In 1973, as a technician in the lab of Arnall Patz at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Gerard “Jerry” Lutty was involved in the earliest studies of inhibitors of neovascularization in relation to diabetic and other proliferative retinopathies. Inspired by the experience, he earned a doctorate in cell biology at Johns Hopkins, with a thesis on the characterization of a vitreous-derived endothelial inhibitor. Pat D’Amore, a postdoctoral fellow in Patz’s lab at the time, recalls that Lutty was appointed an instructor at Wilmer even before he earned his Ph.D.

In 1979, while Lutty and Patz were co-principal investigators on a Juvenile Diabetes Foundation-funded study of the anti-angiogenic properties of vitreous humor, Patz assumed the directorship of Wilmer. Lutty took over the Patz lab, continuing the research while becoming the first person at Wilmer to go from lab tech to full professor.

He went on to become a world-renowned expert in retinopathy of prematurity, ocular vascular development, diabetic retinopathy, sickle cell retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). As director of the Ocular Vasculogenesis and Angiogenesis Laboratory (OVAL) at Wilmer, he led studies of the normal and abnormal development of blood vessels in the eye, with the goal of developing therapies for diseases such as AMD and diabetic retinopathy. In January 2021, Lutty, the inaugural G. Edward and G. Britton Durell Professor of Ophthalmology, retired after a career spanning more than 45 years.

Sharing a Passion for Knowledge

Scott McLeod, an experimental pathologist and microscopist at OVAL, first met Lutty at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in 1974, when the two collaborated on a National Eye Institute-funded study to examine dyes for possible use in clinical ocular angiography. McLeod, a photographer in the lab, says the two hit it off immediately. “We would walk around the APL campus at lunch time discussing art, music, politics and photography,” he recalls. “I found him to be a kind and gentle soul, with a passion for knowledge and a temperament for teaching.”

In the early 1980s, Lutty and McLeod collaborated at Wilmer on studies of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) under Patz and Robert Flower. In 1956, Patz had received the Lasker Award for his research showing that giving high levels of oxygen to premature infants was causing an epidemic of blindness in those babies. “We felt that a key to understanding the vasculopathy of ROP was a better understanding of normal retinal vascular development,” says McLeod. Over the next several years, he and Lutty developed a new technique to visualize the retinal vasculature.

Soon after, research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was slashed, and McLeod was forced to return to APL for several years. In the 1990s, Lutty received an NIH grant to study sickle cell retinopathy and a Research to Prevent Blindness grant to study diabetic retinopathy. McLeod returned to Wilmer to work with Lutty and Morton Goldberg, then director of Wilmer and an expert in sickle cell retinopathy. The work provided valuable insights into vaso-occlusive processes in both diabetic and sickle cell retinopathy, and led to the discovery of potential targets for therapeutic interventions.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Lutty received NIH funding to continue the group’s work on retinopathy of prematurity. He and McLeod demonstrated that anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy was effective in reducing neovascularization in animal models of ROP. The 2000s brought renewed interest in normal fetal development of retinal and choroidal vasculatures, and Lutty and McLeod began studying the choroidal vasculature in disease states, particularly in AMD. The studies are still ongoing at Wilmer today.

Inspiring Future Generations in Science

Pat D’Amore, now the Charles L. Schepens Professor of Ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, says Lutty is unique among research scientists for the depth and breadth of his knowledge in both basic science and clinical areas, and for his ability to combine these in his investigations to understand the normal and pathologic process of the eye. But D’Amore says that what most marks Lutty is his generosity and ready willingness to share his expertise and insights.

Carol Merges, who began working with Lutty in 1983 as a lab tech and who now manages OVAL, agrees. “What he doesn’t know, he strives to find out, and when he does, he’ll take the time to teach you,” says Merges.

The Lutty Lab, 1997.  Front row: Lab Assistant Asako Fukushima; postdoc fellow Ichiro Fukushima; Jerry Lutty. Back row: Postdoc fellow Jintai Cao; Carol Merges; postdoc fellow Michaela Kunz-Mathews; Scott McLeod

Research specialist Rhonda Grebe has known Lutty since 1974. She describes how, while working as a lab manager and research tech for Eugene de Juan and Mark Humayun, she often sought help from Lutty on techniques involving cell culture and immunohistochemistry. “Jerry never hesitated to assist me and was a fantastic mentor even though I didn’t work for him at the time,” says Grebe. (In 2002, when de Juan and Humayan left Wilmer, Lutty invited Grebe to join his team, and she happily accepted the offer.)

McLeod, who retired in 2018, praises Lutty’s teaching style, patience and desire to inspire future generations in science. He cites the “countless” high school students, undergraduates, medical students and postdocs who Lutty mentored over the years.

Lutty’s colleagues invariably mentioned his propensity for Hawaiian shirts.

But D’Amore says Lutty has also influenced much of the field in his areas of expertise. “I never attend a seminar or meeting that deals with ocular vasculature where Jerry is not cited for something he has discovered or explained,” she says. D’Amore describes watching Lutty in action at Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meetings. “It was always easy for me to find Jerry when he was presenting a poster at ARVO because he was always surrounded by crowds of scientists four and five deep,” says D’Amore.

Imran Bhutto met Lutty at a conference in 1993, when Bhutto was a doctoral student. The two had mutual research interests, including the choroid — the eye’s vascular layer between the retina and the sclera. Several years later, they again crossed paths at a conference, and Lutty invited Bhutto to his lab to discuss Bhutto’s research. Bhutto went on to complete a six-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Lutty Lab, and in 1997, he became a research associate in the lab, where he continues to work today.

Under Lutty’s mentorship, Bhutto studied the effect of aging on the choroidal blood vessels and the pathological changes that occur in diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and AMD. Over the years, the pair collaborated on studies that contributed to development of novel therapeutic targets to treat degenerative retinal diseases. Before Lutty’s retirement, they applied for funding to study the role of C-reactive protein in the context of geographic atrophy. The grant has been approved and funded, and the lab will pursue the work with assistant professor Malia Edwards at the helm.

‘I Couldn’t Ask for More in a Mentor’

Edwards arrived at Lutty’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2009 to study vascular development under the person considered to be the leading expert in vascular biology, but she says that today, Lutty’s biggest area of knowledge is the choroid. “His work has led to a better understanding of AMD,” she says. “Because of this work, today we’re looking at possible therapeutic targets within cells in the choroid.”

Google Scholar lists over 14,000 citations for Lutty — an indication, says Edwards, of his prolific research, his contribution to the field and his willingness to collaborate. “He will try to help anyone he can, whether that’s in science, helping someone move their career forward or helping with a study,” she says. “Often, that can mean he’s on multiple grants that he might not need to be on. But if a junior faculty member comes and says, I want to write this grant, he’ll help them.”

Edwards points out that Lutty’s vast body of work is especially remarkable considering his lab’s relatively small size. She also notes that researchers at his lab have tended to stay on longer than researchers at most labs, demonstrating a dedication that reflects Lutty’s own. “In some labs, the PI might not talk to the people in the lab on a daily basis, whereas he is in there,” Edwards says. “That’s the kind of scientist I want to be. It’s a genuine interest and a passion, not a job. It’s his life’s mission, and he’s instilled that in all of us. I couldn’t ask for more in a mentor.”