RESEARCH

Science is a team sport

Our multidisciplinary research group works across clinical medicine, epidemiology, engineering, artificial intelligence, and translational science.

Dr. Shekhawat leads an NIH-funded multidisciplinary research program at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute focused on corneal disease, translational science, and emerging technologies in ophthalmology. The group brings together clinicians, epidemiologists, engineers, data scientists, and collaborators across institutions and countries to address longstanding challenges that no single discipline can solve alone.


Close-up portrait of a smiling man wearing a white lab coat, light blue shirt, and red tie, with brown hair and brown eyes, against a blue-green background.

Lab Members

Nakul Shekhawat, MD, MPH, ScM
Principal Investigator

Close-up of a woman with long, curly blond hair, blue eyes, and wearing a navy blazer over a white blouse, smiling at the camera.

Jordan Shuff, MSE
Biomedical Engineer

Professional woman with dark hair and wearing a navy blazer and white shirt against a gray background.

Kamini Reddy, ScM
Senior Biostatistician

A young woman with glasses and dark hair smiling outdoors, wearing a black and gray striped top.

Lucia Rhode
AI/Computer Vision

PhD Student
(Chellapa Lab)

A woman with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a black and white striped shirt and pearl earrings, smiling against a white background.

Ji Young Byun
AI/Computer Vision
PhD Student
(Chellappa Lab)

A young man with dark hair, smiling softly, wearing a white t-shirt, standing against a plain off-white wall.

Kaiyang Huang
Biomedical Engineering
Graduate Student

A young man with black hair and glasses wearing a suit and patterned shirt outdoors with a blurred architectural background.

Matthew Zeng
Premedical Student

Close-up of a woman with long black hair smiling outdoors, wearing earrings, a white shirt, and a black top, with a blurred green park background.

Amy Parampil
Medical Student

Professional portrait of a woman with long black hair, wearing a black blazer over a white top, gold jewelry, and smiling against a light gray background.

Shruti Anant
Medical Student

Portrait of a woman with braided hair in a gray blazer smiling at the camera.

Folahan Ibukun, MD, MPH
Clinical Research Fellow
(Kong Lab)

A young man with short curly hair, glasses, and a beard, smiling in a professional setting, wearing a suit and white shirt.

Ramadhan Ahmed
Medical Student

A woman with long black hair, smiling, wearing a black blazer and pink shirt, standing against a plain light gray background.

Madhura Karve
Epidemiology
Graduate Student

A smiling middle-aged man with dark hair graying at the temples, dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, and purple tie, standing indoors near a light-colored wall.

Scientific Collaborators

Rama Chellappa, PhD
AI/Computer Vision

Johns Hopkins
Whiting School of Engineering

Professional portrait of a man in a suit with a blurred office background.

Kunal Parikh, PhD
Biomedical Engineering
Johns Hopkins
Wilmer Eye Institute

Portrait of a smiling woman wearing glasses with a dark and abstract background.

Xiangrong Kong, PhD
Biostatistics

Johns Hopkins
Wilmer Eye Institute

The International Multicenter Partnership for Advancing Corneal Transplantation (IMPACT) brings together corneal specialists and research teams at major global eye care institutions to build the scientific infrastructure needed to confront corneal blindness where its burden is greatest.

IMPACT Consortium

Close-up portrait of a man with medium skin tone, short dark hair, and facial hair, smiling and wearing a white coat, light blue shirt, and red tie, against a gradient blue background.

Nakul Shekhawat,
MD, MPH, ScM
Johns Hopkins University, USA

A woman with dark hair, glasses, and earrings wearing a traditional saree against a dark background.

Josephine Christy, MD
Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry, India

Close-up of a woman with dark hair tied back, wearing a yellow top with a white jacket, gold necklace, and earrings, standing against a plain gray background.

Rashmita Ravishankar, MD
Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry, India

Portrait of a woman with black hair, wearing a white coat with a red dot bindi on her forehead, smiling, against a plain white background.

Manisha Acharya, MD
Shroff Charity Eye Hospital,

New Delhi, India

A woman with long dark hair, smiling, wearing a white lab coat over a black shirt, standing against a plain white background.

Nupur Gupta, MD
Shroff Charity Eye Hospital,

New Delhi, India

A man wearing a white medical coat, sitting in an office chair, smiling at the camera.

Gautam Parmar, MD
SNC Chitrakoot,
Madhya Pradesh, India

A man with glasses, wearing a dark suit and light blue shirt, smiling in front of a yellow background.

Elesh Jain, MD
SNC Chitrakoot,
Madhya Pradesh, India