Rohit Varma is an Indian-American
ophthalmologist
Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders.
An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a med ...
and professor of ophthalmology and
preventive medicine
Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, consists of measures taken for the purposes of disease prevention.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental hea ...
. In 2014, he was named director of the
USC Eye Institute
The USC Gayle and Edward Roski Eye Institute, part of Keck School of Medicine of USC, is a center for ophthalmic care, research and education located in downtown Los Angeles, California. It has subsidiary clinics in Pasadena, Beverly Hills and ...
and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology for
Keck School of Medicine of USC
The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California teaches and trains physicians, biomedical scientists and other healthcare professionals, conducts medical research, and treats patients. Founded in 1885, it is the second oldest ...
. In March 2016, Varma was named the interim dean of the Keck School of Medicine, and in November was named dean. In October 2017, USC announced that he stepped down as dean.
In October 2018, Varma became the founding director of the Southern California Eyecare and Vision Research Institute.
Varma has studied eye diseases in minority populations and examined biological, genetic and lifestyle factors related to the risk of developing eye diseases, as well as their prevalence.
Education
Varma earned his medical degree from the
University of Delhi
Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE ...
and a Master of Public Health from the
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
He completed an internal medicine internship at
Union Memorial Hospital in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
, a residency at the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute at
Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 ...
, and a glaucoma fellowship at the
Wills Eye Hospital
Wills Eye Hospital is a non-profit eye clinic and hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1832 and is the oldest continually operating eye-care facility in the United States. It is the ophthalmology residency program for Th ...
in Philadelphia.
Career
In September 2012, Varma was appointed chair of the Department of
Ophthalmology
Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders.
An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a me ...
and Visual Sciences and associate dean for strategic planning at the
University of Illinois College of Medicine
The University of Illinois College of Medicine offers a four-year program leading to the MD degree at four different sites in Illinois: Chicago, Peoria, Rockford, and formerly Urbana–Champaign. The Urbana–Champaign site stopped accepting ne ...
. He spent two years at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary and then returned to
Keck School of Medicine of USC
The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California teaches and trains physicians, biomedical scientists and other healthcare professionals, conducts medical research, and treats patients. Founded in 1885, it is the second oldest ...
as chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and director of the USC Eye Institute.
In 2014, he helped develop the Xen implant. The collagen-derived gelatin stent was a development on traditional
glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for aqueous humor, fluid withi ...
surgery, as it is said to be less invasive.
In February 2016, he was elected president of the clinical chairs of the Keck School of Medicine, succeeding
John Niparko. In March 2016, Varma was named interim dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC when
Carmen Puliafito, who had been dean since 2007, resigned after reports were published regarding his use of methamphetamine. In November 2016, Varma was named dean. While dean, Varma launched an international expansion project. The Keck School obtained more than $140 million in
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the lat ...
grants during his tenure.
In October 2017 Varma stepped down as dean to join the faculty at USC after sexual harassment claims against him were uncovered.
In July 2018, it was announced that Varma had joined the
Board of Directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...
at Illusio, a medical software company bringing augmented reality technology into plastic surgery. With his experience working within academia and medicine, Varma will help Illusio expand to academic medical centers and community hospitals.
In October 2018, the
Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center announced Varma as the founding director of the Southern California Eyecare and Vision Research Institute (SCEVRI).
Research
Varma has studied eye diseases in minority populations and examined biological, genetic and lifestyle factors related to the risk of developing eye diseases. In 2000, Varma was part of the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study at the Doheny Eye Institute, with the
National Eye Institute
The National Eye Institute (NEI) was established in 1968. It is located in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. The NEI is one of 27 institutes and centers of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the US Department of Health and ...
. In 2006, Varma published a paper in the ''
American Journal of Ophthalmology
''American Journal of Ophthalmology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering ophthalmology. It was established in 1884 and is published by Elsevier. The editor-in-chief is Richard K. Parrish II ( Bascom Palmer Eye Institute).
Indexing ...
'', discussing
diabetic retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy (also known as diabetic eye disease), is a medical condition in which damage occurs to the retina due to diabetes mellitus. It is a leading cause of blindness in developed countries.
Diabetic retinopathy affects up to 80 perc ...
.
Varma's primary research has focused on epidemiologic studies of eye disease in children and aging populations. He was the principal investigator in the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study, the African-American Eye Disease Study, the Chinese-American Eye Study, and the Multi-Ethnic Pediatric Eye Diseases Study. MEPEDS is the largest study of childhood eye diseases ever undertaken in the U.S. In January 2016, the study confirmed that the incidence of childhood
myopia
Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may includ ...
among American children has more than doubled over the last 50 years. The findings echo a trend among adults and children in Asia, where 90% or more of the population have been diagnosed with myopia, up from 10% to 20% 60 years ago.
He has studied also changes in the optic nerve in
glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for aqueous humor, fluid withi ...
, and has helped develop imaging techniques that aid in the early diagnosis of glaucomatous optic nerve damage.
Publications
Varma co-wrote two ophthalmic books:
''Essentials of Eye Care: The Johns Hopkins Wilmer Handbook''; and ''The Optic Nerve in Glaucoma''. Varma co-edited the book ''Advanced Glaucoma Surgery'', published by Springer International Publishing in its Essentials in Ophthalmology series.
Varma has additionally published many articles in journals such as ''Glaucoma Today'' and ''Ophthalmology Times''.
References
External links
Official webpage at Keck Medicine of USC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varma, Rohit
American ophthalmologists
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Delhi University alumni
Johns Hopkins University alumni
Keck School of Medicine of USC faculty