BY HILLARY VIDERS
SPECIAL TO NORTHERN VALLEY PRESS
CRESSKILL, N.J.—On Feb. 22, Sansar C. Sharma, a Cresskill resident since 1974, was awarded an honorary doctorate degree (honoris causa) from the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain.
Sharma is the husband of Janet Sharma, the coordinator of Age-Friendly Englewood. He has been affiliated with New York Medical College, Valhalla, N.Y., since 1972 and currently serves there as professor of ophthalmology, neurology and anatomy/cell biology.
Sharma was honored because of his lifelong work and medical milestones in optic nerve regeneration and glaucoma. Dr. Sharma trained with different Nobel Prize winners, and he, himself, has also been nominated.
According to Sharma, “Glaucoma is a worldwide problem that affects six million people every year. If it is not treated, it will result in blindness. It is a complex disease that does not have one cause. Although glaucoma is usually associated with aging, young people may get it as well and in some cases is it congenital.”
Sharma’s honoris causa was presented at an elaborate and time-honored ceremony at the University in Bilbao that was attended by 200 people and presided over by six dignitaries, including the rector of the university, chancellor and several deans.
In addition to his diploma, Sharma was given a ceremonial hat, a gold ring, which is a replica of the logo of the university, and a copy of “De Materia Medica” (“For the Body of Medical Knowledge”) by Dioscorides, a Greek physician in the Roman Army, which was written between 50-70 CE.
Hand-transcribed in 1500, this very rare book is from the Library of the University of Salamanca. It was given to Dr. Sharma to mark the prestige of the honoris causa degree and its recipient.
The honoris causa award that Sharma received was sponsored by Professor Dr. Elena Vecino and proposed by the faculty of medicine and nursing to recognize his research excellence.
Vecino collaborated with Sharma for many years. She was his post-doctoral student in the 1990s and is now a professor at the University of the Basque Country. Vecino proposed that he be awarded the honoris causa because of his contributions to the advancement of science.
At the ceremony, Vecino said, “It could be said that Dr. Sharma has a gift: mentoring, tutoring, being an inspiration, a maestro and guide for researchers. Discovering, supporting and encouraging the talent of others are unequivocal features of the best university tradition, where teaching is the transfer of knowledge but, above all, the transfer of real experience, of enthusiasm as a stimulus for the potential of someone who is starting out on their training journey, one that will never end.”
The formal ceremony followed a scientific conference in which some 60 scientists from around the world, including Cambridge, London, Germany and Singapore, discussed how Sharma’s groundbreaking work influenced their own.
Sharma received his M.A. from Panjab University in Chandigarh, India in 1963 and his Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 1968.
Sharma currently leads a team of researchers at New York Medical College who are engaged in the study of apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in the retina. The research aims to understand the specific steps during apoptosis and develop strategies to interfere with the death signals that may contribute to the development of glaucoma and other eye disorders.