Jacob Light, M.D. returned to Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine this summer as one of the two Assistant Chiefs of Staff in the institute’s ophthalmology resident clinic, known as the Patient Access Center for the Eye (PACE). At PACE, residents follow their own patients for the duration of their three-year residency and are supervised by the ACS and Wilmer faculty.
Light, who graduated from Wilmer’s residency program in 2021, describes the ACS position as a “teacher-in-chief” and a valuable resource residents can go to for advice, direction, guidance and reassurance.
We spoke with Light about his return to Wilmer, his work as a vitreoretinal specialist, and what the ACS role means to him.
Why did you want to be an Assistant Chief of Service?
The role really focuses on my love of teaching and mentorship. I remember, when I was a resident, just how important of a role my chiefs — Jefferson Doyle, Jithin Yohannan, Thomas Johnson and Ravi Pandit — played in my education and helped set the stage for me for success in the future. For me to hopefully be that for someone else, who will go on to do great things in ophthalmology, was a really attractive thing for me.
The storied past of this unique role and the people who have contributed to the legacy of Wilmer because of their time as ACS are very well known. The opportunity and the honor of being invited to be a part of that legacy was incredibly humbling and very hard to pass up.
What made you want to return to Wilmer?
I look at this role as one not just of professional growth for myself in learning how to become a leader and a mentor, but also an opportunity for me to give back to the institution that helped educate and mentor me when I was early in my training. I'm, of course, still early in my career, but Wilmer helped mold me into who I am. I feel compelled to try to do the same for the next generation.
How has the experience as ACS been so far?
It's been even more enjoyable and more rewarding than I thought it would be. A lot of that comes down to the incredible residents that we have. They are motivated, inquisitive and thoughtful. They not only ask the right questions, but they challenge answers. They want to think deeply and broadly about clinical scenarios and management questions. That's just so fun for me, as a teacher, to have trainees who are so engaged and so motivated. They have helped me learn more, as well, with the thoughtful questions and experiences that they've shared with me.
How did you become interested in being a retina specialist?
After finishing college, I worked in an ophthalmology laboratory, working with mice and rats. I happened to be assigned a project where I was doing pathology studies on retinas, sectioning retinas, staining them, then looking at them under the microscope. That was the first glimpse I got to see of the beauty and complexity of the retina. That planted the seed. I found the retina, from a medical and surgical perspective, to be fascinating.
When I got into medical school, I developed a strong relationship with Dr. James Handa, who is absolutely a consummate mentor within Wilmer. He is enthusiastically focused on training, education and mentorship, and he does it all really well. I saw my clinical career patterning itself after his and am so grateful for all the support he and the rest of the Wilmer faculty gave me over the years to make it a reality.
Where do you see opportunities for advancement or innovation in your specialty?
I think stem cell technologies and genetic modifications, such as CRISPR technology, hold immense potential to not only start to address inherited retinal degenerations — which up until this point have been untouchable and incurable — but also to find new and improved ways of delivering therapy for conditions like macular degeneration and diabetes, which at the moment require frequent eye injections that are often burdensome to patients.
Using molecular and cellular technologies to produce these relevant treatments for the eye is something that I think is not too far on the horizon for us, but those sorts of technologies and interventions are going to require more sophisticated surgical techniques and instrumentation in order to deliver them safely and effectively. So I think that's an area within the surgical side of the field that will also need to innovate just as rapidly as the bench science, the genetic research and the stem cell research that is being done in order to actually bring those technologies to bear.
Is there anything else you'd like others to know about you or your work?
Ophthalmology has been an incredible career for me because I’ve met so many people who are dedicated to the highest levels of engagement within their intellectual and academic niches. Those same people are often equally thoughtful and worldly, and have interests in areas outside of the ophthalmologic field. I, too, am passionate for so much outside my professional field, whether it be music, language, travel or physical fitness. My goal in life is to remain as well-rounded and as balanced as I can be, believing strongly that doing so makes me a better doctor and better human being.