Welcome to the Summer 2025 edition of the Department of Ophthalmology InSight Newsletter. We are beginning the 2025-26 academic year, as our incoming first-year residents begin training and our new fellows join us. We salute our class of 2025 as they leave us for private practice or specialty training.
This issue's research spotlight shines on the work of Assistant Professor Chris Fortenbach, MD, PhD. Dr. Fortenbach has been awarded a Career Development Award from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB). RPB is a leading nonprofit organization supporting eye research directed at the prevention, treatment, or eradication of all diseases that threaten vision. Our department has been fortunate to receive support from RPB for many decades to support our research.
Dr. Fortenbach is investigating the therapeutic potential of small molecule photoswitches to restore vision in degenerated retinas in his lab at the Vision Science Center at South Lake Union. These light-sensitive small molecules bind to the degenerating retina and confer new light sensitivity to surviving retinal cells. Several generations of these molecules have been developed with differing cell target specificity and sensitivity.
Our Patient Care Spotlight features the Uveitis Division, among the largest in the country. The uveitis team of five faculty and one fellow, headed by Associate Professor Kathryn Pepple, MD, PhD, provides specialized eye care to patients of all ages throughout the region. Dr. Pepple is a clinician-scientist with an active lab in the Vision Science Center at South Lake Union, where she sees patients at the Karalis Johnson Retina Center. Her research and clinical efforts address her central career goal of preventing blindness in her patients with uveitis through effective management of ocular inflammation.
In Education, our class of 2025 of residents and fellows was honored at the graduation dinner on June 14. We are so proud of them and welcome them to our ranks of UW Ophthalmology alumni.
Finally, in our philanthropy spotlight, please enjoy this story and video created by our Advancement team about Community Action Board member Jack Odell, a patient of ocular oncologist Associate Professor Andrew Stacey, MD.
UW Ophthalmology’s ocular oncology program is one of the few in the country with specialized expertise in these rare and often aggressive conditions. Patients have access to the latest, most effective options, including surgery, advanced radiation therapies and precision medicine approaches that tailor treatments to individual needs.
To one patient, Jack Odell, a member of our Community Action Board, Dr. Stacey and his team are a powerful reminder of how life-changing this care can be. Watch the video below to learn more about Mr. Odell's journey with uveal melanoma and how he is helping others.
Wishing you and yours all the best this summer.
Russ 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