Recent News

For A Veteran Telemedicine Doctor, Pandemic Confirms Need to Improve

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 20, 2020) – By the time the pandemic forced many patients and providers into telemedicine, ophthalmologist Dr. Ana Bastos de Carvalho had been using it for years. As co-founder of the University of Kentucky’s Global Ophthalmology (UKGO) program, she has helped build and expand a statewide telemedicine eye screening program for diabetic patients in disadvantaged rural and urban communities. Diabetes damages the eyes by causing blood vessels to become either leaky or thick and overgrown, so all patients need eye screenings every year...

Ophthalmologist Highlights Limited and Inconsistent Reporting of Race and Ethnicity in Scientific Literature

Dr. Daniel Moore, from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, recently conducted a study looking at the frequency and use of racial and ethnic data in ophthalmology literature published throughout 2019. He wrote an article outlining his findings which was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association: Ophthalmology. Moore says the description of racial and ethnic data in human trials is relatively unregulated which can lead to confusion and inconsistent reporting...

UK's Peter Blackburn Recognized as Ophthalmologist of the Year

Dr. Peter Blackburn, associate professor of ophthalmology and pediatrics in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, has been presented with the Kentucky Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons’ (KAEPS) Ophthalmologist of the Year award. The Ophthalmologist of the Year award is granted to a physician who has made outstanding contributions to KAEPS and made strides to significantly enhance the profession of ophthalmology. Blackburn, an alumnus of the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, specializes in retinal and vitreous diseases...

New Grant Provides Retinopathy Screenings for Diabetics

Diabetes is a complex condition that requires patients to check in with providers across a number of specialties. Multiple appointments with practitioners can mean endless rounds of scheduling, traveling and follow-ups. Many patients don't have the flexibility to take off work, the means to travel, or access to education materials to help them manage their condition. But thanks to a new grant secured by UK HealthCare's CE Central and their partners at DKBmed, vital screenings for diabetic retinopathy will be conducted by the patient's primary care provider...

New Genetic Ophthalmologist Specializes in Inherited Eye Diseases

Ophthalmic genetics, the branch of medicine concerned with inherited eye diseases, is a relatively new subspecialty with less than 100 practitioners worldwide. In July 2017, the team at UK Advanced Eye Care became home to one of these rare practitioners, Dr. Ramiro Maldonado. Maldonado, who joins the University of Kentucky as an assistant professor of ophthalmology in the College of Medicine, is a native of Ecuador. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at Duke University, and went on to participate in fellowships in medical retina and ophthalmic genetics at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland...

UK Global Ophthalmology Hosts Inaugural Outreach Clinic

On May 5, the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, in partnership with the Center of Excellence in Rural Health (CERH) and the Huffman & Huffman Clinic, held its first UK Global Ophthalmology (UK GO) outreach service in Hazard. In all, 23 volunteers — clinical subspecialists, optometrists, community health workers, medical students, ophthalmic technicians, staff and administrators — cared for over 100 patients, many of whom were children, during an all-day free clinic available to anyone in the community.

UK Global Ophthalmology Program to Host Award-Winning Film

The University of Kentucky Global Ophthalmology (UK GO) program, a new program with a mission to prevent avoidable blindness by fighting eye disease across the Commonwealth and beyond, has partnered with the UK Global Health Initiatives, directed by Dr. Sam Matheny, professor of Family and Community Medicine, for a unique opportunity of a screening of the documentary, “Bending the Arc.” The documentary, produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, tells the story of three extraordinary doctors and activists whose work 30 years ago to save lives in a rural Haitian village grew into a global battle for the right to health for all...

UK HealthCare's New Advanced Eye Care Clinic Enhances Patient Care

In the continuous pursuit of providing unsurpassed excellence in health care to the people of Kentucky and beyond, the UK HealthCare Advanced Eye Care Clinic opened its’ doors to the future of eye care at UK on March 20. The Advanced Eye Care Clinic, formerly located at the Kentucky Clinic, now occupies the entire fourth and fifth floors of the new Shriner’s Hospital for Children building located at 110 Conn Terrace, just across the street from UK’s Albert B. Chandler Hospital. The state-of-the-art clinic will be the flagship for advanced ophthalmologic care, research, and education in Kentucky...

Shriners and Patients Celebrate Topping Out of New Facility at UK

Shriners Hospitals for Children and UK Healthcare celebrated an important milestone in the construction of the $47 million Shriners Hospitals for Children Medical Center (SHCMC) on Tuesday — the “topping out” of the new building. Construction began March 9, 2015, on the five-story medical center located at the corner of Conn Terrace and South Limestone, on the UK HealthCare campus across from the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital. “Topping out” is the construction term used to indicate that the final steel beam is being placed on the building...

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Dr. Shinichi Fukuda, postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati at the University of Kentucky's Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences has received two prestigious awards to advance his research of dry macular degeneration. . The "Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad of Japan Society for the Promotion Science," presented by the Japan Society for the Promotion Science, is a two-year award given to foster highly capable researchers with wide international perspectives. It gives excellent young Japanese researchers an opportunity to carry out long-term research at an overseas university or research institution. The "Medical...

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The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center will host a special gala on Saturday, Feb. 7, to support its second annual Expressions of Courage exhibit this summer. Markey's Expressions of Courage exhibit is a yearly art showcase featuring original, artistic expressions connected in some way to an experience with a cancer diagnosis, or crafted by or in memory of a Markey patient whose battle has ended. The exhibit takes place in June, which is National Cancer Survivorship Month. The Expressions of Courage Gala will help raise funds to support the exhibit, which allows patients and family members to showcase their original art, dance, poetry and music in a...