Kelly A. Hutcheson, M.D., M.B.A., is director of ophthalmology for Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) and is responsible for the continued growth and development of the ophthalmology programs at Westchester Medical Center, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, and MidHudson Regional Hospital. Dr. Hutcheson received specialty training in Pediatric Ophthalmology at Emory University. She is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society.

Prior to joining WMCHealth, Dr. Hutcheson served as chief of ophthalmology at Sidra Medical and Research Center and Weill Cornell School of Medicine in Qatar, where she led the Division of Pediatric Ophthalmology to create a regionally outstanding center for the care of pediatric eye disorders, including cutting edge surgical treatment, inpatient and neonatal ophthalmic services and care for children with complex needs. While at Sidra, Dr. Hutcheson also focused on humanitarian work. She led a team of 30 people to perform medical and surgical outreach in the Dominican Republic. She also led an exploratory trip to Nedjo, Ethiopia in partnership with Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE), International. This trip provided medical and surgical care to adults and children.

Dr. Hutcheson previously served as associate professor of ophthalmology and director of the Fellowship Research Program in the Division of Pediatric Ophthalmology at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. During this time, she ran a busy clinical and surgical practice in a tertiary care setting and academic medical center.  Her department trained more than 40 fellows in pediatric ophthalmology and over 100 ophthalmology residents and medical students. Most of her former fellowship trainees have gone on to accomplished careers in academic medicine.  

While at Children’s Medical Center, Dr. Hutcheson developed and led the novel program, the Surgical Humanitarian Outreach Center, a philanthropically funded cost center to provide funding for surgical outreach to the Joseph E. Robert, Jr. Center for Surgical Care and the Division of Anesthesia. This program provides support and fellowship teaching of surgical and anesthesia delivery in developing countries. Dr. Hutcheson was an inaugural member of the Children’s Hospital Sustainability Initiative and was the first Chairperson of the Operating Room Green initiative, bringing recycling and waste reduction initiatives to fruition.

Prior to her work at the Children’s Medical Center, Dr. Hutcheson was the Director of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Director of Ophthalmology Inpatient Services at the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine, where she was elected the Faculty Teacher of the Year. Dr. Hutcheson developed and implemented the pediatric ophthalmology curriculum and served as the co-director for the residency program and the ophthalmology medical student education. During this time, she held several grants and worked in a benchtop laboratory doing genetic analyses on patients with retinopathy of prematurity and in an electrophysiology laboratory doing multifocal electroretinogram studies.

Dr. Hutcheson has presented numerous talks and posters at the American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and other meetings. She has been an invited Guest Professor nationally and internationally. She was a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology Long Range Planning Committee, her specialty society Legislative and Research Committees and numerous institutional and regional committees. 

Dr. Hutcheson is an experienced pediatric eye surgeon with more than 17 years of service, leadership, education and research in academic medicine. In addition, she has been the president of a charity organization that delivers surgical eye care in the developing world for more than ten years. 

Education

• M.D. with honors, University of Virginia
• M.B.A., George Washington University

Research

Dr. Hutcheson has published or been a contributing author for more than 40 peer-reviewed academic publications. She served as the section editor for the pediatric ophthalmology content for a major ophthalmology journal for seven years.

Publications

• Avery RA, Katowitz JA, Fisher MJ, et. al. "Orbital/Periorbital Plexiform Neurofibromas in Children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1: Multidisciplinary Recommendations for Care." Ophthalmology, 124(1), (2017) 123-132. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2016.09.020
• Avery RA, Hwang EI, Ishikawa H, et. al. "Handheld optical coherence tomography during sedation in young children with optic pathway gliomas." JAMA ophthalmology, 132(3), (2014) 265-71. doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2013.7649
• Quinn GE, Dobson V, Davitt BV, et. al. "Progression of myopia and high myopia in the Early Treatment for Retinopathy of Prematurity study: findings at 4 to 6 years of age." Journal of AAPOS : the official publication of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, 17(2), (2013) 124-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jaapos.2012.10.025
• Avery RA, Dombi E, Hutcheson KA, et. al. "Visual outcomes in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 and orbitotemporal plexiform neurofibromas." American journal of ophthalmology, 155(6), (2013) 1089-1094.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2013.01.011
• Smith WM, Reddy MG, Hutcheson KA, et. al. "Rifabutin-associated hypopyon uveitis and retinal vasculitis with a history of acute myeloid leukemia." Journal of ophthalmic inflammation and infection, 2(3), (2012) 149-52. doi: 10.1007/s12348-012-0059-9
• Early Treatment for Retinopathy of Prematurity Cooperative Group, Dobson V, Quinn GE, et. al. "Grating visual acuity results in the early treatment for retinopathy of prematurity study." Archives of ophthalmology (Chicago, Ill. : 1960), 129(7), (2011) 840-6. doi: 10.1001/archophthalmol.2011.143
• Rosenberg JB, Hutcheson KA. "Pediatric sickle cell retinopathy: correlation with clinical factors." Journal of AAPOS : the official publication of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, 15(1), (2011) 49-53. doi: 10.1016/j.jaapos.2010.11.014

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