DAVIS LECTURE

Join us virtually for the presentation of the Matthew D. Davis Professorship to Dr. Barbara Blodi, at the start of Grand Rounds, featuring the Matthew D. Davis Lecture.

‭Professor, Director, Clinical Trials and Fundus Photograph Reading Center
‭Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

Dr. Barbara A. Blodi garnered a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and French at the University of Iowa. She earned a Master of Arts in international law in 1983 from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in a combined program at Tufts and Harvard Universities in Boston, MA. Afterwards, she attended the University of Iowa College of Medicine and earned her Medical Doctorate in 1987. In 1988, Dr. Blodi completed an internal medicine internship transitional year at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, AZ. She then completed her ophthalmology residency training in 1991 at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, FL. Subsequently, she remained at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute to complete her medical retina fellowship training in 1992. To further her training, Dr. Blodi performed a vitreo-retinal surgical fellowship at the W.K. Kellogg Eye Center at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She secured appointments as Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan and Pennsylvania State University prior to joining the UW DOVS in 1997.

As an Assistant Professor, Dr. Blodi became the Co-Director of the UW DOVS Fundus Photograph Reading Center (FPRC) in 1997. The FPRC was established by then chair of the department, Dr. Matthew D. Davis, in 1970. Dr. Blodi devoted much of her professional time and expertise to the FPRC and worked in partnership with Dr. Matthew Davis throughout her career at the UW-Madison. Dr. Blodi is the Principal Investigator for several FPRC National Institutes of Health studies, including the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network study, the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications study, and the Study of Comparative Treatments for Retinal Vein Occlusion 2. She is also the Co-Principal Investigator for the large multi-site trial Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2.

The FPRC experienced serious financial issues which came to a head in 2013, and it was Dr. Blodi’s drive, leadership and strategic initiatives, along with in-step partnership with me as the new chair of the department that resulted in a successful recovery. Dr. Blodi’s leadership has been central to the continued international academic reputation and financial success of the FPRC. Her biosketch and curriculum vitae clearly underscore her depth and success in ocular imaging, clinical diagnostics, treatments, and clinical research trials. Her academic accomplishments include 92 peer-reviewed publications, 3 book chapters, 2 books, 54 abstracts and posters, 59 collaborative research projects, and over 170 platform presentations.

Dr. Blodi’s long-standing professional relationship with the late Dr. Davis, her demonstrated dedication to the FPRC and to the department, and her success as an international thought leader in ocular imaging, and retinal disease diagnostics and treatments make her a logical and deserving awardee of the inaugural UW DOVS Matthew D. Davis Professorship.