The impact of vision loss on aging: A glaucoma fellow’s perspective

Nearly a year has passed since Moon Jeong Lee, MD, was awarded the inaugural Visionary in Eye Care Resident Recognition Award for Best in Ophthalmology at the EyeCon 2023 conference. Ophthalmology Times caught up with Lee to see where her journey has taken her since that milestone. Now embarking on a glaucoma fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lee reflects on her path, her passion for ophthalmology, and the next steps in her career.

Ophthalmology Times (OT):

You are a glaucoma fellow at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. What area of research, technology, or treatment are you especially passionate about?

Moon Jeong Lee, MD:

I am still early on in my fellowship, but throughout medical school and residency, so much of my research has focused on how vision loss affects aging and cognition.

OT:

How did your passion for this specific area develop over time, and what experiences have shaped your dedication to it?

Lee:

I’ve always had an interest in working with older adults dating back to college. During summers, I spent time volunteering at a geriatric hospital in Sorokdo (a prior Hansen disease colony in South Korea) and volunteered at Wesley Woods, a geriatric hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, in the Alzheimer unit. When I began medical school, I then developed an interest in ophthalmology, and through my research, I was able to combine all of these interests.

OT:

Can you describe a particular project or achievement within this area that you are most proud of?

Lee:

I had the opportunity to contribute to a paper spearheaded by one of my mentors, Bonnielin Swenor, PhD, MPH, to inform the [World Health Organization’s] World Report on Vision. A version of this paper was published in The Gerontologist.1

OT:

What impact do you hope your work in this area will have on the broader field or on patient outcomes?

Lee:

I hope that it enhances our understanding of how vision loss affects aging as well as the complex interplay between aging, cognition, and vision loss. We can then develop better methods of screening to identify these individuals who may be at risk for worse health outcomes and develop tailored interventions to help improve function and health outcomes.

OT:

How do you foresee growth or change in that area throughout your career?

Lee:

As technology advances, so too does our ability to detect more subtle associations and methods of screening.

Moon Jeong Lee, MD

E: moonlee8329@gmail.com

Lee completed medical school at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, and stayed for her residency training in Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute. During residency, Lee not only focused on patient care, but also continued her research efforts. Her projects investigated the association of food insecurity and visual impairment and the effect of surgeon-level factors on postoperative endophthalmitis rates. She has presented her work at various association conferences including Women in Ophthalmology and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Her commitment to patient care was recognized by the Iliff Kress Excellence in Patient Care award during her second year of residency, and she was named as one of the 2024 recipients of ASCRS Resident Excellence Award.

Reference:

1. Swenor BK, Lee MJ, Varadaraj V, Whitson HE, Ramulu PY. Aging with vision loss: a framework for assessing the impact of visual impairment on older adults. Gerontologist. 2020;60(6):989-995. doi:10.1093/geront/gnz117