Yannis Paulus, M.D. , the Jonas Friedenwald Professor of Ophthalmology, joined the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine faculty as an associate professor of ophthalmology in August 2024. He is also an associate professor of biomedical engineering within the JHM School of Medicine. A retina specialist, Paulus sees patients at Wilmer’s East Baltimore, Columbia and Arlington locations.

What attracted you to the field of ophthalmology?

I think there's nothing more important for patients and their lives than allowing them the ability to see. I love the field and the fact that we can make such a big difference for patients and their families by helping them regain their sight. The surgeries are really beautiful and elegant, and they can truly restore sight and change people's lives. It was that ability to make a significant difference in patients' lives that really attracted me to the field.

How did you become interested in your specialty?

Retina is a subspecialty that really attracted me because it interfaces with many diseases. The eyes are optically transparent, and the retina is the only place in the body where we can directly visualize neurons and microvasculature. I appreciate that we can sometimes diagnose patients with cancer or identify issues related to high blood pressure and diabetes, as these systemic changes are visible in the retina itself.

I think the specialty has really cool technologies, from lasers to artificial retinas, and there's amazing research being done that I'm excited to participate in. Overall, I believe it's an area where we can make a significant difference for patients in terms of their sight, making it a truly exciting field.

What drew you to Wilmer?

I always say, research is a team sport, so for me, the big attraction was the people. Wilmer has great opportunities to collaborate with fantastic researchers to advance the science for everyone. There is so much research being done in my areas of interest, from retinal imaging and stem cell imaging, to biomedical engineering and nanotechnology.

What are you working on right now and how will it contribute to the advancement of ophthalmology?

I run a lab focused on developing new imaging technologies, laser therapies, and nanotechnologies for retinal applications. My background is in optics, photonics and lasers. I developed clinical lasers like pattern scanning lasers and photo-mediated ultrasound therapy (PUT). I have recently became interested in photoacoustic imaging, which excites the eye with short light pulses and looks at the sound waves that come out to reveal unique tissue properties, such as blood flow and oxygen saturation. I also explore nanotechnology, and have created dissolvable contact lenses with nano and micro needles for long-term drug delivery to help patients with retinal conditions such as macular degeneration and diabetes.

Where do you see opportunities for advancement or innovation in your specialty?

There are numerous clinical needs for patients, especially in improving imaging. We can only diagnose and treat what we can see; thus, enhanced imaging technology is crucial. Currently, we often treat patients based on end-stage anatomy, like significant bleeds or swelling. My goal is to detect upstream molecular changes to enable earlier diagnoses and better patient monitoring through molecular imaging. Additionally, there’s a need for long-term, less invasive drug delivery, which would reduce the frequency of office visits for patients, reduce risks, improve vision, and make their lives easier.