Dr. Zebardast’s research focuses on developing precision medicine-based tools for disease detection, aiding clinicians in assessing for disease progression and eventually optimizing patient-related outcomes. She collaborates widely with experts from Mass General and the Ocular Genomics Institute to define image-based and longitudinal endophenotypes for glaucoma using machine learning methods and to understand the genetic underpinning of vision loss in this blinding disease. This work could lay the foundation for precision medicine approaches to screening and diagnosis that combines clinical phenotypes and genetic background to improve assessment of disease risk for any individual.   

Dr. Zebardast was selected for the NIH/NEI-funded K12 Harvard-Vision Clinical Scientist Training Program as well as the Gliklich Innovation Scholarship program in 2019. She is currently funded by an NIH K23 career development award, an NIH R21 award as well as the Research to Prevent Blindness Career development award. 

Education

2007: BASc, with honors, Engineering Science Biomedical Track, University of Toronto

2008: MSc, Tissue Engineering, University of Toronto

2013: MD, Yale School of Medicine

Postgraduate Training

2014: Transitional Year Internship, Yale New Haven Hospital

2017: Residency, Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University

2018: Fellowship, Glaucoma, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University

Honors

2014 and 2015: Wilmer Research Grant Award

2015 and 2016: Wilmer Mitchell Prize for best research by a Wilmer resident

2016: American Glaucoma Society Bernard Schwartz Memorial Award for best poster or paper presentation

2017: Paul S. Lietman Global Travel Fellowship

2021: Research to Prevent Blindness Career Development Award