David Steven Friedman

Biography

David S. Friedman, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., is the Alfred Sommer Professor at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and is also a professor in the departments of epidemiology and international health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is the director of the Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, a leader in global and domestic research on blindness prevention and the only World Health Organization collaborating center in the United States. Dr. Friedman graduated summa cum laude from Yale College, received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and obtained a Ph.D. in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins. He completed his residency at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, PA, and served as a glaucoma fellow with Dr. Harry Quigley at the Wilmer Eye Institute. Dr. Friedman is world renowned for his contributions to the study of the mechanisms, epidemiology and prevention of angle-closure glaucoma. He has also made important contributions in the area of medication adherence and was the principal investigator in the first trial to show that an intervention can successfully improve patient use of eye medicines. He is a highly valued glaucoma specialist and cataract surgeon, receiving referrals from the region and overseas. His current research in angle-closure glaucoma is being conducted through clinical trials in south China, where it is very common. In addition to his research, Dr. Friedman is listed on Best Doctors as a leading glaucoma specialist. As an innovative clinician, he performs one of the newest glaucoma operations, the Trabectome procedure. Dr. Friedman also runs the glaucoma fellowship training program and assists residents with their clinics and in the operating room. His dedication to teaching extends to the medical school where he is a co-director of the scholarly concentration program. Dr. Friedman is the recipient of various awards from the National Institutes of Health, Research to Prevent Blindness, the American Geriatric Society and the Alcon Research Institute. He has also obtained substantial funding to support research in patient adherence to glaucoma medications. He co-edited a definitive book on angle-closure glaucoma and has published nearly 150 articles. He serves on the editorial boards of the Cochrane Collaboration and the Journal of Glaucoma, and was on the board of Ophthalmology for many years. He also plays a leadership role in the World Glaucoma Association and the American Glaucoma Society, and recently became the senior ophthalmologist for Helen Keller International, a large non-profit organization dedicated to alleviating blindness worldwide. He has been invited as the Edmund B. Spaeth lecturer in Philadelphia, the Hong Leung Visiting Professor in Singapore, the Mohammed Aziz lecturer at Johns Hopkins and the Richard Ellis lectureship at Wills Eye Hospital. He is fluent in Mandarin, proficient in medical Spanish and speaks some Indonesian.

Research Interest

Angle-closure glaucoma epidemiology and treatment; glaucoma therapy; intraocular pressure monitoring; health services research; pediatric refractive errors; glaucoma screening; ophthalmic epidemiology of eye disease; diabetic retinopathy screening in underserved communities