Reza Dana is the Claes H. Dohlman Chair in Ophthalmology, Senior Scientist and W. Clement Stone Clinical Research Scholar, Director of Cornea at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Vice Chair for Academic Programs at the Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Harvard-Vision Clinical Scientist Development Program.

[5] He pursued his baccalaureate degree at Johns Hopkins University School of Arts and Sciences, where he was invited to join the Phi Beta Kappa.

He received advanced fellowship training in Immunology and Uveitis at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear and pursued laboratory research training in Ocular and Transplantation Immunology Laboratory at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School under the mentorship of the late J. Wayne Streilein.

In 2006, he was named the director of the Cornea Service at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and in 2007, he was appointed the Claes H. Dohlman Chair in Ophthalmology and Vice Chairman for Academic Programs.

[9] His is widely recognized for (i) identifying, phenotyping and functionally characterizing resident bone marrow-derived antigen-presenting cells (APC) of the cornea,[10] (ii) identifying novel mechanisms of corneal APC trafficking,[11] (iii) defining novel functional interactions between lymphatic endothelia and APC,[12] (iv) identifying selective topical cytokine and chemokine targeting to promote transplant survival by suppressing effector T cells,[13][14][15][16] (v) defining novel mechanisms employed by the corneal epithelium to maintain angiogenic privilege including the VEGFR-3 sink[17] and PD-L1 mechanisms,[18] (vi) developing strategies to promote corneal endothelial cell survival in transplantation, including gene therapy.