Emily Ying Chew is an American

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

and an expert on the human

retina The retina (; or retinas) is the innermost, photosensitivity, light-sensitive layer of tissue (biology), tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some Mollusca, molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focus (optics), focused two-dimensional ...

with a strong clinical and research interest in diabetic

eye disease This is a partial list of human eye diseases and disorders. The World Health Organization (WHO) publishes a classification of known diseases and injuries, the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, or ...

and age-related eye diseases. She currently works for the

National Eye Institute The National Eye Institute (NEI) is part of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The mi ...

(NEI) at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

(NIH) in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

, where she serves as deputy director of the Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications (DECA) and the Institute's deputy clinical director. She designs and implements Phase 1, 2 and 3 clinical trials at the

NIH Clinical Center The NIH Clinical Center is a hospital solely dedicated to clinical research at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The Clinical Center, known as Building 10, consists of the original part of the hospital, the Warren ...

. Chew is board certified in

ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

Education

Chew obtained her M.D. from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1977 and completed her

residency there. She began her career as an ophthalmologist while studying under Brenda Gallie, M.D., a

retinoblastoma Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a rare form of cancer that rapidly develops from the immature cells of a retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye. It is the most common primary malignant intraocular cancer in children, and 80% of retinoblastoma cas ...

expert at the

Career

Chew completed her medical retina fellowships at the

Wilmer Eye Institute The Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute, also referred to as the Wilmer Eye Institute, is a component of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Ophthalmologist William Holland Wilmer opened the Wilmer Eye Institute in 1925. Its home was com ...

at the

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

and the

University of Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, , formerly ) is a public research university located in Nijmegen, Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students. Established in 1923, Radboud University has consistently been included in ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In 1983, she became

board certified Board certification is the process by which a physician, veterinarian, or other professional demonstrates a mastery of advanced knowledge and skills through written, oral, practical, or simulator-based testing. Certification bodies There are mor ...

. From 1983 to 1986, Chew was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at the

. In 1987, she joined the Clinical Trials Branch of the

NIH The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

. Currently, she directs NEI's medical retina fellowship program. Chew's work includes

data analysis Data analysis is the process of inspecting, Data cleansing, cleansing, Data transformation, transforming, and Data modeling, modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making. Da ...

from the Early Treatment

Diabetic retinopathy Diabetic retinopathy (also known as diabetic eye disease) is a medical condition in which damage occurs to the retina due to diabetes. It is a leading cause of blindness in developed countries and one of the lead causes of sight loss in the wor ...

Study (ETDRS) and management and data analysis from the

Age-Related Eye Disease Study The Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) was a clinical trial sponsored by the National Eye Institute that ran from 1992 to 2001. The study was designed to: * investigate the natural history and risk factors of age-related macular degeneration (AM ...

(AREDS). That study established that daily high doses of certain

Antioxidant Antioxidants are Chemical compound, compounds that inhibit Redox, oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce Radical (chemistry), free radicals. Autoxidation leads to degradation of organic compounds, including living matter. Antioxidants ...

s and

Mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

s called the AREDS formulation can help slow the progression to advanced

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a hardware and fabless company that de ...

. Chew also works on a number of

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

studies to evaluate

Genetic association Genetic association is when one or more genotypes within a population co-occur with a phenotype, phenotypic trait association (statistics), more often than would be expected by chance occurrence. Studies of genetic association aim to test whether ...

s with diabetic

. She works on a large clinical trial called the Actions to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD), designed to test the effects of tight control of

blood sugar The blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, blood glucose level, or glycemia is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood. The body tightly regulates blood glucose levels as a part of metabolic homeostasis. For a 70 kg (1 ...

blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of Circulatory system, circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term ...

, and

lipid Lipids are a broad group of organic compounds which include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include storing ...

concentration in the blood on diabetic eye disease. She is also study chair for the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2), a Phase 3 study that is investigating the use of

lutein Lutein (;"Lutein"

zeaxanthin Zeaxanthin is one of the most common carotenoids in nature, and is used in the xanthophyll cycle. Synthesized in plants and some micro-organisms, it is the pigment that gives paprika (made from bell peppers), corn, saffron, goji ( wolfberries) ...

(found in

leafy greens Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by their petioles and shoots, if tender. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...

such as

kale Kale (), also called leaf cabbage, belongs to a group of cabbage (''Brassica oleracea'') cultivars primarily grown for their Leaf vegetable, edible leaves; it has also been used as an ornamental plant. Its multiple different cultivars vary quite ...

) and/or

omega-3 Omega−3 fatty acids, also called omega−3 oils, ω−3 fatty acids or ''n''−3 fatty acids, are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) characterized by the presence of a double bond three atoms away from the terminal methyl group in their ...

polyunsaturated In biochemistry and nutrition, a polyunsaturated fat is a fat that contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid (abbreviated PUFA), which is a subclass of fatty acid characterized by a backbone with two or more carbon–carbon double bonds. Some polyunsa ...

Fatty acid In chemistry, in particular in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated and unsaturated compounds#Organic chemistry, saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an ...

s as treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and

Cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens (anatomy), lens of the eye that leads to a visual impairment, decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or ...

s, the two leading causes of

blindness Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

in the United States of America. Chew is the author of more than 200

Research Article Academic publishing is the subfield of publishing which distributes academic research and scholarship. Most academic work is published in academic journal articles, books or theses. The part of academic written output that is not formally pub ...

s based on her studies of

retinal disease Retinal (also known as retinaldehyde) is a polyene chromophore. Retinal, bound to proteins called opsins, is the chemical basis of visual phototransduction, the light-detection stage of visual perception (vision). Some microorganisms use ret ...

, including articles published in ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication. The journal publishes ...

'', ''

Nature Medicine ''Nature Medicine'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by Nature Portfolio covering all aspects of medicine. It was established in 1995. The journal seeks to publish research papers that "demonstrate novel insight into disease p ...

'', and ''

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

''. She also serves on the

editorial board The editorial board is a group of editors, writers, and other people who are charged with implementing a publication's approach to editorials and other opinion pieces. The editorials published normally represent the views or goals of the publicat ...

of several major journals, including ''

Ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

'', ''

Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science ''Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science'' (''IOVS'') is an online journal published by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). History The journal was established as an official publication of the Association for R ...

'' and ''Retina''.

Honors

* Trustee of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc. (ARVO). * Past president of the Macula Society. * Received the 2014 Bressler Prize in Vision Science. * In 1979, she was awarded the John Gaby Research Day Prize for the best Fellow Research Day paper, presented by the University of Toronto Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences. * In 2009, she and fellow NEI scientist Frederick L. Ferris III, M.D. received a $100,000 unrestricted research grant award from the Alcon Research Institute. The Alcon Research Institute supports global advancements in vision science.

References

Further information

* Video, "Ask a Scientist: Eye-Related Myths," https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h83zPt2A-aU * Video, March 31, 2010, "Life Works: Ophthalmologist" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY0riGWAqS8 {{DEFAULTSORT:Chew, Emily Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) American ophthalmologists University of Toronto alumni National Institutes of Health faculty American women ophthalmologists American vision scientists Women vision scientists National Institutes of Health people People from Guangzhou 20th-century American women physicians 20th-century American physicians 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians 21st-century American women civil servants