Dr. Neil Miller

By Amy Entwisle

The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine is known the world over for excellence in research and patient care, as well as for a long history of educating leaders in the field of ophthalmology. While Wilmer’s residency program is intentionally small, it has produced more leaders than any other ophthalmology program, including more than 100 department chairs and 10 presidents of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Neil Miller represents both ends of the training spectrum. In 1975, Miller completed his ophthalmology residency at Wilmer, where he served as chief resident. He then completed a fellowship in neuro-ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco, before joining the Wilmer faculty in 1976.

As a student at Wilmer in the 1970s, Miller learned alongside the likes of Brian Conway, Jack Iliff, Ronald E. Smith and Harry Quigley, and from such ophthalmology greats as Arnall Patz, Robert Welch, A. Edward Maumenee and Frank Walsh, who developed neuro-ophthalmology as a subspecialty and was an influential mentor to Miller.

In his 44 years as a faculty member at Wilmer, Miller carried the torch lit by Walsh, effectively developing neuro-ophthalmology into a specialization in and of itself. In 1987, he became the inaugural Frank B. Walsh Professor of Neuro-ophthalmology at Wilmer. During his tenure, Miller was one of the developers of a nonhuman primate model of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), and he directed an international clinical trial testing a novel treatment for NAION in humans. Today, Miller is considered the world’s foremost expert on NAION.

In recent years, Miller’s research culminated in the identification of compounds that protect the optic nerve from damage caused by things such as loss of blood supply in the case of stroke. Amanda Henderson, a protégé of Miller who has worked with him on the project, calls him “an incredible mentor and exemplary role model for his fellows, residents and students, as well as for the junior faculty — like me — who are fortunate enough to work with him.”

While Miller’s accomplishments are legendary, Wilmer Director Peter J. McDonnell says it is the students he taught and mentored — more than 50 neuro-ophthalmology fellows, as well as countless residents and medical students — who perhaps best illustrate his influence on the field.

The list of Miller trainees reads like a who’s who of neuro-ophthalmology, and includes department chairs in many of the world’s most distinguished hospitals and universities. As Miller prepares to retire, they were asked what it was like to study under him and about the lessons that most influenced them. Their response was so overwhelming that all the replies couldn’t be included in the space of this article. (Plans are underway to feature the responses in their entirety on the Wilmer website.) Here is a sampling of what Dr. Miller’s students had to say.

“Dr. Miller has that rare combination of profound knowledge and humility, and exemplifies superlative and compassionate patient care. More than 30 years after my neuro-ophthalmology training, I still look back on my two years with him as among the most enjoyable and intellectually stimulating of my career.”

Leah Levi, M.D., 1988
Director of Neuro-Ophthalmology
Scripps Clinic La Jolla, California
Clinical Professor Emerita
University of California, San Diego

“What is most impressive about Neil is not his unparalleled depth and breadth of knowledge, his teaching skill, and the other qualities for which he is deservedly lauded. What makes him great is that he has never stopped learning from those around him and using that new information to be even better. I work every day to model this behavior myself.”

Prem S. Subramanian, M.D., Ph.D., 2002
Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery
Director, Neuro-Ophthalmology
Vice Chair for Academic Affairs
University of Colorado School of Medicine

“I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of Dr. Miller's world for 365 days. I enjoyed every minute of it. We laughed often, and I learned many life lessons from his endless wisdom. Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Miller taught me how to ‘be academic.’”

Suzanne K. Freitag, M.D., 1999
Director, Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery Service
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Editor-in-Chief, Orbit

“I remember Neil as a kind but very demanding mentor, requiring that every patient receive the best possible taking of their history and a detailed and well-focused examination that made use of all the clues in the history. Neil is the best of the best, but still warm and approachable by all.”

Preston C. Calvert, M.D., 1985
Calvert was vice chair of the Department of Neurology and head of the neurology and neurosurgery clinics in the Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center from 1998–2000. An executive vice president of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society, he retired from clinical practice in 2010.

“Learning from Neil was amazing. His generosity of teaching and methodical approach to patient care continue to serve as a model for my own career.”

Richard L. Levy, M.D., 2004
Director of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus Surgery
Weill Cornell Medicine

“I did a one-month neuro-ophthalmology elective as a medical student with Dr. Miller and it convinced me that I had to become a neuro-ophthalmologist. I subsequently did my neuro-ophthalmology fellowship with him and credit my passion, knowledge, commitment and career to him.”

