It has been a remarkable year for Duke Global Ophthalmology (Duke GO) filled with amazing triumphs and incredible growth – all dedicated to curing blindness worldwide, alleviating human suffering, and transforming not only individual lives, but their families and entire communities. Lloyd Willliams, MD, PhD, associate professor of ophthalmology and Duke GO director leads a tireless team that is having a major impact by restoring vision in several underserved countries across the globe.
Duke GO has seen tremendous success this past year. Much of it is due to the generosity of our donors, the addition of a program coordinator, more organized partnerships, and the increased interest of our faculty, staff and trainees to participate in Duke GO. The inaugural global ophthalmology fellow will begin in summer 2025 and will expand capacity to reach more countries and impact more lives.
There are robust plans for the future for Duke GO. Expanding care, supporting surgeons who are performing cataract surgery, corneal transplants, and other ocular conditions, as well as creating training and residency programs abroad, just to name a few focus areas for Duke Go in the months and years ahead. The commitment has never been stronger to cure blindness worldwide.
Hope for Sight
Novie Marburn from Yogyakarta, Indonesia was blind in both eyes for 10 years. She was not able to see her children ages 2, 4, and 7 years old, making it very difficult to care for them. Novi wondered if she would ever be able to see the beautiful faces of her children. Indonesia lacks eye care experts and facilities where she could get the care needed to regain her vision. During a sight saving trip in February 2024, Williams met Novie‘s husband Rio, completely by chance. Rio was working as a translator and happened to ask Willams if he could help his wife. Williams evaluated Novie and realized she was blund in both eyes, but her vision could be restored with corneal transplants in each eye. Novie was getting the sight saving surgery that she needed. Today, Novie now has almost normal vision. She can see her children and care for them with no assistance. This is just one example of thousands demonstrating the impact of Duke GO.
Anupauma Horne, MD “Everyday in ophthalmology we experience small miracles of giving new sight at home but the impact this has in developing communities is on another level. It can mean the difference between suffering and hope for all ages. I love travel because of the immersion in language and culture and the connections that can be formed far outside of what I'm familiar with. Global ophthalmology has allowed me lean into this even more by challenging me to hone my surgical skills to perform cases that are often far more complex than my daily routine and to do so in unpredictable settings but always leads to such rewarding and impactful results.”
Horne, assistant professor of ophthalmology and chief of Duke compressive ophthalmology leads our efforts in Roatan Honduras with partner Health in Sight.
Fekrselame “Metu” Tesfaye recently traveled to her home country of Ethiopia, not to visit family and friends, but to assist with surgeries that restored sight to hundreds of people. It was a lifechanging experience for the patients – and for Tesfaye.
Ethiopia has a relatively high rate of blindness due to curable conditions such as cataracts. There aren’t enough ophthalmologists there who can do cataract surgery, and many people don’t have the resources to pay for the surgery or even know the condition can be cured. “I was shocked,” Tesfaye said. “I myself didn’t know how many blind people there are in Ethiopia. It was unbelievable.”
Education to Expand Global Access
The educational aspect of DukeGO includes training ophthalmologists abroad.
A critical component of Duke GO is the new Global Ophthalmology Fellowship which will begin with the inaugural fellow, Sheena Song, MD, in July 2025. The fellowship is designed to train outstanding young ophthalmologists to specialize in providing care and developing infrastructure overseas. Song will also with Miracles In Sight to help develop an eye banking program in Indonesia.
DukeGO surgeons not only perform surgery on patients but also train ophthalmologists in countries visited so the local physicians can continue caring for the natives. So far, four surgeons have been trained to perform corneal transplants. two in Indonesia two in Sierra Leone. Training will continue during future trips to increase skill and proficiency.
Ophthalmologists also visit Duke for training. This year, physicians from Indonesia and Ukraine traveled to Durham to observe and improve skills in corneal transplants and learn more about eye banking.
Nataliya Preys: "My observation in ophthalmology was very educational and rich. I observed many surgical cases and methods of treatment and training time on sets of animal corneas in the educational room. At Duke, eye surgery is performed at a very high level! I plan to actively implement the knowledge and experience gained at Duke in my clinical practice in Ukraine.”
Nataliya Preys, MD, Ukranian ophthalmologist came to Duke to increase knowledge in advanced cornea transplantation techniques to address a growing number of patients with different mechanisms of eye injuries as mechanical and chemical trauma.
Partnerships and Donors
Thousands of beaming smiles and countless tears of joy wouldn’t have been possible without support from our partners and generous donors including corporations, service organizations, patients and individuals who are committed to the cause. Funding is still a primary focus for Duke GO as it is necessary to continue the success experienced over the last year.
LC Industries is a transformative supporter of Duke Eye Center, provided a substantial gift to help support the infrastructure and travel for Duke GO team members.
Miracles In Sight has been a significant partner and supporter of Duke Eye Center for many years, and also passionate about global ophthalmology. Their generous gift made possible the Duke Global Ophthalmology fellowship. Miracles in Sight also supplies cornea tissue needed for corneal transplants during sight saving missions.
Rotary
Partnerships
Cure Blindness Project
Health in Sight