Steven Yeh
University of Nebraska Medical Center, NE·Medicine & Clinical Research
Mpox, a viral disease related to smallpox, caused global public health emergencies in 2022–2023 and again in 2024. During the first outbreak, some patients developed keratitis, an inflammation of the clear front surface of the eye, which in some cases caused severe vision loss, and the virus lingered in the eye.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Public Health & Epidemiology
Microbiology & Immunology
- Topics
mpox
monkeypox
clade I
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Apr 2031
What they work on
- Compare how often keratitis, conjunctivitis and uveitis occur in clade I versus clade II mpox infection, and identify risk factors for eye disease to guide public health interventions.
- Measure how quickly mpox viral DNA clears from the tear film, the fluid layer coating the eye, after acute infection, and how its persistence relates to eye disease.
- Assess the local immune response in the eyes of mpox patients with eye disease to separate harmful from protective responses and identify candidate biomarkers.
More about the research
Viral DNA has also been found in tears. Two major virus groups, clade I and clade II, are now spreading, and clade I may cause eye problems more often, but no one knows how common or serious these problems really are. This project proposes to describe mpox eye disease in the countries with the most cases.
Why it matters
Mpox can cause sight-threatening eye inflammation, and the virus may linger in tears. Clearer data on how often eye disease occurs, who is at risk, and how long viral DNA persists on the eye could guide prevention, treatment and public health advice for people with mpox in the United States and worldwide. Immune biomarkers identified here could inform clinical management.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
James Walsh
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Microbiology & Immunology·Early-career
Test whether retinal antigens activate the adaptive immune system within the choroid, the immune-rich layer behind the retina, and whether this drives autoimmune uveitis in experimental models.
Suhsun Liu
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus, CO·Public Health & Epidemiology
Identify social factors, such as race and ethnicity and preferred language spoken, linked to differential access to care and prognosis in dry eye, using electronic health records from the Sue Anschutz-Rogers Eye Center.
Molly McDonough
Chicago State University, IL·Ecology & Evolution·Early-career
Recover orthopoxvirus genomes from historical and modern natural history museum specimens tied to smallpox, monkeypox, and Alaskapox outbreaks, using high-throughput sequencing and targeted enrichment of viral DNA.
The school
University of Nebraska Medical Center: 20 labs on PI Pages, $657M a year on research, 82 research doctorates a year.
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