Karl Golnik, M.D., 1989
Professor and Chairman
Department of Ophthalmology
University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Eye Institute

“I had the good fortune to train with Neil in the late 80s, a time when he was writing the entire fourth edition of Walsh & Hoyt’s Clinical Neuro-Ophthalmology as a single author. I recall his limitless energy, his phenomenal intellect, and how, despite his vast experience, he still found complex cases and unusual clinical findings to be “fascinating!” Nearly everything I learned about evaluating patients, interacting with other specialists, arriving at diagnoses, and academic scholarship, I learned from Neil. I am forever grateful for his tutelage and mentorship.”

Stephen C. Pollock, M.D., 1987
Until his retirement in 2004, Pollock was an associate professor at Duke University Department of Ophthalmology.

“Dr. Miller taught me the importance of making a decision on every patient I saw and following through with it, learning that if I was proven wrong along the way, it would eventually lead to greater proficiency in my clinical skills. With Dr. Miller, I learnt not only the essentials of clinical neuro-ophthalmology but also about fairness, generosity of spirit, loyalty and commitment — for these I shall always be grateful to him.”

Sharon Tow, M.D., 2000
Associate Professor, Ophthalmology
Senior Consultant, Neuro-ophthalmology, 2006–2019
Singapore National Eye Center

“I had the rare chance to work with Neil as a medical student, resident, fellow and co-faculty member. I will never forget the time spent with Neil, who is truly the most passionate and inspiring teacher one could hope for.”

Srinivas R. Sadda, M.D. 1998
President and CSO
Stephen J. Ryan – Arnold and Mabel Beckman Endowed Chair
Professor of Ophthalmology
Doheny Eye Institute
University of California – Los Angeles

“When I think of Dr. Miller, I have to quote Will Durant: ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.’ Dr. Miller remains a great mentor to me, and he’s in the back of my mind whenever I see patients. It’s hard to imagine the world of neuro-ophthalmology without him.”

Anna M. Gruener, BMBS, 2015
Consultant Neuro-Ophthalmologist and Cataract Surgeon
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Queen's Medical Centre Nottingham

“Professor Miller is the consummate fellow advocate and mentor. I was incredibly privileged to witness firsthand his meticulous and thoughtful approach to patient care, excitement for collaborative discussion and teaching (Miller Rounds!), and genuine happiness in the research lab. He leads by example, is an inspiration, and continues to inform my patient encounters to this day.”

Lilangi Ediriwickrema M.D. 2016
Assistant Professor
Oculofacial and Orbital Surgery
Neuro-ophthalmology
University of California, Irvine

“I first met Dr. Miller as a medical student. His enthusiasm for the field and encyclopedic knowledge were an inspiration, and one of the primary reasons I entered ophthalmology. Now, several years later, I have had the opportunity to work more closely with and learn from him as a neuro-ophthalmology fellow — an opportunity for which I will always be grateful. He has been a true mentor and guide in my professional life.”

Sina Sabet, M.D., 2021
Dr. Sabet will be an associate professor at Georgetown University in the departments of ophthalmology and pathology next year, and will also be in private practice in Alexandria, Virginia.

“Neil Miller taught me a lot about being a better ophthalmologist, but more importantly about being a better doctor. Neil’s strength as a mentor has always been in allowing his fellows to grow into their own professional persona and not just a mini-version of himself. I am grateful to have had Neil as a mentor, role model, colleague, but most importantly as a friend.”

Andrew G. Lee, M.D. 1993
Chair, Department of Ophthalmology
Blanton Eye Institute
Houston Methodist Hospital

“Dr. Miller has a huge passion for clinical teaching and discussion. He never goes by what others say unless he observes and he believes it so. It has been a great pleasure to work under such a confident and straightforward mentor. Thank you, Dr. Miller, for your excellent teaching and contribution in the field of neuro-ophthalmology.”

Praveen Jeyaseelan, M.D., 2020
Pediatric Ophthalmology Fellow
Lurie Children’s, Northwestern University, Chicago

As these trainees demonstrate, an education that begins at Wilmer transcends generations. Mentees branch out, taking with them the knowledge and inspiration to make their own mark on the field. They become mentors themselves, not only sharing their knowledge, but through their actions and deeds, imparting the wisdom of those who came before. As McDonnell says, “Those of us at Wilmer today are certainly aware that we are ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ when we reflect upon the many contributions of people like Walsh, Maumenee and Miller.”

Recently, the establishment of a professorship in Miller’s name was announced, one of 18 endowed professorships at Wilmer named in honor of a former faculty member. “This professorship will help ensure that future generations of Wilmer trainees and patients will continue to benefit from what is — in my humble opinion — the finest group of neuro-ophthalmologists here in the birthplace of this specialty,” says McDonnell.