Joan M. O'Brien, MD
Ophthalmology
Accepting new patients
Sees patients age 18 and up
Scheie Eye Institute Penn Presbyterian
Penn Medicine Provider
About me
- Director, Penn Medicine Center for Ophthalmic Genetics in Complex Diseases
- Harold G. Scheie-Nina C. Mackall Research Professor of Ophthalmology
My education and training
- Medical School: Dartmouth Medical School
- Residency: Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
- Fellowship: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Fellowship: Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary
- Fellowship: University of California San Francisco
Spoken languages
English
English
Reviews
30 reviews
Comments are submitted by patients and reflect their views and opinions. The comments are not endorsed by and do not necessarily reflect the views of Penn Medicine.
Insurance accepted
Please contact the practice and/or the member services department of your insurance company for specific details before receiving services. Providers may participate in some, but not all, products offered by a health plan; providers may also accept plans at some practice locations but not others.
- Aetna Advantra Cares D-SNP
- Aetna Advantra Credit Value
- Aetna Advantra Eagle HMO
- Aetna Advantra Eagle POS
- Aetna Advantra Premier Plus PPO
- Aetna Advantra Value
- Aetna Advantra Value Plus
- Aetna APCN Plus (Multi-Tier)
- Aetna Better Health Kids (CHIP) - DH Only
- Aetna Flexible Five
- Aetna Freedom Core
- Aetna Gold
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Philly Prime
- Aetna POS
- Aetna PPO APCN
- Aetna Premier
- Aetna Premier Plus
- Aetna Savings Plus
- Aetna Signature Administrators
- Aetna Student Health Plan PPO
- Aetna Upfront Advantage
- First Health HMO
- First Health POS
- First Health PPO
- Meritain - Aramark (Other)
- Meritain - Aramark (Pennsylvania Premier Medical Plan)
- Centivo EPO
- Cigna Healthcare EPO
- Cigna Healthcare HMO
- Cigna Healthcare POS
- Cigna Healthcare PPO
- Claim Watcher (Homestead/ INDECs) Open Access
- Clover Health Choice
- Clover Health Choice Value PPO
- Clover Health Classic HMO
- Clover Health Value
- Devoted Health Choice Giveback Pennsylvania (PPO)
- Devoted Health Choice Pennsylvania (PPO)
- Devoted Health Choice Plus Pennsylvania (PPO)
- Devoted Health Core Pennsylvania (HMO)
- Devoted Health Dual Plus Pennsylvania (HMO D-SNP)
- Devoted Health Giveback Pennsylvania (HMO)
Locations
Penn Medicine hospital privileges
- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
- Penn Presbyterian Medical Center: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
Qualifications and experience
- Ophthalmology, 1996
- American Academy of Ophthalmology, National
- American Academy of Ophthalmology's Ophthalmic, Federal Advocacy for Ophthalmologists and patients, National
- American Association for Cancer Research, National
- American Association for the Advancement of Science, National
- American Board of Ophthalmology, National
- American Medical Women's Association, National
- American Society of Clinical Oncology, National
- American Society of Retina Specialists, National
- Apogean Society-Oculoplastics Society, National
- Aspen Retinal Detachment Society, National
- Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology-Anatomy/Pathology Section, International
- Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology, National
- California Academy of Sciences, Local
- California Physicians Alliance, Local
- Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Local
- Children's Oncology Group of NCI, National
- Clinical Research Forum, Local
- Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH), International
- Doris Duke Foundation, National
- European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer, International
- Eyes of Africa Consortium, International
- Faster Cures, A Center of The Milken Institute, National
- Frederick C. Cordes Eye Society, Local
- Global Genes Project, National
- Greater Philadelphia Ophthalmic Society, Local
- Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Local
- Institute of Medicine, National
- International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, International
- International Association of Women (IAW), International
- International College of Surgeons, Fellow, International
- International Council of Ophthalmology, International
- International Society for Eye Research, International
- International Society of Ocular Oncology, International
- International US Surgeon, International
- Joint European Research Meetings in Ophthalmology and Vision-Ophthalmic Oncology Group, International
- Marquis Inner Circle, National
- Massachusetts Medical Society, Local
- Member, Federal Advocacy for Ophthalmologists and Patients, National
- National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR), National
