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Arlene V. Drack, MD

Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

Introduction

Arlene V. Drack, M.D. is a clinician scientist specializing in juvenile inherited eye diseases. She is the inaugural Ronald V. Keech Professor of Pediatric Genetic Eye Disease Research at the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Her research focuses on inherited eye diseases that affect children, particularly in the development of novel treatments. She is experienced in subretinal injection of molecules to treat mouse models of retinal degeneration, as well as participating in human trials for retinal disorders. She co-directs both the clinical and rodent electroretinogram services at the University of Iowa. Her clinical practice includes the full scope of pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus, in addition to running specialized genetic eye disease clinics.

Current Positions

  • Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
  • Professor of Pediatrics
  • Ronald V. Keech, MD, Professor of Pediatric Genetic Eye Disease Research
  • Director of the Kolder Electrophysiology Service

Education

  • BS in Biology / Philosophy, University of Scranton, Scranton, PA
  • MD in Medicine, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA
  • Fellow in ITT International Fellow, Immunology, Det Norske Radiumhospitalet, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
  • Internship in Transitional Internship, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC
  • Resident in Ophthalmology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC
  • Fellow in Ophthalmic Genetics, Wilmer Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
  • Fellow in Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, University of Iowa, Department of Ophthalmology, Iowa City, IA
  • Fellow in Molecular Ophthalmic Genetics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Graduate Program Affiliations

Center, Program and Institute Affiliations

Research Interests

  • 1990, Molecular genetics with Drs. Irene Maumenee and Danping Zhu
  • 2011: European Genetic Eye Disease Association update on ophthalmic genetics
  • February 2010- Observational training in subretinal injections in dogs with Al Maguire, MD and Jean Bennett, MD, PhD, Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania
  • 1993-1996, Project: Ocular growth in neonatal monkeys following peripheral retinal photocoagulation by laser
  • 2011: ISCEV course in clinical and animal electrophysiology, Quebec, Canada
  • 1982-1984; Projects: Set-up and calibration of Contrast Sensitivity Testing; Cortical evoked potentials associated with eye movements
  • July 10-11, 2008, Observational Training in subretinal injections in mice with Dan Chung, D.O
  • Diagnosis and treatment of inherited eye diseases
  • 1992, Molecular ophthalmic genetics with Edwin Stone, M.D., Ph.D.
  • 1981-1982

Licenses & Certifications

  • ABO Certification, American Board of Ophthalmology
  • NBME Diplomate, National Board of Medical Examiners
  • Medical License, Iowa Board of Medicine, Iowa, United States
  • Medical License (inactive), Georgia Composite Medical Board, Georgia, United States
  • Medical License (inactive), Colorado Board of Medical Examiners, Colorado, United States

Selected Publications

  • Ditta L, Utz VM, Chandna A, Drack AV, Reynolds M, Weed M, Dumitrescu AV, Chang MY. (2025). "My child can't see"-workup and management of children with low vision: a joint workshop of the AAPOS Low Vision and Genetic Eye Diseases Committees. J AAPOS :104229. ONLINE AHEAD OF PRINT. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaapos.2025.104229. PMID: 40441479.
  • Pfeifer WL, Drack AV. (2024). Special Considerations in Pediatric Electroretinography. Genetic Diseases of the Eye, 3rd  Edition, Traboulsi editor. Oxford University Press.
  • Drack AV, Simon M. (2022). Refractive Errors in Childhood.  Albert and Jakobiec’s Principles and Practice of Ophthalmology, 4th Edition, Springer International Publishing. (Chiang, editor)
  • Drack AV. (2021). Section editor, Genetics; Section Editor, Evaluation of Vision; Pediatric Retina, 3rd Edition, ME Hartnett, editor.  Lippincott. (Also co-author of 3 chapters including Electroretinogram, Bardet Biedl Syndrome and Congenital Nystagmus) 
  • Jurgens JA, Barry BJ, Chan WM, MacKinnon S, Whitman MC, Matos Ruiz PM, Pratt BM, England EM, Pais L, Lemire G, Groopman E, Glaze C, Russell KA, Singer-Berk M, Di Gioia SA, Lee AS, Andrews C, Shaaban S, Wirth MM, Bekele S, Toffoloni M, Bradford VR, Foster EE, Berube L, Rivera-Quiles C, Mensching FM, Sanchis-Juan A, Fu JM, Wong I, Zhao X, Wilson MW, Weisburd B, Lek M; Ocular CCDD Phenotyping Consortium; Brand H, Talkowski ME, MacArthur DG, O'Donnell-Luria A, Robson CD, Hunter DG, Engle EC. Expanding the genetics and phenotypes of ocular congenital cranial dysinnervation disorders. Genet Med. 2024 Jul 17:101216. doi: 10.1016/j.gim.2024.101216. PMID: 39033378; PMCID: PMC11739428.
  • Lewis TR, Castillo CM, Klementieva NV, Hsu Y, Hao Y, Spencer WJ, Drack AV, Pazour GJ, Arshavsky VY. (2024). Contribution of intraflagellar transport to compartmentalization and maintenance of the photoreceptor cell. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 121(34):e2408551121. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2408551121. PMID: 39145934. PMCID: PMC11348033.
  • Gehrke EJ, Pandey A, Thompson J, Bhattarai S, Gurung P, Hsu Y, Drack AV. (2024). Investigating the role of Caspase-1 in a mouse model of Juvenile X-linked Retinoschisis. Front Med 11:1347599. DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1347599. PMID: 38938378. PMCID: PMC11208328.
  • Woertz EN, Ayala GD, Wynne N, Tarima S, Zacharias S, Brilliant MH, Dunn TM, Costakos D, Summers CG, Strul S, Drack AV, Carroll J. (2024). Quantitative Foveal Structural Metrics as Predictors of Visual Acuity in Human Albinism. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 65(3):3. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.65.3.3. PMID: 38441889. PMCID: PMC10916884.
  • Hassan S, Hsu Y, Thompson JM, Kalmanek E, VandeLune JA, Stanley S, Drack AV. (2024). The dose-response relationship of subretinal gene therapy with rAAV2tYF-CB-hRS1 in a mouse model of X-linked retinoschisis. Front Med 11:1304819. DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1304819. PMID: 38414621. PMCID: PMC10898246.
  • Hassan S, Hsu Y, Mayer SK, Thomas J, Kothapalli A, Helms M, Baker SA, Laird JG, Bhattarai S, Drack AV. (2023). A visually guided swim assay for mouse models of human retinal disease recapitulates the multi-luminance mobility test in humans. Saudi J Ophthalmol 37(4):313-320. DOI: 10.4103/sjopt.sjopt_155_23. PMID: 38155679. PMCID: PMC10752274.