Iris S. Kassem, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy

Locations

Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Clinics Building
8920 W. Connell Ct.
Milwaukee, WI 53226

Children's Hospital of Wisconsin - New Berlin Clinic
4855 S. Moorland Rd.
New Berlin WI, 53151

Research Lab
The Eye Institute
925 N. 87th St.
Milwaukee, WI 53226

Contact Information

General Interests

Inflammation and Scarring After Pediatric Intraocular Surgery, Ocular Findings of Fabry Disease, Retinopathy of Prematurity

Education

Doctor of Medicine - Stony Brook University Medical Center - Stony Brook, NY (2006)
Postgraduate Training
Residency in Ophthalmology - North Shore University Hospital - Great Neck, NY (2010)
Fellowship in Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus - University of Illinois - Chicago (2011)

Biography

Dr. Iris Kassem was born and raised in Queens, New York. She earned her Bachelor of Science in physiology with honors at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She then attended the combined MD/PhD Medical Scientist Training Program at the SUNY Health Science Center at Stony Brook. After completing her internship in internal medicine, Dr. Kassem completed her ophthalmology residency at the hospital where she was born at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. She subsequently undertook a pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago Eye and Ear Infirmary, where she stayed on as faculty for four years after fellowship. She joined the faculty at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2015.

Dr. Kassem met and married her husband while they attended the same MD/PhD program. They have two young boys who love sports, including hockey, long-distance running, and tennis.

Research Experience

Anterior Eye Segment
Child
Child, Preschool
Cornea
Humans
Infant
Inflammation
Neurosciences
Treatment Outcome

Clinical Expertise

Ophthalmology
Pediatrics

Research Interests

In children, achieving optimal visual potential after intraocular surgery is more difficult than adults because there is a higher incidence of complications from inflammation and scarring. Postoperative complications in children increase the risk of irreversible decreased vision from amblyopia. As a clinician-scientist, my long-term goal is to improve visual outcomes in children after intraocular surgery. Improving postoperative care in patients, especially children who are at risk of permanently reduced vision from amblyopia, can have a lifelong impact of improved visual outcomes.

The central hypothesis is that children have intrinsic differences in the response to intraocular surgery that result in more inflammation and scarring compared to adults. We are currently investigating age-related changes in aqueous humor and investigating the efficacy of pharmacologic intervention on reduction of inflammation and scarring after eye surgery. This information enables us to identify and evaluate novel and therapeutic options that will potentially improve surgical outcomes.

Funding for this research:
NIH/NEI K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award 2014-2019

Zone of retinal vascularization and refractive error in premature eyes with and without spontaneously regressed retinopathy of prematurity.

(Dikopf MS, Machen LA, Hallak JA, Chau FY, Kassem IS.) J AAPOS. 2019 Aug;23(4):211.e1-211.e6.
Rats deficient in α-galactosidase A develop ocular manifestations of Fabry disease.

(Miller JJ, Aoki K, Reid CA, Tiemeyer M, Dahms NM, Kassem IS.) Sci Rep. 2019 Jun 28;9(1):9392.
Sustained Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Activity of Aflibercept (Eylea) After Storage in Polycarbonate Syringes Used for Intravitreal Injection: A Pathway to Safety and Efficiency.

(Han DP, Skumatz C, Besharse JC, Kassem IS.) J Ocul Pharmacol Ther. 2019 Jun;35(5):278-282.
Acid Ceramidase Deficiency in Mice Leads to Severe Ocular Pathology and Visual Impairment.

(Yu FPS, Sajdak BS, Sikora J, Salmon AE, Nagree MS, Gurka J, Kassem IS, Lipinski DM, Carroll J, Medin JA.) Am J Pathol. 2019 02;189(2):320-338.
Use of a Juvenile Rabbit Animal Model to Evaluate Therapeutic Interventions for Postoperative Inflammation and Fibrin Formation After Lensectomy.

(Bogaard JD, Young JB, Movahedan A, Kassem IS.) Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2019 Jan;8(1):5.
Findings in Persistent Retinopathy of Prematurity.

(Warren CC, Young JB, Goldberg MR, Connor TB, Kassem IS, Costakos DM.) Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2018 07 01;49(7):497-503.
Biometry Characteristics in Adults and Children With Marfan Syndrome: From the Marfan Eye Consortium of Chicago.

(Kinori M, Wehrli S, Kassem IS, Azar NF, Maumenee IH, Mets MB.) Am J Ophthalmol. 2017 May;177:144-149.
Engineering a Light-Attenuating Artificial Iris.

(Shareef FJ, Sun S, Kotecha M, Kassem I, Azar D, Cho M.) Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2016 Apr 01;57(4):2195-202.
A Case Report of Ablepharon-Macrostomia Syndrome with Amniotic Membrane Grafting.

(Feinstein E, Traish AS, Aakalu V, Kassem IS.) Case Rep Ophthalmol. 2015 Sep-Dec;6(3):366-72.
One Year of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Research in Review.

(Kassem IS, Miller MT, Archer SM.) Asia Pac J Ophthalmol (Phila). 2013 Nov-Dec;2(6):388-400.
Findings in Persistent Retinopathy of Prematurity

(Warren CC, Young JB, Goldberg MR, Connor TB, Kassem IS, Costakos DM.) Ophthalmic Surgery, Lasers, and Imaging Retina.. .
Animal models of benign essential blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm

(Evinger C, Kassem IS.) . Animal Models of Movement Disorders.

Kassem Lab, Chris Skumatz, Jon Young and Iris Kassem, MD, PhD

Research Interests

Inflammation and Scarring After Pediatric Intraocular Surgery
Ocular Findings of Fabry Disease
Retinopathy of Prematurity

Iris S. Kassem, MD, PhD