Chi-Chao Chan, an American board certified ophthalmologist, is the Chief of Immunopathology Section, Laboratory of Immunology and the Head of Histology Core at the National Eye Institute at National Institutes of Health (USA). In 1967, Dr Chan graduated from Chungzhan Medical College in Guangzhou, China and then earned her AB (1972), as well as MD (1975) at Johns Hopkins University (USA). Currently, her research is focusing on primary intraocular (vitreoretinal) lymphoma; uveitis (intraocular inflammatory diseases); and the molecular pathology, animal models, and genetic epidemiology of age-related macular degeneration. Dr Chan spoke to Future Medicinal Chemistry, about the challenges ophthalmic research faces and how the aging population could lead to better drugs.