Professor; Nathan E. Miles Chair of Ophthalmology; Director, Clinical Research Unit

Areas of Interest
aging-related vision impairment and eye disease; vision and driving; improving eye care access and quality for underserved populations

Dr. Owsley's research focuses on the impact of aging on vision. Studies address why some older adults in normal macular health transition to age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older adults in the United States. Dr. Owsley’s research also addresses the relationship between vision and driving and strategies that can improve routine eye care utilization among populations at-risk for eye disease and vision impairment. She is particularly interested in the translation of research findings into public policy in these arenas.

Dr. Owsley is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Wheaton College, Mass., and completed her Ph.D. in experimental psychology specializing in visual perception at Cornell University where she was a National Science Foundation pre-doctoral fellow. Her post-doctoral training was at Northwestern University in vision and aging. She also completed the MSPH in epidemiology at UAB’s School of Public Health. Dr. Owsley has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1983. She is the recipient of the Glenn A. Fry Award from the American Optometric Foundation and the Bartimaeus Award from the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology. She is a gold fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee at Research to Prevent Blindness, and a member of the board of directors of Prevent Blindness.

Education & Training

Undergraduate Education
Wheaton College, Norton, Mass. 

Graduate Education
University of Alabama at Birmingham, MSPH, Epidemiology; Cornell University, Ph.D., Psychology 

Postdoctoral Training
Northwestern University, Psychology, Neuroscience, Ophthalmology