John Kempen

Dr. John Kempen is well-known nationally and internationally as an expert in ocular inflammatory diseases—such as uveitis, scleritis, and others—as well as ocular complications of AIDS. He is also engaged in international research in India and Ethiopia regarding ophthalmic epidemiology and trachoma research.

Dr. Kempen is Co-Founder and President of Sight for Souls, a US 501(c)(3) charity developing self-sustaining, tertiary eye institutes in developing countries as a strategy to address global blindness through self-sustaining service delivery, public health outreach, training and research. Approximately 80% of global blindness and low vision requires individual-level clinical care, which is directly addressed by this strategy.

Dr. Kempen has doctoral training in epidemiology, and masters-level training in biostatistics and public health. He has completed research fellowships in clinical trials and in preventive ophthalmology. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and a member of the American Uveitis Society, the International Uveitis Study Group, the Society for Clinical Trials, and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. He was appointed by President Bush to serve as a member of the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (2004-2008), and has approximately 150 publications in the leading journals of his specialty. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Ophthalmic Epidemiology.

Clinical Interests

Uveitis, iritis, pars planitis, panuveitis, sympathetic ophthalmia, choroiditis, retinitis, neuroretinitis, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, Fuchs’ heterochromic cyclitis, retinal vasculitis, serpiginous retinochoroiditis, birdshot chorioretinitis, immunosuppressive therapy for eye disease, scleritis, orbital inflammatory disease, ocular complications of AIDS, cytomegalovirus retinitis, acute retinal necrosis, infectious retinitis, toxoplasmic retinitis, trachoma, international ophthalmology, Ethiopia, India.

Publications

Validation of diagnostic accuracy of retinal image grading by trained non-ophthalmologist grader for detecting diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. Eye (Lond). 2022 Jul 29.

The Collaborative Ocular Tuberculosis Study (COTS) calculator-a consensus-based decision tool for initiating antitubercular therapy in ocular tuberculosis. Eye (Lond). 2022 Jun 28.

What the 'greater good' excludes: Patients left behind by pre-operative COVID-19 screening in an Ethiopian town. Dev World Bioeth. 2022 May 22.

Corneal Endothelial Transplantation in Uveitis: Incidence and Risk Factors. Am J Ophthalmol. 2022 04; 236:288-297.

The Historical Evolution of Ocular Tuberculosis: Past, Present, and Future. Ocul Immunol Inflamm. 2022 Apr 03; 30(3):593-599.

Epidemiology of Scleritis in the United Kingdom From 1997 to 2018: Population-Based Analysis of 11 Million Patients and Association Between Scleritis and Infectious and Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Disease. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2021 07; 73(7):1267-1276.

Decreased risk of non-infectious anterior uveitis with statin therapy in a large healthcare claims database. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2021 Sep; 259(9):2783-2793.

Dropped Nucleus during Cataract Surgery in South India: Incidence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2022 06; 29(3):271-278.

Response to comments: Making the decision to donate eye organs: Perspectives from the families of the deceased in Madurai, India. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021 04; 69(4):1020-1021.

Risk of Cataract in Intermediate Uveitis. Am J Ophthalmol. 2021 09; 229:200-209.