Ian F. Pitha, MD, PhD

Dr. Pitha is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Utah’s John A. Moran Eye Center and Associate Director of the Alan S. Crandall Center for Glaucoma Innovation. He earned his MD and a PhD in pharmacology and toxicology at Dartmouth Medical School, then completed his ophthalmology residency at Washington University in St. Louis, where he served as Chief Resident. After a glaucoma fellowship at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins, he joined Wilmer’s glaucoma division, where he rose to Associate Professor and served as core faculty in the Center for Nanomedicine until moving to Utah in 2024.

Dr. Pitha’s research spans basic science and translational questions. His lab examines how the sclera contributes to glaucomatous optic nerve damage, fabricates and evaluates glaucoma implants designed to prevent surgical failure, and develops formulations for sustained and targeted drug delivery. He has helped take glaucoma implants from first concept to clinical trials, and at the Crandall Center he works to move promising ideas to patients as safely and quickly as possible. The National Eye Institute, Research to Prevent Blindness, the BrightFocus Foundation, the American Glaucoma Society, and the Glaucoma Research Foundation have funded his work. He has received the Research to Prevent Blindness Career Development Award, a Maryland E-Novation Initiative Fund Award, and the Johns Hopkins Discovery Award. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and lectures nationally and internationally on new glaucoma therapies. He is also dedicated to resident education, having led glaucoma teaching and mentoring for residents at the Wilmer Eye Institute for six years.