Judy Kim, M.D.

Biography

Judy E. Kim, M.D., is a Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She holds the Jean and Tom Walter Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology, in Honor of James P. McCulley, M.D. She specializes in vitreoretinal diseases and surgery, including diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, retinal surgery for macular hole and epiretinal membrane, and ocular imaging.

Dr. Kim is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Chicago and earned her medical degree at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, where she was selected for the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute-National Institutes of Health Research Scholars Program. She completed a residency in ophthalmology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami in Florida and gained advanced training through a fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery and diseases at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

Certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology, she joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2024. She previously served as a tenured professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where she held administrative appointments including Director of Teleophthalmology and Research, Global Pathway Mentor, and International Research Fellowship Director.

Dr. Kim serves as the Department of Ophthalmology’s Vice Chair of Education as well as the Medical Director of Clinical Research. Her research interests include diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, retinal surgery, telemedicine, artificial intelligence, big data, and ocular imaging.

She is active in numerous professional and honor societies, in which she has held key leadership positions. She is the 2026 President-Elect of the Macula Society, Secretary of the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research, President of the Foundation of the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS), and Executive Board Member of the Asia Pacific Retinal Imaging Society as well as the Retina World Congress.

Dr. Kim is Chair Emeritus of Women in Retina, a Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), and a member of the American Ophthalmological Society and the Retina Society. She is a former Board of Trustee Member for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the 2022-2023 Past President of ASRS, the largest society in the world for retina specialists, and the second woman president since the organization’s founding in 1982.

She also serves on the editorial boards of JAMA Ophthalmology, Ophthalmic Surgery Laser and Imaging Retina, Ocular Surgery News, Korean Journal of Ophthalmology, Journal of Retina, and Ophthalmology 360.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Kim has published more than 200 papers and given over 400 podium presentations at national and international conferences. She has mentored medical students, residents, and fellows and been actively involved in over 70 multicenter clinical trials, including serving as national study chair and executive committee member of the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Retina Network, a consortium funded by the National Eye Institute with more than 160 participating sites throughout the United States and Canada.

A few of her numerous awards and honors over the years include the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Fellowship, Medical College of Wisconsin Outstanding Faculty Service Awards, Suzanne Véronneau-Troutman Award from Women in Ophthalmology, Women Pioneer in Science Award, and The Ophthalmologist’s Power List for both the 100 most influential women in ophthalmology and the 100 most influential ophthalmologists in the world. She has been peer-selected to the Best Doctors in America List since 2003, which recognizes the top 4 percent of physicians in the country. She has also received the AAO Lifetime Achievement Honor Award, AAO Secretariat Awards, and the ASRS Senior Achievement Award. She is in the Retina Hall of Fame and is an ARVO Silver Fellow and an inaugural ASRS Fellow.

Personal Note

Dr. Kim aspires to improve people’s lives by providing compassionate and excellent patient care; furthering education, research, and innovation; mentoring the next generation of ophthalmologists; and serving professional organizations.

When she’s not at work, Dr. Kim enjoys photography, piano, singing, gardening, traveling, mission trips, and culinary adventures.