Duke Eye Center

12/30/2025

12/29/2025

From December 4–13, Lloyd Williams, MD, PhD, and Duke Global Ophthalmology fellow Sheena Song, MD, traveled to South Sudan as part of a sight‑restoring mission working with Cure Blindness.

During the trip, the team helped support 1,400 sight‑saving surgeries.

This work is part of a growing partnership aimed at dramatically expanding access to eye care in the region. Plans for 2026 include a large‑scale collaboration projected to support nearly 9,000 surgeries, helping restore vision for thousands more.

We’re grateful to our partners and proud of the Duke GO team’s commitment to eliminating avoidable blindness around the world.

Photo Cred: Rooster Media 📸
Duke Global Health Institute - DGHI Duke Health

12/19/2025

Joanna Clayton, Service Access Manager at Duke Eye Center main campus was recognized with the Strength Hope and Caring Award, for providing exceptional service, emotional support, patient safety, and a genuine connection during a time of need. Joanna stayed after hours to ensure a wheelchair bound patient and her caregiver had accessible transportation back to their hotel following a late afternoon surgery. The patient’s sister wrote “She [Joanna] didn’t want to leave work until we were taken care of. Joanna was so so so sweet and helpful and I could tell how much she cared.”

We are proud to celebrate Joanna, whose actions embody the core values of

12/18/2025

Introducing our 2026 Duke Eye Center Fellows!

These talented physicians bring passion, expertise, and curiosity to Duke — and we can’t wait to see what they accomplish.

12/16/2025

Grateful for the donors whose generosity makes sight‑saving research, innovation, and care at Duke Eye Center possible.

12/12/2025

We are proud of our retina faculty for their outstanding contributions at the FLORetina Meeting, held December 4–7, 2025, in Florence, Italy.
 
Sharon Fekrat MD FACS FASRS, Majda Hadziahmetovic, MD, Glenn Jaffe, MD, Cynthia Toth, MD, and Lejla Vajzovic, MD, FASRS represented Duke Eye Center in a variety of leadership roles throughout the event, including moderating panels, chairing sessions and courses, organizing specialized programs, presenting groundbreaking research, and participating in global discussions streamed worldwide.
 
Their work spanned topics such as artificial intelligence in retina care, gene therapy advancements, innovative surgical techniques, and novel approaches to AMD, and pediatric retina, helping shape the future of ophthalmology on an international stage.
 
Hadziahmetovic and Vajzovic also served on the Scientific Committee, playing a key role in shaping the program for this premier international retina meeting.
 
Thank you to our faculty for driving progress and innovation at FLOretina 2025!

12/10/2025

We’re proud to announce the Duke Vision Rehabilitation Occupational Therapy Fellowship, led by Fellowship Director Diane Whitaker, OD, FAAO and Fellowship Coordinator Fay Tripp, MS, OTR/L, CLVT, CDRS. This unique, 12-month program is designed for occupational therapists passionate about helping individuals with visual impairments.

Fellows will gain hands-on experience across diverse vision rehabilitation services in our top-rated, multi-subspecialty eye care center, building expertise in functional vision impairments and therapeutic interventions.

Learn more and apply: https://dukeeyecenter.duke.edu/OTFellowship

12/04/2025

Registration is officially OPEN for the 12th Annual Duke Fellows Advanced Vitreous Surgery (fAVS) Course! 🎉

Join us March 27–28 in Durham, NC for two immersive days of extensive educational content, expert faculty, and the legendary wet lab experience fAVS is known for.

Register today 👉 mcpi.cventevents.com/favs2026

11/27/2025

Join us as today we give thanks for the expertise, compassion, and unwavering dedication to transform lives as well as to bring hope to the patients, families, and communities who depend on us.

With wishes for safety, health and peace, Happy .

11/25/2025

We are proud to announce that several of our talented ophthalmic photographers earned top honors at this year’s Ophthalmic Photographers’ Society Image Awards during the Academy meeting!

John Head, CRA 
1st Place – Gonio Photography (Haag-Streit Iris Lesion)
1st Place – Fluorescein Ultrawide Field (Presumed Retinal Dystrophy)
  
Becky Weeks, CRA
1st Place – Fundus Photography Ultrawide Field (Coloboma)
Honorable Mention – Fundus Photography Ultrawide Field (Inherited Retinal Disease)
 
Kelly Zibawa, COA, OS-C, OCT-C, CPT
Honorable Mention – Monochromatic Category (IRD patient with retinal dystrophy due to PRPH2 variant)

Congratulations to John, Becky, and Kelly for their outstanding work and for representing Duke Eye Center with excellence!

11/18/2025

Glaucoma can be relentless, but innovation brings hope. When Josie Paige’s vision continued to decline despite two surgeries, glaucoma specialist Leon Herndon, MD, offered a new solution backed by Duke-published research. The device he implanted lowered her eye pressure more effectively than the standard approach, giving Josie a brighter outlook.

Read the full story and learn more about this breakthrough: https://duke.is/glaucoma-research-fb

11/14/2025

Skin cancer near the eye requires expert care for both removal and reconstruction. At Duke Eye Center, Christopher Dermarkarian, MD uses advanced techniques to deliver excellent outcomes for patients.

Duke oculofacial plastic surgeon helped restore man's appearance after surgery to remove skin cancer on his face.