Spring 2025 Message from the Chair 

Welcome to the Spring 2025 edition of the Department of Ophthalmology InSight Newsletter. We are nearing the end of the 2024-25 academic year, as our class of 2025 residents and fellows prepare to graduate, and we look forward to welcoming our incoming class of residents and fellows in July.  

This issue's research spotlight shines on the research of Professor Lisa Olmos de Koo, MD, MBA. Dr. Olmos de Koo has been collaborating with colleagues worldwide on retinal prostheses research for nearly 15 years. The current device she is working with has shown promising results in clinical trials for restoring vision to individuals who have become blind from retinal diseases.

Our Patient Care Spotlight features the growing Pediatric Ophthalmology division, based at Seattle Children’s. The pediatric team, headed by Professor Michelle Cabrera, MD, provides specialized eye care to children from throughout the region.

In Education, our residents again volunteered to help the uninsured and underserved at the annual Seattle/King County Clinic at Seattle Center, part of our community outreach efforts led by Assistant Professor Miel Sundararajan, MD. It is the largest community-driven, free health clinic of its kind in the United States, and we are honored to participate in it each year.

Finally, in our philanthropy spotlight, Clinical Associate Professor Emeritus Dr. Richard “Rick” Munsen and his wife, Deidra Wager, together with generous support from a small group of grateful patients, have established the Richard S. Munsen, M.D. Professorship in Ophthalmology. This endowed position recognizes Dr. Munsen’s extraordinary legacy as a retina specialist, educator, and humanitarian.

If you haven’t seen our 2024 Community Report, it is available on our website here. For more news and updates, please visit our website, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn pages.

Wishing you and yours all the best this spring.

Russell N. Van Gelder, MD, PhD,
Boyd K. Bucey Chair, UW Medicine Department of Ophthalmology 
Director, Roger and Angie Karalis Johnson Retina Center
Director, Vision Science Center