Rachel Kuchtey is currently Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Kuchtey specializes in medical and surgical care of glaucoma and conducts basic science research on the genetics and molecular mechanisms of glaucoma.
She obtained her medical degree from West China University of Medical Sciences and earned her PhD in Molecular Genetics from Cornell University. She then went on to internship training at Brown University, followed by Ophthalmology Residency and Glaucoma Fellowship training at the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Kuchtey’s laboratory research has been funded by the National Eye Institute continuously since 2010. She led the team that discovered the gene causing primary open angle glaucoma in a naturally occurring animal model and has since been investigating the mechanisms of the gene in aqueous humor outflow regulation and optic nerve damage using animal models.