Dr. Pepple grew up in Dallas, TX. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma. She completed an MD/PhD program at Baylor College of Medicine, earning a PhD in Genetics. Following transitional internship at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, she completed her residency in ophthalmology and a medical retina fellowship at Duke University.
Dr. Pepple grew up in Dallas, TX. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma. She completed an MD/PhD program at Baylor College of Medicine, earning a PhD in Genetics. Following transitional internship at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, she completed her residency in ophthalmology and a medical retina fellowship at Duke University. She then completed a uveitis fellowship at the University of Washington. Dr. Pepple joined the faculty at the University of Washington in 2014. She is an active clinician-scientist taking care of patients with uveitis and medical diseases of the retina, and performing basic science research focused on understanding the pathogenesis of ocular inflammation, and developing new therapies to treat patients with uveitis.
Overview
Undergraduate Education: BS, Microbiolology, University of Oklahoma, 1997
Medical School: MD, Baylor College of Medicine, 2008
Post Graduate Education: PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, 2006
Internship: Transitional year, The Methodist Hospital, 2009
Residency: Ophthalmology, Duke University, 2012
Fellowships: Medical Retina, Duke University, 2013
Uveitis, University of Washington, 2014
Board Certification: American Board of Ophthalmology,2013
Memberships: American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO)
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
Clinical Interests
Dr. Pepple specializes in uveitis, including iritis, pars planitis, retinitis, choroiditis and scleritis, and medical retinal disease including age related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinal vascular diseases.
Research & Focus
Dr. Pepple’s laboratory is interested in understanding the pathogenesis of ocular inflammation, and developing new therapies to treat patients with uveitis. Her lab is also interested in novel applications of advanced imaging modalities such as optical coherence tomography (OCT) and IVIS in clinical and pre-clinical studies of uveitis.
Awards & Honors
2017 Research to Prevent Blindness Career Development Award
2017 Alcon Research Institute Young Investigator Award
2015 Latham Vision Science Innovation Award
2014 NIH NEI K08 grant recipient
2014 Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies Travel Award
2014 American Uveitis Society Fellow Travel Grant
2013 Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Fellowship award
Publications
Pepple KL, Chu Z, Weinstein J, Munk MR, Van Gelder RN, Wang RK. JAMA Ophthalmol. Use of En Face Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Identifying Choroidal Flow Voids in 3 Patients With Birdshot Chorioretinopathy. JAMA Ophthalmology 2018 Nov 1;136(11):1288-1292. PMID:30128478
Pepple KL, Lin P. Targeting Interleukin-23 in the Treatment of Noninfectious Uveitis. Ophthalmology. 2018 Dec;125(12):1977-1983. Epub 2018 Jul 4. Review. PMID: 30458922
Pepple, KL, Wilson, L. Van Gelder, RN. Comparative flow cytometry from the aqueous and vitreous of individual eyes in two experimental uveitis models. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2018 May 1;59(6):2504-2511. PMID: 29847657
Choi WJ, Pepple KL, Wang RK. Automated 3-D cell counting method for grading uveitis of rodent eye in vivo with optical coherence tomography. Journal of Biophotonics. 2018 May 24:e201800140. PMID:29797544
Weinstein J., Pepple KL. Cytokines in Uveitis. Current Opinions in Ophthalmology. 2018 May; 29(3):267-274. PMID: 29521875
Pepple KL, Nguyen MH, Pakzad-Vaezi K, Williamson K, Odell N, Lee C, Leveque TK, Van Gelder RN. Response of Uveitic Cystoid Macular Edema to Treatment with Oral Acetazolamide. Retina 2018 PMID: 29346240
Pakzad-Vaezi K, Khaksari K, Chu Z, Van Gelder RN, Wang RK, Pepple KL. Swept-Source OCT Angiography of Serpiginous Choroiditis. Ophthalmol Retina. 2018 Jul;2(7):712-719. Epub 2017 Dec 29. PMID:30148243
Chu Z, Chen CL, Zhang Q, Pepple K, Durbin M, Gregori G, Wang RK.. Complex signal-based OCT angiography enables in vivo visualization of choriocapillaris in human choroid. J Biomed Opt. 2017 Nov;22(12):1-10. PMID: 29178697
Bajema KL, Pakzad-Vaezi K, Hawn T, Pepple KL. Tuberculous uveitis in a low endemic setting: association between anti-tuberculosis therapy and clinical response in a non-endemic country. J Ophthalmic Inflamm Infect. 2017 Oct 4;7(1):19. PMID: 28980216
Pakzad-Vaezi K, Pepple KL. Tubulointerstitial Nephritis and Uveitis. Current Opinions in Ophthalmology. 2017 Nov;28(6):629-635. PMID: 2880618
Gutowski MB, Wilson L, Van Gelder RN, Pepple KL. In Vivo Bioluminescence Imaging for Longitudinal Monitoring of Inflammation in Animal Models of Uveitis. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2017 Mar 1;58(3): 1521-1528. PubMed PMID: 28278321
Kim AY, Rodger DC, Shahidzadeh A, Chu Z, Koulisis N, Burkemper B, Jiang X, Pepple KL, Wang RK, Puliafito CA, Rao NA, Kashani AH. Quantifying retinal microvascular changes in uveitis using spectral domain optical coherence tomography angiography (SD-OCTA). AM J Ophthalmol. 2016 Sep 1. PMID 27594138
Pepple KL, Choi WJ, Wilson L, Van Gelder RN, Wang RK. Quantitative assessment of anterior segment inflammation in a rat model of uveitis using spectral domain optical coherence tomography. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2016 Jul 1;57(8):3567-75. PMID 27388049
Zhang Q, Lee CS, Chao J, Chen CL, Zhang T, Sharma U, Zhang A, Liu J, Rezaei K, Pepple KL, Munsen R, Kinyoun J, Johnstone M, Van Gelder RN, Wang RK. Wide-field optical coherence tomography based microangiography for retinal imaging. Sci Rep. 2016 Feb 25;6:22017. PMID: 26912261
Pepple KL, Rotkis L, Van Grol J, Wilson L, Sandt A, Lam DL, Carlson E, Van Gelder RN. (2015) Primed Mycobacterial Uveitis (PMU): Histologic and Cytokine Characterization of a Model of Uveitis in Rats. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. Dec 1:56(13):8438-48. doi: 10.1167/iovs.15-17523. PubMed PMID: 26747775
Pepple KL, Rotkis L, Wilson L, Sandt A, Van Gelder RN. (2015) Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Two Uveitis Models in Lewis Rats. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. Dec 1:56(13):8449-56. doi: 10.1167/iovs.15-17524. PubMed PMID: 26747776
Primary Clinical Office
Location:
Harborview Medical Center
908 Jefferson St., 7th Floor
Seattle, WA
Clinic Phone: 206-744-2020
Clinic Fax: 206-897-4320
Mailing Address:
Box 359608
325 Ninth Ave.
Seattle, WA 98104
Academic Phone: 206-543-7250
Additional Offices
UW Medicine – Vision Science Center
South Lake Union
Location:
Box 355058
750 Republican St., Bldg. E
Seattle, WA 98108
Phone: 206-543-7250
Fax: 206-685-9315
Mailing Address:
Vision Science Center
Box 358058
750 Republican St., Bldg. E
Seattle, WA 98108
Languages
English
Lab
UW Medicine – Vision Science Center
South Lake Union
