Dr. Ian Pitha

Dr. Ian Pitha is an ophthalmologist and physician-scientist specializing in the medical and surgical management of glaucoma, including routine and complex cases, as well as cataract care. He joined the John A. Moran Eye Center in 2024, where he sees patients at the University, Redwood, and Midvalley locations. Dr. Pitha is dedicated to improving glaucoma treatment through research, focusing on developing new therapeutics and surgical implants to reduce the burden of daily eye drops.

Dr. Pitha completed his residency at Washington University in St. Louis, serving an additional year as chief resident, followed by a glaucoma fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute Glaucoma Center of Excellence. He then spent a decade as a faculty member at Wilmer, balancing patient care, teaching, and leading a research lab in the Center for Nanomedicine.

His research aims to advance scleral neuroprotection, a novel approach that could protect the eye from high pressures and halt vision loss in glaucoma. He is currently a co-principal investigator on an NIH grant to improve glaucoma drainage implants and is the associate director of the Alan S. Crandall Center for Glaucoma Innovation at Moran.