Prof. Eric E. Gabison
Professor of ophthalmology at Université Paris Cité, head of the ophthalmology department at the Adolphe de Rothschild Foundation Hospital in Paris, and director of the T-REX research laboratory. This site gathers his teaching and research on corneal wound healing.
Positions
Professor of ophthalmology (PU-PH) at Université Paris Cité since 2014. Head of the ophthalmology department at the Adolphe de Rothschild Foundation Hospital, 25-29 rue Manin, Paris. Director, since 2018, of T-REX, the Foundation's translational research laboratory in experimental corneal surgery.
Clinical and surgical practice in anterior segment: corneal transplantation (DALK, DMEK, DSAEK, penetrating keratoplasty), ocular surface reconstruction, inflammatory and infectious corneal disease, cataract and refractive surgery.
Training
- 1996 — Paris residency competitive examination, surgical specialty, ranked first.
- 1999–2001 — Cornea and Refractive Surgery Research Fellow, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Lally Fellowship 2000.
- 2003 — MD, Université Paris VII; chief resident then attending at Bichat Hospital.
- 2008 — PhD (Saint-Louis Hospital). 2010 — Habilitation to supervise research.
- 2011 — Dalloz Prize for ophthalmic research, Institut de France.
- 2014 — Professor of ophthalmology.
Research on corneal wound healing
His work concerns the direct dialogue between epithelium and stroma during corneal repair, and the part played in it by EMMPRIN/CD147 — a cell-surface protein that induces matrix metalloproteinases at the point of contact between the two tissues. The mechanism explains why an epithelium that fails to close exposes the stroma to melting, and why the initial depth of the lesion predicts the outcome less well than the duration of contact.
Two clinical consequences follow, both covered on this site: myofibroblast differentiation and its relation to fibrosis, and delayed healing under non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, whose late post-PRK perforations he described.
- Gabison EE, Huet E, Baudouin C, Menashi S. Direct epithelial-stromal interaction in corneal wound healing: role of EMMPRIN/CD147 in MMPs induction and beyond. Prog Retin Eye Res 2009;28(1):19-33.
- Huet E, Vallée B, Szul D, Verrecchia F, Mourah S, Jester JV, Hoang-Xuan T, Menashi S, Gabison EE. Extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer/CD147 promotes myofibroblast differentiation by inducing α-smooth muscle actin expression and collagen gel contraction. FASEB J 2008;22(4):1144-1154.
- Huet E, Vallée B, Delbé J, Mourah S, Prulière-Escabasse V, Tremouilleres M, Kadomatsu K, Doan S, Baudouin C, Menashi S, Gabison EE. EMMPRIN modulates epithelial barrier function through a MMP-mediated occludin cleavage. Am J Pathol 2011;179(3):1278-1286.
- Gabison EE, Hoang-Xuan T, Mauviel A, Menashi S. EMMPRIN/CD147, an MMP modulator in cancer, development and tissue repair. Biochimie 2005;87(3-4):361-368.
- Gabison EE, Chastang P, Menashi S, Mourah S, Doan S, Oster M, Mauviel A, Hoang-Xuan T. Late corneal perforation after photorefractive keratectomy associated with topical diclofenac: involvement of matrix metalloproteinases. Ophthalmology 2003;110(8):1626-1631.
- Gabison E, Chang JH, Hernández-Quintela E, Javier J, Lu PC, Ye H, Kure T, Kato T, Azar DT. Anti-angiogenic role of angiostatin during corneal wound healing. Exp Eye Res 2004;78(3):579-589.
- Guindolet D, Gabison EE. Role of CD147 (EMMPRIN/basigin) in tissue remodeling. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2020;303(6):1584-1589.
- Gabison EE. Agents de cicatrisation cornéenne. In : Médicaments et biothérapies en ophtalmologie, rapport de la Société Française d'Ophtalmologie 2023, chapitre 21. Elsevier Masson 2023.
Current research
Principal investigator of four cell-therapy and corneal biotherapy programmes: MINING (2025-2030, ocular GVHD), SYMBOL (2025-2030, chemical burns), PEPR COBRAS (2025-2029, bioproduction) and the Téléthon strategic programme MICELLES (2024-2027). Previously work-package leader of the European CASCADE project on cell therapy for ocular burns.
In 2021 he performed the first implantation in Europe of a fully artificial cornea in a blind patient.
Teaching and appointments
Examiner for the European Board of Ophthalmology since 2008. Course director or lecturer in several university diplomas — burns, cell therapy, ocular surface, ocular inflammation and infection — and in the cornea module of the master's programme in epithelial pathology.
Editorial board of The Ocular Surface. Scientific board of TFOS (Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society). Board of the French Eye Bank. Biovigilance correspondent for the Rothschild Foundation. Expert appraiser for ANSM, AP-HP, ANR and Fondation de l'Avenir.
Consultations
Consultations and appointment booking are handled on the main site: egabison.com.
Institutional and bibliographic profiles
Updated 26 August 2026.