983 to 1989. His training encompasses research fellowships in medical retina at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London (1991-1993 and 2000-2001), Stanford University, USA (1994-1995), and clinical training in ophthalmic surgery at the University of Pretoria, South Africa (1997-1998), alongside positions at the University Eye Clinic in Lausanne. Certified as a specialist in ophthalmology by the Swiss Medical Association (FMH) in 1997 and in ophthalmic surgery in 2000, he was appointed Privat-docent and Maître d'enseignement et de recherche in 2003, Associate Professor in 2011, and Full Professor in 2019. Since 2016, he has been Chief Physician at the Jules Gonin Eye Hospital. He also holds an MBA in entrepreneurship.

Wolfensberger's academic interests center on adult and pediatric vitreoretinal surgery, ocular trauma management, cataract surgery, and retinal diseases, with a research focus on microtechnology applications in vitreoretinal surgery, including epiretinal stimulators for blindness due to photoreceptor degeneration. He has authored over 101 PubMed-indexed publications, 30 book chapters, delivered 227 invited lectures, and edited three books on retinal diseases and the interface between the eye and art. Notable awards include the Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (2003), ARVO Retinal Research Foundation and Lawrence Fellowship Award (1995), Prix CHIBRET (1996), multiple Prix Poster from the Swiss Ophthalmological Society (1999, 2009, 2014, 2015), Fellow of the International Council of Ophthalmology (Honorary, 2017), and Prix de la Faculté de Médecine de l’Université de Zürich (1991). He has held leadership roles on the boards of the European Society of Retinal Specialists (EURETINA), French and Swiss Retinal Societies, and serves as Secretary of the Club Jules Gonin since 2004.