Prof. Dr. Vilma Jūratė Balčiūnienė

Vilma Jūratė Balčiūnienė is a medical retina specialist in the ophthalmology department at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU) Hospital Kauno Klinikos, where she is head of the retina unit. She is also an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at LSMU.

Prof. Dr. Balčiūnienė attended medical school at the University of Medicine, Kaunas, Lithuania, and completed her residency in ophthalmology at the department of ophthalmology, University Hospital of LSMU. She participates in medical student, resident, and fellow education, and her research mainly focuses on age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Prof. Dr. Balčiūnienė defended her PhD thesis on the incidence, clinical course, and risk factors of diabetic retinopathy in type 1 diabetes.

In clinical practice, Prof. Dr. Balčiūnienė focuses on medical retina, particularly macular, vascular, and hereditary retinal diseases. In parallel to her clinical commitments and expertise, she has been acknowledged internationally in conducting clinical trials and has been the principal investigator for more than 20 clinical trials and translational research projects.

She has been president of the Lithuanian Ophthalmological Society since 2018 and is a co-opted board member of EURETINA.