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Recognizing and honoring Dr. Eydie Miller-Ellis for her unwavering commitment to the advancement of the careers and goals of women and minorities in the field of medicine.
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WHEREAS, Eydie Miller-Ellis, MD pursued her B.A. in Chemistry at Duke University and her medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Miller then completed an internship in internal medicine at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania in 1985, and completed an ophthalmology residency at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1989. Dr. Miller subsequently pursued a fellowship in glaucoma at Yale University School of Medicine from 1989 to 1990; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Miller was appointed Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Yale University School of Medicine in 1990. She was then named Associate Professor at Yale in 1996. In 1999, Dr. Miller served as Associate Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and came to the University of Pennsylvania in 2001. She has served as a Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania since 2007, as well as Chief of the Glaucoma Service and Director of the Glaucoma Fellowship Program at the Scheie Eye Institute. Additionally, she serves as the Director of the Glaucoma Service at the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center. Dr. Miller was selected as a member of the Penn Medicine Academy of Master Clinicians in 2014, which recognizes her highest standards for clinical care, humanism, and professionalism; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Miller serves as the Diversity Officer on the Ophthalmology Department Committee on Appointments and Promotions. She served on the Women in Medicine Executive Council during her time at Virginia Commonwealth University and acted as Program Chair at the 2010 Women in Ophthalmology Summer Symposium. Dr. Miller was presented with the Women in Ophthalmology Suzanne Veronneau Troutman Award in 2011, which recognizes the woman who has done the most over the past year to further women in Ophthalmology. In 2019, she received the FOCUS Award for Advancement of Women in Medicine, acknowledging her outstanding efforts and achievements promoting the career success, leadership, and overall quality of life for University of Pennsylvania women in academic medicine; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Miller is Co-Investigator on the Primary Open-Angle African American Glaucoma Genetics Study (POAAGG), which has recruited more than 10,200 persons of African ancestry to its glaucoma cohort. Dr. Miller was instrumental in participant recruitment and precise phenotyping for the study. This study will help to elucidate the genetics of glaucoma in this most affected population and help to develop more targeted treatments for the different subtypes of glaucoma; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Miller is Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs and Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Department of Ophthalmology. Under her leadership, several initiatives are currently underway in her department. The Department continues to offer virtual presentations during Grand Rounds by experts in inclusion, diversity, and equity for faculty, staff, and trainees; and
WHEREAS Dr. Miller’s passion is pipeline programs to expand diversity of the talent pool in ophthalmology. Since 2007, she has been co-director of the Rabb-Venable Excellence in Ophthalmology Program for the National Medical Association, Ophthalmology Section. The National Medical Association, founded in 1895 when segregation barred Blacks from membership in the American Medical Association, is the collective voice of African American physicians and has a very active Ophthalmology Section. The mission of the Rabb-Venable program is to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in ophthalmology residency programs and in academic medicine. This program has provided a pathway for talented underrepresented minority students to enter the field of ophthalmology through networking, mentorship and research opportunities; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia City Council is proud of Philadelphia native, Dr. Eydie Miller-Ellis, for her tremendous contributions and achievements in the field of medicine; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby recognizes and honors Dr. Eydie Miller-Ellis for her unwavering commitment to the advancement of the careers and goals of women and minorities in the field of medicine.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Dr. Eydie Miller-Ellis as a sign of the sincere admiration and respect of this legislative body.
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