Author Archives: Laurie Birdsong

* Over five+ years at UNC, Ophthalmology Assistant Professor of Research Hua Mei, PhD, has brought wet lab capacity a step closer to fostering translational treatment of corneal and anterior segment diseases. Her laboratory’s translational framework is leading the way in developing the first FDA-approved, anti-fibrotic drug therapy to treat and prevent injury-induced corneal scarring, …

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UNC Ophthalmology congratulates Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Residency Program Director Alice Zhang, MD, for her selection as the 2023 Real World Ophthalmology (RWO) Exceptional Leadership Award recipient. Created by an early-career ophthalmologist, Real World Ophthalmology (RWO) serves a wide network of ophthalmologists who are in early-stage medical practice. Both virtually and at specialty-dedicated events, …

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Every October, World Blindness Awareness Month brings a heightened focus to the blind and visually impaired community and the realities of living without sight. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “everyone, if they live long enough, will experience at least one eye disease or disorder in their lifetime.” Two globally recognized blindness outreach organizations …

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In academic medical centers (AMC)s, clinical faculty are most visible as attendings at work caring for patients. Unique to AMCs as hubs of learning, clinical faculty also serve as a teaching hospital’s critical corps of mentors to learners in medicine. Without them, residents and fellows cannot achieve medical and surgical mastery to graduate fully competent …

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UNC Department of Ophthalmology joins the global eye health community in celebrating World Retina Day on September 24th, 2023. This eye health recognition day was created to educate individuals on the ocular function of the retina and on diseases that affect this most crucial part of the eye maintaining normal, clear vision. The retina is …

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September 18th to 24th is National Eye Health Week! Each year, the ocular care community encourages all individuals to start young in adopting healthy lifelong practices to reduce one’s odds of developing eye disease that can lead to worsening or complete loss of vision. The American Association of Ophthalmology (AAO) has designated September as Healthy Aging …

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In September, the field of ophthalmology recognizes Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI), a type of impairment caused by decreased visual response due to a neurological problem or damage to areas of the brain that control ocular function and processing of visual information (occipital lobe – visual cortex). The American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) …

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It took 2nd-year UNC Ophthalmology resident Dr. Davis Anugo a one-week international rotation to seal his interests in global health service as an integral part of practicing ophthalmology. In December 2022, Dr. Anugo traveled to Tema Christian Eye Center (TCEC) in Ghana accompanied by a glaucoma specialist who served as his surgical teaching mentor. As …

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Each year on August 8th, International Ophthalmologist Day presents an opportunity to recognize physician eye specialists across the U.S. and worldwide for the contributions they make to medical and surgical comprehensive eye care. Extensively trained MD and DO ophthalmologists provide diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of ocular diseases and conditions. Ophthalmologists enable the …

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On Saturday, June 17th, UNC Department of Ophthalmology hosted an annual two-event tradition, showcasing scholarly excellence at the 2023 UNC Eye Research Day and celebrating its residency and fellowship graduates at the Department’s end-of-year banquet. At UNC Eye Research Day, the Department’s twelve 2022-2023 ophthalmology residents presented their year-long, faculty-mentored projects on campus over a …

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UNC Ophthalmology pauses this week to recognize International Nystagmus Day, which occurs annually on June 20th. This day of awareness focuses on a lesser-known ophthalmic disorder that affects millions of people worldwide and has no known permanent cure. Nystagmus causes the eyes to make rapid, repetitive, and uncontrolled movements and usually happens in both eyes.  …

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Fireworks are advertised like toys between Memorial Day and July 4th. As a result, emergency rooms treat the highest number of pyrotechnic-related eye trauma cases between mid-June and mid-July. Even the most safety-minded users aren’t aware that via combined force, heat and chemicals, pyrotechnics can cause unexpected explosions when they misfire, discharge in the wrong …

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