The Harold G. Scheie Associate Professor of Ophthalmology

The Professorship was established in 2022, and honors the legacy of Dr. Harold G. Scheie, who was the first resident in ophthalmology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. After serving with distinction during World War II, he returned to Penn where he remained throughout his extraordinary career. The Founder of the Scheie Eye Institute, his work brought prominence to Penn’s Department of Ophthalmology. Dr. Scheie received innumerable honors for his groundbreaking work in the treatment of cataracts and glaucoma, and was revered for his dedication to his students and patients.

Current Chairholder

Vatinee Y. Bunya, MD, MSCE

Vatinee Y. Bunya, MD, MSCE, earned her BA from Princeton University and her MD and MSCE from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her residency and cornea fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital (where she was Co-Chief Resident). She currently serves as the Director of Clinical Research at the Scheie Eye Institute and Co-Director of the Penn Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Center. As Co-Director of the Penn Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Center, she cares for patients with dry eye, Sjogren's disease, and other disorders that affect the ocular surface.

Dr. Bunya has extensive experience in the study of dry eye and diseases that affect the ocular surface and eyelids. She also has a special interest in the study of Sjogren's disease, a systemic autoimmune disease that classically causes dry eye and dry mouth. Dr. Bunya has received funding for her research from the National Eye Institute and has been the principal investigator for several dry eye clinical trials. She currently is working to develop better ways to measure dry eye and to screen patients for Sjogren's disease.