FDA Ophthalmic Devices Research Fellowship

About the role

The FDA Office and Location: Two research fellowship opportunities are available immediately with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) located in White Oak, Maryland.

Research Project

The FDA's CDRH Ophthalmic Device Program ensures safe and effective innovative ophthalmology devices including diagnostic retinal imagers and therapeutic devices like prostheses, lasers, and intraocular lenses. The program addresses gaps including lack of standard evaluation methods for Adaptive Optics devices, insufficient clinical endpoints for rapid therapeutic response detection, and unclear safety profiles for new materials and treatments. Inconsistent safety and efficacy evaluation due to inadequate testing methods causes increased costs and regulatory delays across diverse ophthalmic applications.

Learning Objectives

• Hands-on training in an optics laboratory, including optical design, optical setup, instrumentation, data collection, and analysis.
• Training on the development of optical models, image acquisition software, image processing algorithms, and deep learning algorithms using Zemax, Python, Matlab, LabVIEW, CUDA, and other programming environments.
• Training on bench-testing for ophthalmic device performance evaluation.
• Human subject investigation, including protocol development and revision, safety and privacy considerations, and collecting data from human subjects.
• Opportunities to present technical results at international conferences.
• Training on how to prepare and write peer-reviewed journal articles.
• General knowledge on FDA regulation of medical products.

Mentor

The mentor(s) for this opportunity are Daniel Hammer (daniel.hammer@fda.hhs.gov), Ilko Ilev (Ilko.Ilev@hda.hhs.gov) and Zhuolin Liu (Zhuolin.liu@fda.hhs.gov).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date

The anticipated appointment start date is Spring 2026. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length

The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of FDA and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of Participation

The appointment is full time.

Participant Stipend

The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience.

Citizenship Requirements

This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR), and foreign nationals. Non-U.S. citizen applicants should refer to the Guidelines for Non-U.S. Citizens Details page of the program website for information about the valid immigration statuses that are acceptable for program participation.

Qualifications

• The qualified candidate should be currently pursuing or have received a master's or doctoral degree in the one of the relevant fields.
• Discipline(s):
• I have lived in the United States for at least 36 out of the past 60 months.
• I have read the FDA Ethics Requirements.