Dr. Robert B. Nussenblatt has served as Acting Scientific and Clinical Director of NCCAM's Division of Intramural Research since 2004. He performs these duties in addition to those of his primary appointment as Chief of the Laboratory of Immunology at the National Eye Institute (NEI), where he has remained a world-class ocular immunologist and expert in clinical research design and conduct.He has served as Clinical Director and Scientific Director of the National Eye Institute.

Dr. Nussenblatt received training in both Internal Medicine and Ophthalmology and did an immunology fellowship at the NIH with Dr. Igal Gery. At NIH he established a section on Ocular Immunology, which then became the Laboratory of Immunology at the NEI. He has directed a clinical fellowship program for ophthalmologists for over 20 years. Residents from both the National Naval Medical Center and the Walter Reed Medical Center have rotated through this program. Many of his fellows have gone on to assume leadership positions in academia and in industry.

Currently, in addition to being the Chief of the Laboratory of Immunology at NEI, he is also the Chief of the Office of Protocol Services at the NIH, Clinical Center. This unit is responsible for the administrative handling of the 1100 protocols on the NIH campus. He is also a senior advisor to the Deputy Director of Intramural Research, NIH. Recently, he was named to co-chair the oversight committee for the National Electronic Clinical Trial and Research Network, one of the roadmap initiatives of the NIH. His major area of interest remains immunology and the eye, trying to unlock the mechanisms of uveitis and applying these observations to the treatment of patients with blinding diseases.

He is author or coauthor of over 400 publications and several books, including a standard text on uveitis. He has received multiple awards including the Alcon Research Institute Meritorious Award Medal, the Public Health Service Senior Achievement Award, awards from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the Proctor Award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), where he also served as President. He is listed in "Best Doctors in America" and the "Top Ophthalmologists in the United States." He has been granted two honorary degrees.