by Caleb Jones

Katherine Weise, OD, MBA, FAAO, director of the Pediatric Optometry Service at UAB Eye Care, was selected from among hundreds of optometrists and ophthalmologists from the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) to serve as co-chair of the international research network, effective January 2024. The appointment lasts for five years.

Previously, in 2019, Weise was selected to serve as PEDIG’s national vice chair under Sue Cotter, OD, MS, professor at the Southern California College of Optometry at Marshall B. Ketchum University and Johnathan Holmes, MD, chair of the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson Department of Ophthalmology.

“She has worked within the network for over 20 years and has led our UAB pediatric research team to be one of the highest recruiters in the network,” said Kristine Hopkins, OD, MSPH, FAAO, UAB School of Optometry professor. “She is well respected, as evidenced by this honor, and well deserving of this title. She will no doubt be an amazing leader for PEDIG and represent UAB proudly.”

PEDIG is a collaborative network dedicated to facilitating multicenter clinical research in strabismus, amblyopia and other eye disorders that affect children. The network was formed in 1997 and is funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI). There are currently more than 100 participating sites with more than 300 pediatric ophthalmologists and pediatric optometrists in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom participating in the network. PEDIG is the only network funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) dedicated solely to pediatric vision care.

According to Weise, the organization was created with deliberate hopes of combining the strengths of pediatric optometry and ophthalmology.

“Early proponents of establishing PEDIG in the NEI sought the help of UAB Pediatric Optometry and Dr. Robert Rutstein who is a UAB School of Optometry emeritus professor,” Weise said. “Other mentors of mine, including Dr. Sue Cotter, Dr. Wendy Marsh-Tootle of the UAB School of Optometry, and Dr. Mike Repka of Johns Hopkins, have played instrumental roles in PEDIG’s inception, growth, and in the way it thrives.”

“I'm humbled and honored and proud to carry the torch forward on their behalf 25 years later,” Weise said. “I hope I can continue to help as many children—and propel as many careers—as each of those visionaries.”

Since Weise became its director in 2004, the Pediatric Optometry Service at UAB Eye Care has won numerous Pediatric Research Team Awards from PEDIG, including the PEDIG Performance Award (2004), the PEDIG Performance Award – Top Recruiter (2007), PEDIG Site of the Month November 2018, March 2011, November 2008 and November 2006, and PEDIG Site of the Year (2018).