Charles Wykoff, MD, PhD, of Retina Consultants of Texas (RCTX) will deliver the 2025 Matthew D. Davis, MD lecture for Clinical Research on October 24. Dr. Wykoff’s talk is entitled “Clinical Trials in Retina: Good, Bad, and Ugly.”
Dr. Wykoff is a board-certified retina specialist, director of research at RCTX and the Greater Houston Retina Research Foundation (GHRRF), and deputy chair of ophthalmology for the Blanton Eye Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital. He also chairs the Research and Clinical Trials Subcommittee for Retina Consultants of America and serves as a consultant and an investigator for numerous national clinical trials.
Dr. Wykoff received his PhD from Oxford University in England and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Wykoff then completed his ophthalmology residency and vitreoretinal fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami Health System. While there, he was awarded a Heed Fellowship, the Ronald G. Michels Fellowship Award (the nation’s highest honor for a retina surgery fellow), and served as chief resident.
“We are excited to have Dr. Wykoff deliver the Matthew D. Davis, MD Lecture this year,” said Barbara Blodi, MD, medical director at the Wisconsin Reading Center, who chairs the lecture selection committee. “Dr. Wykoff was selected because of his extensive knowledge of clinical trials in retina. He has been a consultant and principal investigator in numerous clinical trials for diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusion and macular degeneration.”
“Dr. Wykoff has also been an author on over 350 articles on new and emerging treatment for retinal disease,” Dr. Blodi continued. “With his extensive background in clinical trials, Dr. Wykoff can provide valuable insights into what types of treatment are successful and why.”
Dr. Wykoff’s research interests include retinal vascular diseases, as well as well as vitreoretinal surgical topics, including surgery for macular holes, epiretinal membranes, and retinal detachment.
About the Matthew D. Davis Lecture
Held annually, the lecture honors Matthew D. Davis, MD, chair of ophthalmology at the University of Wisconsin—Madison from 1970 to 1986. Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Davis is credited with obtaining full independent department status for ophthalmology in 1970, expanding fellowship-trained faculty to include pediatrics and cornea specialists, and adding nine additional clinical faculty and two basic science researchers to the staff. These faculty were instrumental in establishing the base for the future of the department in both clinical and scientific leadership.
A pioneering retina subspecialist, Dr. Davis chaired the first National Eye Institute-funded clinical trial on photocoagulation for diabetic retinopathy—work that set the standard for ophthalmic research. In 1970, Dr. Davis established the Fundus Photograph Reading Center, now the Wisconsin Reading Center, which remains a global leader for the evaluation of fundus images collected in clinical trials.