Francis L Munier

After medical studies and residency in Lausanne, Francis Munier obtained board certification in both Ophthalmology and Medical Genetics. From 1991 to 1993, he received additional training in Molecular Genetics and Pediatric Oculo-Oncology at Children’s Hospital Los-Angeles under the guidance of A. Linn Murphree. Back in Lausanne he joined the Retinoblastoma Clinic at Jules-Gonin Eye Hospital and, furthering Franceschetti’s legacy, created with Daniel Schorderet the first Swiss Oculo-Genetics Unit. Together they identified, among others, TGFBI as the first corneal dystrophy gene and HMX1 responsible for oculo-auricular syndrome, as well as EFEMP1 for Malattia Leventinese and CRYGD for Aculeiform Cataract in collaboration with Ed Stone and Elise Héon. The management of retinoblastoma remaining a major focus of his clinical activity, his team contributed to significant landmark advances in the field, pushing the frontiers of conservative management, notably by introducing chemotherapy in situ to control hitherto incurable vitreous in 2012 and aqueous disease in 2015. Along with intra-arterial chemotherapy, these new intra-vitreal and intra-cameral routes of chemotherapy delivery, not only reduced enucleations, but also contributed to the eradication of external beam radiotherapy and to significantly decrease the need for systemic chemotherapy. In 2015, he was appointed Full Professor and Head of Ocular Oncology, Pathology & Genetics at Jules-Gonin Eye Hospital. He was elected honorary secretary of the International Society of Ocular Oncology (ISOO) in 2017 and president of International Society for Genetic Eye Disorders and Retinoblastoma (ISGEDR) in 2019. Today the Lausanne Retinoblastoma Clinic has become a quaternary reference center, recruiting 50-60 new patients yearly from 74 nations. He delivered 250 invited lectures and is the author or co-author of some 300 peer-reviewed papers (h-index>50).