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Michael Abramoff, MD, PhD

Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

Current Positions

  • Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
  • Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
  • Professor of Biomedical Engineering (BME)
  • The Robert C. Watzke, MD, Professor of Retina Research

Education

  • MS in Medicine, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • MS in Biomedical Informatics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • MD in Medicine, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • PhD in Biomedical Imaging, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
  • Clinical Epidemiology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Postdoctoral Fellow in Research Fellowship, RIKEN Neural Networks Research Laboratory, Wako-shi, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
  • Resident in Surgery, University Hospital of Maastricht, Maastricht, Netherlands
  • Resident in Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
  • Fellow in Medical Retina, Vrije Universiteit University Hospital, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Fellow in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa, United States

Graduate Program Affiliations

Center, Program and Institute Affiliations

Research Interests

  • Smart low cost retinal cameras
  • Patient centered analysis of the retina
  • Phenotype discovery using image analysis
  • Segmentation of Spectral Domain OCT of the retina
  • Use of retinal images in education
  • Integration of camera and automated reading of images
  • High quality, portable, patient-friendly, low cost imaging of the retina
  • Functional imaging of the retina using retinal intrinsic optical signals
  • Translation of automated diagnosis to clinical practice through commercialization
  • Coherence analysis of retinal neural coding

Licenses & Certifications

  • State of Iowa Medical License, Iowa Board of Medicine, Iowa, United States
  • Netherlands Ophthalmology Certification, Netherlands Ophthalmologic Society (Netherlands Board of Ophthalmology), Netherlands
  • USMLE I and II, ECFMG certification, United States
  • Medical License, Netherlands, Netherlands

Selected Publications

  • Abramoff MD, Char D. (2024). What Do We Do with Physicians When Autonomous AI-Enabled Workflow is Better for Patient Outcomes? Am J Bioeth 24(9):93-96. DOI: 10.1080/15265161.2024.2377111. PMID: 39225989.
  • Channa R, Wolf RM, Simo R, Brigell M, Fort P, Curcio C, Lynch S, Verbraak F, Abramoff MD; Diabetic Retinal Neurodegeneration and Macular Edema working group of the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative’s Diabetic Retinal Disease Staging Update Project. (2023). A New Approach to Staging Diabetic Eye Disease: Staging of Diabetic Retinal Neurodegeneration and Diabetic Macular Edema. Ophthalmol Sci 4(3):100420. DOI: 10.1016/j.xops.2023.100420. PMID: 38284099. PMCID: PMC10818256.
  • Youssef A, Nichol AA, Martinez-Martin N, Larson DB, Abramoff M, Wolf RM, Char D. (2024). Ethical Considerations in the Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials of Artificial Intelligence. JAMA Netw Open 7(9):e2432482. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.32482. PMID: 39240560. PMCID: PMC11380101.
  • Mansoor M, Ahmad NU, Ahmed SB, Tadros S, Folk J, Abramoff MD. (2025). Sterile Caliper Anterior Chamber Decompression Mitigates Intraocular Pressure Spikes in Intravitreal Injections. Transl Vis Sci Technol 13(12):13. DOI: 10.1167/tvst.13.12.13. PMID: 39661378. PMCID: PMC11636662.
  • Ahmed M, Dai T, Channa R, Abramoff MD, Lehmann HP, Wolf RM. (2025). Cost-effectiveness of AI for pediatric diabetic eye exams from a health system perspective. NPJ Digit Med 8(1):3. DOI: 10.1038/s41746-024-01382-4. PMID: 39747639.
  • Abràmoff MD, Lavin PT, Jakubowski JR, Blodi BA, Keeys M, Joyce C, Folk JC. (2024). Mitigation of AI adoption bias through an improved autonomous AI system for diabetic retinal disease. NPJ Digit Med 7(1):369. DOI: 10.1038/s41746-024-01389-x. PMID: 39702673.
  • Amram AL, Whitmore SS, Wang C, Clavell C, Lyons LJ, Rusakevich AM, Han I, Folk J, Boldt HC, Stone EM, Russell SR, Lee K, Abramoff M, Wykoff C, Sohn EH. (2025). Progressive inner retinal neurodegeneration in non-proliferative macular telangiectasia type 2. Br J Ophthalmol 109(3):401-407. DOI: 10.1136/bjo-2023-325115. PMID: 39288977.
  • Abramoff MD, Folk J, Lee AG, Boldt HC, Beaver HA, Greenlee E, Johnson T, Olson R, Carter K, Oetting TA. (2007). Teaching and Assessing Resident Competency in Retinal Lasers. Presented at Annual Meeting, American Academy of Ophthalmology, New Orleans, LA
  • Campbell JP, Lee AY, Abràmoff MD, Keane PA, Ting DSW, Lum F, Chiang MF. (2020). Reporting Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence in Medical Research. Ophthalmology 127(12):1596-1599. DOI: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2020.09.009. PMID: 32920029. PMCID: PMC7875521.
  • Char D, Abràmoff MD, Feudtner C. (2020). A Framework to Evaluate Ethical Considerations with ML-HCA Applications-Valuable, Even Necessary, but Never Comprehensive. Am J Bioeth. 20(11):W6-W10. DOI: 10.1080/15265161.2020.1827695. PMID: 33103985. PMCID: PMC7714002.