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Napoleone Ferrara, M.D., is currently Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology and Pharmacology. He is also the Hildyard Endowed Chair in Eye Disease. His main research interests are the biology of angiogenesis and the identification of its regulators. In 1989 he reported the isolation and cloning of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and subsequently focused his research on the investigation of the molecular and biological properties of VEGF. These studies established VEGF as a key regulator of normal and pathological angiogenesis. Ferrara and colleagues reported that VEGF inhibition results in suppression of growth of a variety of tumors in vivo. These findings represented the first direct evidence that inhibition of angiogenesis can block tumor growth and led to the development of a humanized anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody (Bevacizumab) as a cancer therapy. Bevacizumab has been approved by the USA FDA for 12 indications in multiple cancer types. The discovery that VEGF is a key mediator of angiogenesis associated with intraocular neovascular syndromes resulted in the clinical development of a humanized anti-VEGF Fab (Ranibizumab), which has been approved for therapy of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other ocular vascular disorders. Ranibizumab and other anti-VEGF agents represent the first effective therapy for such blinding disorders and rank among the most widely used drugs in older adults.