Karalis Johnson Retina Center celebrates five years

January marked the fifth anniversary of the Roger and Angie Karalis Johnson Retina Center opening at South Lake Union.

This center, supported by a remarkably generous gift from Angie Karalis Johnson, opened in 2019. It has supported over 32,000 patient visits in the past five years and an ambitious research program.

Angie’s dream for the Karalis Johnson Retina Center to become the world’s leading center for the cure and treatment of retinal diseases is coming ever closer to reality.

Her dedication to helping those with eye disease is phenomenal, said Russell Van Gelder, MD, PhD, Professor and Bucey Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology. “This is her vision. This is the work of Angie and Roger, and it extends the legacy of Roger and her late parents.”

Learn more in this special 5-year Community Report about how the Karalis Johnson Retina Center (KJRC) supports four pillars of research in its mission to eradicate retinal blindness: advanced optics imaging, computational ophthalmology, accelerating the therapeutic pipeline, and vision restoration research.

“I always had this in my mind that someday I can help some of these people to keep from going blind,” she said. “I knew from working alongside Roger the potential of what this means - not just another center, but to create a beacon of light for those patients.”

UW vision scientists are committed to improving diagnosis and treatment and ultimately finding cures for retina diseases. The department ranks third in the nation in NIH funding among ophthalmology departments, and the UW is second for National Eye Institute funding. Most of this research is based at the Karalis Johnson Retina Center.

“So many people who suffer from retinal disease benefit from this center. We are at a point where the science can move treatment of these diseases,” said Dr. Van Gelder. “At the KJRC, we have brought everything together in one place to optimize patient care and treatment.”

The KJRC is a major referral center, seeing patients from the five-state WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) region.

“We continue to provide many services not found in the community, including managing eye cancer (ocular oncology), uveitis, and medical and hereditary retinal disease,” Dr. Van Gelder said.