Esen K Akpek MD

Summary

• Ophthalmologist and physician-scientist with expertise in ocular immunology, dry eye disease, Sjögren’s disease, and ocular surface disorders. Currently serves as Frances & C. Stephen Foster Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology, Director of the Frances & C. Stephen Foster Center for Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, and Chief of the Division of Ocular Immunology at Duke University School of Medicine. Prior to joining Duke in 2025, served for more than two decades at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, including as Bendann Professor of Ophthalmology and Rheumatology, Director of the Ocular Surface Disease and Dry Eye Clinic, Associate Director of the Jerome L. Greene Sjögren’s Center at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, and Director of the Cornea and External Disease Clinical Fellowship.
  
  Has served as Medical Director of CorneaGen, President of the Foster Ocular Immunology Society, Medical & Scientific Advisory Board member of the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society, National Medical Director of KeraLink International, and member of the Preferred Practice Patterns Committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
  
  Currently serves as Associate Editor for the journals Cornea and American Journal of Ophthalmology Case Reports, and has served on the editorial boards of numerous peer-reviewed journals. Has published more than 250 articles in peer-reviewed journals, in addition to numerous book chapters, editorials, and review articles. Has received the Achievement Award and Senior Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and has been recognized among the 100 Most Influential Women in Ophthalmology, America’s Best Eye Doctors by Newsweek, and the top 1% of researchers by Avant-Garde Healthcare Research All-Stars. In 2026, received the Roger W. Beuerman Award from the International Ocular Surface Society.