Judy E. Kim

Judy E. Kim, MD, is an internationally well-known, award-winning vitreoretinal specialist.

She is a tenured professor, Vice-chair of Education and the Medical Director of Clinical Research in the Department of Ophthalmology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She holds the Jean and Tom Walter Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology, in Honor of James P. McCulley, MD.

Certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology, she joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2024. Prior to that, she served as a tenured professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where she held administrative appointments including Director of Teleophthalmology and Research, Global Pathway Mentor, and International Research Fellowship Director.

She specializes in vitreoretinal diseases and surgery, including diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, retinal surgery for macular hole and epiretinal membrane, complex retinal detachments and ocular imaging.

Her research interests include diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, retinal surgery, telemedicine, artificial intelligence, big data, and ocular imaging.

She is active in numerous professional and honor societies, in which she has held key leadership positions. She is currently the  President-Elect of the Macula Society, Secretary of the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR/AEVR), Executive Board Member of the Asia Pacific Retinal Imaging Society as well as the Retina World Congress.  She is a member of the American Ophthalmological Society, the Retina Society and the Committee on Artificial Intelligence of American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). She is a Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) and is Chair Emeritus of Women in Retina,

Dr. Kim is a former Board of Trustee Member for AAO and the 2022-2023 Past President of American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS), the largest society in the world for retina specialists, and the second woman president since the organization’s founding in 1982.

She serves on the editorial boards of JAMA Ophthalmology, Ophthalmic Surgery Laser and Imaging Retina, Ocular Surgery News, Korean Journal of Ophthalmology, Journal of Retina, and Ophthalmology 360.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Kim has published more than 200 papers and given over 400 podium presentations at national and international conferences. She has mentored medical students, residents, and fellows and been actively involved in over 70 multicenter clinical trials, including serving as national study chair and executive committee member of the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Retina Network, a consortium funded by the National Eye Institute with more than 160 participating sites throughout the United States and Canada.

A few of her numerous awards and honors over the years include the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Fellowship, Medical College of Wisconsin Outstanding Faculty Service Awards, Suzanne Véronneau-Troutman Award from Women in Ophthalmology, Women Pioneer in Science Award, and The Ophthalmologist’s Power List for both “the 100 Most Influential Women in Ophthalmology” and “the 100 Most Influential Ophthalmologists in the World”. She has been peer-selected to the Best Doctors in America List since 2003, which recognizes the top 4 percent of physicians in the country. From AAO, she received the Lifetime Achievement Honor Award, Senior Achievement Award, Achievement Award and Secretariat Awards. From ASRS, she received  Senior Achievement Award and Achievement Award. She is in the Retina Hall of Fame and is an inaugural ASRS Fellow.

She completed her ophthalmology residency at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami and her vitreoretinal fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

She is a graduate of the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute-National Institutes of Health Research Scholars Program.

Dr. Kim aspires to improve people’s lives by providing compassionate and excellent patient care; furthering education, research, and innovation; mentoring the next generation of ophthalmologists; and serving professional organizations.

When she’s not at work, Dr. Kim enjoys photography, piano, singing, gardening, mission trips, culinary adventures and traveling with her husband. Her daughter is an obstetrics/gynecologist and son is a Captain in the United States Marine Corps.