Rate My Professor Alina Dumitrescu

Alina Dumitrescu, MD, FACS, is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in the Department of Medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, holding the Chakraborty Professorship of Inherited Eye Disorders. She serves as Director of the Ophthalmology Fellowship Program, Ophthalmic Genetics Fellowship Director, and Fellowship Director for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus. She is also an Investigator at the Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Visual Loss at the Iowa City VA Medical Center. Dr. Dumitrescu specializes in inherited eye disorders, with clinical expertise in pediatric ophthalmology and pediatric oculogenetics.

Dr. Dumitrescu received her MD from “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Timișoara, Romania, where she also completed an initial residency in Ophthalmology. She pursued further training with a residency in Ophthalmology at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas, followed by fellowships at the University of Iowa: Molecular Ophthalmology and Glaucoma Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus, and Pediatric Ophthalmic Genetics. Her clinical practice addresses inherited eye diseases, strabismus, tuberous sclerosis complex, and retinopathy of prematurity. Her research interests include genetic eye disorders such as X-linked retinoschisis and retinitis pigmentosa, as well as preclinical glaucoma models. Key publications include "Systemic Treatment with Pioglitazone Reverses Vision Loss in Preclinical Glaucoma Models" (Biomolecules, 2022), "The long-term outcomes of the Anderson-Kestenbaum procedure" (Frontiers in Ophthalmology, 2023), "Editorial: X-linked retinoschisis: mechanisms and therapies" (2024), "Immune landscape in children with X-linked retinoschisis" (BMC Immunology, 2025), and "Streamlining the diagnostic and management pathways of patients with retinitis pigmentosa" (2025). In 2020, she was appointed chair of the Genetic Eye Disorders Committee for the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS). She contributes to clinical trials in collaboration with national centers including the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins.