Derek S. Welsbie, M.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology in the UC San Diego School of Medicine and a board-certified ophthalmologist who has an active medical and surgical practice, specializing in adolescents and adults with all stages of glaucoma.

Dr. Welsbie studies the way in which glaucoma leads to optic nerve injury, neurodegeneration and, ultimately, vision loss. Specifically, he uses high-throughput genetic screening to comprehensively characterize the genes responsible for nerve cell death. His ultimate goal is to develop new medication- and gene therapy-based neuroprotective strategies to interfere with these deleterious genes, prevent nerve cell death and improve outcomes for patients with glaucoma.

Prior to joining UC San Diego Health, Dr. Welsbie was an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins University Wilmer Eye Institute, where he won the Shafer Prize for innovative glaucoma research from the Glaucoma Research Foundation and was named Assistant Professor of the Year (2015). In 2019, his laboratory was selected for the Catalyst for a Cure Consortium by the Glaucoma Research Foundation. He has been awarded multiple resident teaching awards including the Whitehill Prize. He also served as the Stephen J. Ryan Assistant Chief of Service and continues to have an interest in resident and medical student education.

Dr. Welsbie completed a residency in Ophthalmology and fellowship training in Glaucoma at the Wilmer Eye Institute. He earned his medical degree and doctorate in molecular biology from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.