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Olachi Mezu-Ndubuisi, M.D., O.D.

Olachi Mezu-Ndubuisi, M.D., O.D.

Pediatrics , Neonatology

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Contact

Office (585) 275-2972
Fax (585) 461-3614

About Me

Dr. Olachi Mezu-Ndubuisi is a neonatologist as well as a licensed optometrist. Dr. Mezu-Ndubuisi is passionate about bench-to-bedside translational research, with a humanistic goal of developing safer therapies and informing new paradigms of more effective clinical management strategies. Her clinic...
Dr. Olachi Mezu-Ndubuisi is a neonatologist as well as a licensed optometrist. Dr. Mezu-Ndubuisi is passionate about bench-to-bedside translational research, with a humanistic goal of developing safer therapies and informing new paradigms of more effective clinical management strategies. Her clinical interest include retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in premature babies, and improving nutrition in very low birth weight babies in the NICU. She is actively involved in research on global health disparities and participates in humanitarian international medical outreach, as well as mentoring medical and clinical trainees in global health research. Dr. Mezu-Ndubuisi is committed to an academic pathway that integrates research, teaching, and service activities, in order to make the most impact in pediatric retina research and global health outcomes.

Faculty Appointments

Associate Professor - Department of Pediatrics, Neonatology (SMD)

Associate Professor - Department of Ophthalmology (SMD) - Joint

Credentials

Residency & Fellowship

Fellowship, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine-Chicago. 2011 - 2013

Fellowship, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, University of Maryland Medical Center. 2006 - 2008

Residency, Pediatrics, Louisiana State University-Shreveport. 2004 - 2006

Internship, Pediatrics, Louisiana State University-Shreveport. 2003 - 2004

Education

MD | Ross University School of Medicine-Dominica (Dominica). 2003

Awards

McPherson Eye Research Institute's Retina Research Foundation Edwin and Dorothy Gamewell Professor. 2021 - 2024

Career Development Award (K08). 2021 - 2026

Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Award. 2018 - 2019

Fellow, American Academy of Optometry. 2017

Young Investigator Award. 2017

Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Award. 2015 - 2017

ROP Star of the Month. 2015

Centennial Scholars Program Award. 2014

RRF/Joseph M. and Eula C. Lawrence Award and Travel Grant. 2013

Young Investigator's Award. 2012

Minority Research Award/Certificate. 2012

Mead Johnson Fellow's Research Travel Grant. 2012

Graduated Summa cum laude. 1998

Best Graduating Student, School of Optometry. 1998

Best Clinician Award. 1998

First Prize, Dr. Nwaba Optometry Award for Excellence. 1998

Female Motivator Award. 1992

Research

Dr. Mezu-Ndubuisi’s early interest in vision science is based on her belief that the eyes provide a unique window to the body to directly visualize retinal blood vessels, and could be used as a biomarker to monitor systemic diseases in the body. Dr. Mezu-Ndubuisi’s research focus is ROP, a potential...
Dr. Mezu-Ndubuisi’s early interest in vision science is based on her belief that the eyes provide a unique window to the body to directly visualize retinal blood vessels, and could be used as a biomarker to monitor systemic diseases in the body. Dr. Mezu-Ndubuisi’s research focus is ROP, a potentially blinding eye disease of multi-factorial origin affecting premature infants exposed to postnatal hyperoxia, characterized by abnormal retinal vascularization. There is no known drug cure for ROP. Current treatments such as laser therapy and intravitreal bevacizumab, an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibody, are limited in efficacy due to systemic toxicities, and have long term adverse effects. Therefore, ROP remains a leading cause of childhood blindness worldwide. Her research studies in ROP have been fueled by this dire need for more effective therapies.

Dr. Mezu-Ndubuisi’s research studies led to the novel use of in-vivo phosphorescence lifetime imaging to measure retinal vascular oxygen tension and fluorescein angiography (FA) to depict retinal vascular abnormalities in a mouse model of oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR). The Mezu-Ndubuisi laboratory has established in vivo retinal imaging techniques in a mouse model of OIR model that have defined unique vascular, structural and functional phenotypes in ROP, which they have correlated to histopathological evidence of neuroglia dysfunction. Her lab has expanded the use of live non-invasive optical imaging techniques to study retinal development in neonatal mice, as well as investigate the role of oxidative stress on other developing tissues, like the brain, lungs, and kidneys. Dr. Mezu-Ndubuisi’s lab is currently investigating new mechanisms of ROP pathogenesis in order to discover novel therapies, that could potentially prevent severity and progression of ROP, while avoiding systemic toxicity. One of the on-going projects is studying the efficacy and mechanism of dual therapy of intravitreal VEGF-A microparticles and topical calcitriol to restore the vascular, structural, and functional OIR phenotype.

Research Lab

Publications

Journal Articles

Retinal vascular recovery revealed by retinal imaging following neonatal hypoxia ischemia in mice: Is there a role for tyrosine kinase receptor modulation?

Zafer D, Adams T, Olson E, Stenman L, Taparli O, Eickhoff J, Cengiz P, Mezu-Ndubuisi O

Brain research.. 2022 December 11796 :148093. Epub 09/15/2022.

Retinopathy of prematurity shows alterations in Vegfa isoform expression.

Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ, Song YS, Macke E, Johnson H, Nwaba G, Ikeda A, Sheibani N

Pediatric research.. 2022 June 91 (7):1677-1685. Epub 07/20/2021.

Role of the Endothelium in Neonatal Diseases.

Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ, Maheshwari A

Newborn : official journal of the Global Newborn Society.. 2022 1 (1):44-57. Epub 03/31/2022.

Community Preventive Health Education Intervention for Pediatric Iron-Deficiency Anemia in Rural Southeast Nigeria.

Nwaba A, Su M, Rajamanickam V, Mezu-Nnabue K, Ubani U, Ikonne EU, Mezu-Ndubuisi O

Annals of global health.. 2022 88 (1):105. Epub 11/21/2022.

Role of macrophages in fetal development and perinatal disorders.

Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ, Maheshwari A

Pediatric research.. 2021 September 90 (3):513-523. Epub 10/18/2020.

The role of integrins in inflammation and angiogenesis.

Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ, Maheshwari A

Pediatric research.. 2021 May 89 (7):1619-1626. Epub 10/07/2020.

Unmasking Systemic Racism and Unconscious Bias in Medical Workplaces: A Call to Servant Leadership.

Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ

Journal of the American Heart Association.. 2021 April 610 (7):e018845. Epub 03/29/2021.

Long-term evaluation of retinal morphology and function in a mouse model of oxygen-induced retinopathy.

Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ, Macke EL, Kalavacherla R, Nwaba AA, Suscha A, Zaitoun IS, Ikeda A, Sheibani N

Molecular vision.. 2020 26 :257-276. Epub 04/01/2020.

Simultaneous assessment of aberrant retinal vascularization, thickness, and function in an in vivo mouse oxygen-induced retinopathy model.

Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ, Adams T, Taylor LK, Nwaba A, Eickhoff J

Eye.. 2019 March 33 (3):363-373. Epub 09/12/2018.

Intravitreal Delivery of VEGF-A-loaded PLGA Microparticles Reduces Retinal Vaso-Obliteration in an In Vivo Mouse Model of Retinopathy of Prematurity.

Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ, Wang Y, Schoephoerster J, Falero-Perez J, Zaitoun IS, Sheibani N, Gong S

Current eye research.. 2019 March 44 (3):275-286. Epub 11/09/2018.

rhIGF-1/rhIGFBP-3 in Preterm Infants: A Phase 2 Randomized Controlled Trial.

Ley D, Hallberg B, Hansen-Pupp I, Dani C, Ramenghi LA, Marlow N, Beardsall K, Bhatti F, Dunger D, Higginson JD, Mahaveer A, Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ, Reynolds P, Giannantonio C, van Weissenbruch M, Barton N, Tocoian A, Hamdani M, Jochim E, Mangili A, Chung JK, Turner MA, Smith LEH, Hellström A,

The Journal of pediatrics.. 2019 March 206 :56-65.e8. Epub 11/22/2018.

Longer Breastfeeding Associated with Childhood Anemia in Rural South-Eastern Nigeria.

Buck S, Rolnick K, Nwaba AA, Eickhoff J, Mezu-Nnabue K, Esenwah E, Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ

International journal of pediatrics.. 2019 2019 :9457981. Epub 06/10/2019.

Investigating the Use of Education on Diet and Medical Comorbidities to Reduce Cataract Surgery Screening Failure in a Rural Community in Imo State, Nigeria.

Anderson A, Friedl C, Nwaba A, Rajamanickam VP, Mezu-Nnabue K, Esenwah E, Ikoro N, Suresh C, Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ.

Journal of Eye and Vision. 2018; 1(2): 6.

Simultaneous Fluorescein Angiography and Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Correlate Retinal Thickness Changes to Vascular Abnormalities in an In Vivo Mouse Model of Retinopathy of Prematurity.

Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ, Taylor LK, Schoephoerster JA

Journal of ophthalmology.. 2017 2017 :9620876. Epub 05/10/2017.

In Vivo Angiography Quantifies Oxygen-Induced Retinopathy Vascular Recovery.

Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ

Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.. 2016 October 93 (10):1268-1279. Epub 1900 01 01.

Correspondence of retinal thinning and vasculopathy in mice with oxygen-induced retinopathy.

Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ, Wanek J, Chau FY, Teng PY, Blair NP, Reddy NM, Raj JU, Reddy SP, Shahidi M

Experimental eye research.. 2014 May 122 :119-22. Epub 04/02/2014.

In vivo retinal vascular oxygen tension imaging and fluorescein angiography in the mouse model of oxygen-induced retinopathy.

Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ, Teng PY, Wanek J, Blair NP, Chau FY, Reddy NM, Raj JU, Reddy SP, Shahidi M

Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.. 2013 October 2354 (10):6968-72. Epub 10/23/2013.

Patent ductus arteriosus in premature neonates.

Mezu-Ndubuisi OJ, Agarwal G, Raghavan A, Pham JT, Ohler KH, Maheshwari A

Drugs.. 2012 May 772 (7):907-16. Epub 1900 01 01.

Comparative Assessment of the Cup to Disc Ratio using digital Imaging vs. Topographic Scanner.

Mezu KR, Mezu OJ.

Journal of American Acad. of Optometry. 2001; 78(4): 32.

Pseudo-retinitis Pigmentosa – a case report.

Mezu OJ, Mezu KR, Okechi A.

Journal of Nigerian Optometric Association. 1998; : 13-15.

Books

Maxcy-Rosenau-Last Public Health & Preventive Medicine (2022)

Chapter: Visual Disorders

Management and Leadership – A Guide for Clinical Professionals. (2015)

Chapter: Communicating Bad News in the Health Care Organization

Neonatal- Perinatal Medicine: Diseases of the Fetus and Infant (2014)

Chapter: Developmental Immunology

Nutrition for the Preterm Neonate (2013)

Chapter: Minimal Enteral Feeding

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