Sezen Karakus, M.D.

Sezen Karakus, M.D., is an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She specializes in the medical and surgical management of corneal and external eye diseases as well as anterior segment disorders, including performing corneal transplants, refractive surgery, cataract and intraocular lens surgeries. In addition to providing comprehensive eye care, she has a particular interest in ocular surface inflammation and dry eye. As a team member of the Ocular Surface Diseases and Dry Eye Clinic, she manages patients with ocular surface problems including routine and complex dry eye, Sjögren’s syndrome, blepharitis, meibomian gland dysfunction, and ocular rosacea using a wide variety of medical and procedural treatment choices. 

Her research interest is ocular surface inflammation and dry eye. She has been involved in many research studies and published several research papers in this field. With her continuing research, she aims to address the impact of dry eye and ocular surface diseases on quality of life, study their associations with systemic diseases, and discover the unknown underlying mechanisms to find more effective treatments or even cure. She has been investigating the role of the novel autoantibodies in the early diagnosis of Sjögren’s syndrome. Her recent project is focusing on the role of the ocular surface microbiome in the pathogenesis of meibomian gland dysfunction, particularly in ocular rosacea.

Dr. Karakus received her medical degree from Trakya University School of Medicine, Edirne, Turkey and completed her ophthalmology residency at Beyoglu Eye Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. She then completed research and clinical fellowships in the cornea, external diseases, refractive surgery, and advanced anterior segment surgery at the Wilmer Eye Institute.