Global Ophthalmology and Outreach

Our Global Ophthalmology program, funded solely by donors, is rooted in the belief that everyone deserves access to quality eye care, regardless of geography, income, or circumstance.

Across Kentucky, many individuals face barriers to vision care, such as lack of insurance, transportation challenges, rural isolation, and financial hardship. We collaborate with local clinics and community organizations to bring eye care directly to underserved populations through vision screenings, full eye exams, eyeglasses, education, and referrals for advanced care when needed. 

Beyond Kentucky, we partner with institutions and communities around the world to strengthen local eye care capacity by teaching local doctors and nurses and promoting collaborative research and education. Rather than short-term interventions, we focus on building durable systems, empowering local providers, and fostering symbiotic collaborations.

UK GO was founded in 2017 by Dr. Ana Bastos de Carvalho, who continues to serve as its Founding Director. Soon, Dr. Eric Higgins and Dr. Seema Capoor joined as faculty and have been essential to its mission since. The division grew from a deliberately ambitious vision: a formal departmental division engaged in transdisciplinary, multi-institutional, and international partnerships dedicated to eye-care access across the Commonwealth of Kentucky and beyond. From the outset the program rested on three pillars: implementation research to improve care delivery for vulnerable populations; clinical outreach to the underserved; and rigorous education of medical students, residents, fellows, and faculty in global health and ophthalmology.

Kentucky, which ranks among the lowest of all U.S. states on many health indicators, was the program’s first target, with an international arm anchored from the beginning in Haiti. In 2018, UK GO launched the UK Global Ophthalmology Residency Track, the first structured, official global ophthalmology track in any U.S. residency program. The division is funded entirely through individual, corporate, and foundation philanthropy.