- National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) / Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR), National
- National Association of Professional Women, National
- National Association of Professional Women (NAPW), National
- National Cancer Institute, International Cancer Information Center, International
- National Eye Institute, National
- NCI Study Committee, Member, National
- Neuroscience Graduate Group, Local
- Ophthalmic Women Leaders, National
- Ophthalmic World Leaders, International
- Ophthalmic World Leaders (OWL), International
- ORBIS, International
- Penn Center for Global Genomics & Health Equity in the Department of Genetics, Local
- Penn Forum for Women Faculty, Local
- Penn Medicine Biobank Committee, Local
- Phi Beta Kappa, Northern California Association, Local
- Philadelphia College of Physicians, Local
- Principal Investigator/Invited Member, National Ophthalmic Disease Genotyping Network (eyeGENE), National Eye Institute, National
- Research to Prevent Blindness, National
- Research to Prevent Blindness, Ophthalmological Associate Member, National
- Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, National
- The European Society for Medical Oncology, Associate Member, International
- The Hospital & Health System Association of Pennsylvania (HAPAC), Local
- The Macula Society, National
- The Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology, International
- The Penn Club of New York, Local
- The Philadelphia Chapter of the Women Leaders Association, Local
- Union League of Philadelphia, Local
- Vanguard Network for Life Sciences Leaders, International
- Women in Ophthalmology, National
- Recognized annually in Philadelphia Magazine's Top Docs issue from 2018 through 2023
Treatments and conditions
Research
Publications
Ramachandran R, Lu MC, Niziol LM, Woodward MA, Elam AR, Johnson L, Kershaw M, Musch DC, Bicket A, John D, Dougherty Wood S, Zhang A, Zhang J, O'Brien J, Newman-Casey PA. Performance of Optic Disc Optical Coherence Tomography Normative Database in a Large, Diverse, Real-World Cohort , Journal of glaucoma, 34(5): 2025,404–414
Mamidipaka A, Shi A, Lee R, Zhu Y, Chen Y, Di Rosa I, Salowe R, Ying GS, O'Brien JM. Socioeconomic and environmental factors associated with glaucoma in an African Ancestry Population: findings from the Primary Open-Angle African American Glaucoma Genetics (POAAGG) study , Eye (London, England): 2025
Di Rosa I, Halimitabrizi M, Salowe R, Augello P, Zhu D, Chen Y, Sankar P, Addis V, Ying GS, O'Brien J. Low Body Mass Index Poses Greater Risk of Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma in African Ancestry Individuals , American journal of ophthalmology: 2025
Mamidipaka A, Shi A, Addis V, He J, Lee R, Di Rosa I, Salowe R, Ying GS, O'Brien J. Outcomes of Trabeculectomy and Predictors of Success in Patients of African Ancestry With Primary Open Angle Glaucoma , Journal of glaucoma: 2025
Trang KB, Pahl MC, Pippin JA, Su C, Littleton SH, Sharma P, Kulkarni NN, Ghanem LR, Terry NA, O'Brien JM, Wagley Y, Hankenson KD, Jermusyk A, Hoskins JW, Amundadottir LT, Xu M, Brown KM, Anderson SA, Yang W, Titchenell PM, Seale P, Cook L, Levings MK, Zemel BS, Chesi A, Wells AD, Grant SFA. 3D genomic features across >50 diverse cell types reveal insights into the genomic architecture of childhood obesity , Elife: 2025
Mamidipaka A, Di Rosa I, Chen Y, Salowe R, Zhu Y, Addis V, Sankar P, Daniel E, Ying GS, O'Brien J. Optic cup morphology associated with glaucomatous damage: Findings from the Primary Open-Angle African American Glaucoma Genetics (POAAGG) Study , AJO international, 1(3): 2024
Sapir T, Augello P, Lee R, McCoskey M, Salowe R, Addis V, Sankar P, Ying GS, O'Brien JM. Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Is Associated with Short-Term Memory Decline and Dementia in Individuals of African Ancestry. , Journal of clinical medicine, 13(14): 2024,4140
Zhao B, Li Y, Fan Z, Wu Z, Shu J, Yang X, Yang Y, Wang X, Li B, Wang X, Copana C, Yang Y, Lin J, Li Y, Stein JL, O'Brien JM, Li T, Zhu H. Eye-brain connections revealed by multimodal retinal and brain imaging genetics , Nature communications, 15(1): 2024,6064
Sripinun, P., See, L. P., Nikonov, S., Chavali, V. R. M., Vrathasha, V., He, J., O'Brien, J. M., Xia, J., Lu, W., & Mitchell, C. H. Piezo1 and Piezo2 channels in retinal ganglion cells and the impact of Piezo1 stimulation on light-dependent neural activity , bioRxiv: 2024
Jordan JA, Daniel E, Chen Y, Salowe R, Zhu Y, Miller-Ellis E, Addis V, Sankar PS, Zhu D, Smith E, Lee R, Ying GS, O’Brien JM. Features Associated with Visible Lamina Cribrosa Pores in Individuals of African Ancestry with Glaucoma: Primary Open-Angle African Ancestry Glaucoma Genetics (POAAGG) Study , Vision (Basel, Switzerland), 8(2): 2024