Dimitra Skondra, MD,PhD
Professional Affiliations
Academic Appointments- Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science
- Director of J. Terry Ernest Ocular Imaging Center
- Founder/Leader, UChicago Retina Microbiome Team
- The University of Chicago
Education and Training
- Retinal fellowship
- Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA
Biography
Dimitra Skondra, an internationally renowned vitreoretinal surgeon and physician scientist, is a Professor Ophthalmology & Visual Science and the Director of J. Terry Ernest Ocular Imaging Center. She is also the founder and leader of UChicago Retinal Microbiome and UChicago Retina Big Data/Bioinformatics team. She completed her ophthalmology residency at Weill Cornell Medical College/New York Presbyterian Hospital and her PhD/postdoctoral fellowship and vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at Harvard Medical School.
Her team focuses on the role of gut microbiome in retinal disorders in particular AMD and ROP. She is considered one of the international leaders and pioneers in this newly emerged field of retinal research using specialized gnotobiotic animal models she has developed and cutting-edge multi-omics approach to delineate the gut-retina axis interactions. Her team, using Big-Data and computational bioinformatics approach is also studying repurposing of known medications for AMD and other retinal and ocular disorders ; her work has shown that metformin, a common anti-diabetic medication is protective for AMD and could represent a new therapeutic strategy for AMD.
She is an elected member of the prestigious Macula Society, Retina Society and Club Jules Gonin that include selected leaders of the retinal field internationally. She has received numerous honors and awards including ARVO Early Career Clinician Scientist, Retina Society Margherio Award, Club Jules Gonin Retina Research Foundation award, ISPB AMD award , UChicago Innovation award and has given multiple invited lectures nationally and internationally. She is an invited founding member of International Ocular Circulation Society and the Microbiome Medicine Program, on editorial board of IOVS and Nature’s Scientific Reports and has been elected in retinal section of ARVO Program Committee and Retina Society’s Socioeconomic Committee.