WILLS EYE IS HIRING – CLICK HERE TO APPLY TODAY!

Dilru Amarasekera, MD

Crane
GLAUCOMA
Dilru Amarasekera, MD

Clinical Instructor, Ophthalmology
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University

Research Interests: My primary research interest focuses on risk factors for development or progression of glaucoma using large population data registries. I am particularly interested in the incidence of glaucoma in patients with sickle cell disease or trait and investigating a relationship between the two diseases. My other research interests include surgical outcomes in glaucoma after filtering surgery and minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, and harmonization of glaucoma testing data. Lastly, I am interested in the evolving presence of women in medicine and ophthalmology, and investigating trends regarding female representation and leadership in medicine.

Awards and Honors

2024-2025.  American Glaucoma Society Mentoring for the Advancement of Physician-Scientists Award        
($10,000 grant awarded to pursue research investigating the relationship between sickle cell and glaucoma)

Summer 2023.  Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Winter 2023. Rick Bay Excellence in Eyecare Education Scholarship
(Awarded for commitment to ophthalmology including integrity, compassion, partnership and dedication to the greater good)

Spring 2021-2022. Wills Eye Hospital Chief Resident
(Elected by faculty and peers)

Spring 2022. Shipman Resident Research Award
(Awarded to the resident with the best research paper presentation at the annual Wills Eye Alumni Conference)

Winter 2019. Gold Humanism Honor Society
(Selected as a PGY-2 Ophthalmology resident for demonstrating compassionate care and for being a humanistic exemplar in medicine)

Summer 2021.  Luo Family Distinguished Service Award
(Awarded to one resident in each class demonstrating leadership and excellent patient care)     

 Sidney Kimmel Medical College
Winter 2017.  Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honors Society
(Elected as Vice President)

2016-Present.  Hobart Amory Hare Medical Honor Society

2015-2016.  APC National Pathology Honor Society
(Inducted for performance in the top 5% of the class in the Introduction to Pathology course)

2018. AMWA Glasgow-Rubin Citation for Academic Achievement
(Awarded to women who graduate in the top 10% of their medical school class)

2017. Abraham E. Rakoff Memorial Scholarship

Summer 2015.  The Lavine Scholarship
(For exceptional research work through The Dean’s Summer Research Program at SKMC)

 

·       Shahin Hallaj, William Halfpenny, Niloofar Radgoudarzi N, Michael Boland, Swarup Swaminathan, Sophia Wang, Benjamin Xu, Dilru Amarasekera, Brian Stagg, Aiyin Chen, Michelle Hribar, Kaveri Thakoor, Kerry Goetz, Jonathan Myers, Aaron Lee, Mark Christopher, Linda Zangwill, Robert Weinreb, Sally Baxter. Gap Analysis of Standard Automated Perimetry Concept Representation in Medical Terminologies. Journal of Glaucoma. 2025.
·       Dilru Amarasekera, Vikram Shankar, Reza Razeghinejad. XEN Gel Stent Failure Due to Luminal Obstruction. Journal of Ophthalmic and Vision Research. 2024.
·       Niloofar Radgoudarzi, Shahin Hallaj, Michael V. Boland, Brian Stagg, Sophia Y. Wang, Benjamin Xu, Swarup S. Swaminathan, Eric N. Brown, Aiyin Chen, Catherine Q. Sun, Dilru Amarasekera, Jonathan S. Myers, Murtaza Saifee, William Halfpenny, Keri Dirkes, Linda Zangwill, Kerry E. Goetz, Michelle Hribar, Sally L. Baxter. Barriers to Extracting and Harmonizing Glaucoma Testing Data: Gaps, Shortcomings, and the Pursuit of FAIRness. Ophthalmology Science. 2024.
·       Sophia Lam, Dilru Amarasekera, Reza Razeghinejad. Chronic Angle Closure Glaucoma with an Atypical Iris-Pupillary Membrane. European Journal of Ophthalmology. June 2022.
·       Dilru Amarasekera, Michael Ammar, James Dunn. A Retinal Detachment after International Travel. JAMA Ophthalmology. 2021.
·       Dilru Amarasekera, Sophia Lam, Christopher Rapuano, Zeba Syed. Trends in Female Authorship in Cornea from 2007 to 2019. Cornea. 2020.
·       Jordan Deaner, Dilru Amarasekera, Daniel Ozzello et al. Accuracy of Referral and Phone-Triage Diagnoses in an Eye Emergency Department. Ophthalmology. 2020.
·       Jordan Deaner, Austin Meeker, Daniel Ozzello, Vishal Swaminathan, Dilru Amarasekera, et al. The Diagnostic Yield and Cost of Radiologic Imaging for Urgent and Emergent Ocular Conditions in an Eye Emergency Room. Journal of Academic Ophthalmology. 2020.
·       Dilru Amarasekera, James P. Dunn. May 2020 Wills Eye Resident Case Series. Review of Ophthalmology. 2020.
·       Dilru Amarasekera, Ralph Eagle, Sara Lally, Carol Shields. November 2019 Wills Eye Resident Case Series. Review of Ophthalmology. 2019.
·       Dilru Amarasekera, Deirdre Connolly, Ashley Gochoco et al. Cutaneous B-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. The American Journal of Dermatopathology. 2018.
·       Dilru Amarasekera, Arthur Resende, Michael Waisbourd, Sanjeev Puri, Marlene Moster, Lisa Hark, L. Jay Katz, Scott Fudemberg, Anand Mantravadi. Steady-State Pattern Electroretinogram and Transient Visual Evoked Potentials Analysis in Glaucomatous and Healthy Eyes. Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology. 2017.
·       Scott Fudemberg, Dilru Amarasekera, Marlee Silverstein, Kathryn Linder, Paul Heffner, Lisa Hark, Michael Waisbourd. Overcoming Barriers to Eye Care: Patient Response to a Medical Social Worker in a Glaucoma Service. Journal of Community Health. 2016.
  • Wesam Shelaby, Dilru Amarasekera, Aakriti Shukla. “Surgical Therapy for Neovascular Glaucoma -The Present- Glaucoma Drainage Implant.” Neovascular Glaucoma - Current Concepts in Diagnosis and Treatment (1st, Vol.1). Chennai, India: Springer Nature. 2021.
  • Dilru Amarasekera, Bruce Markovitz. “Acquired Cataract”. The Wills Eye Manual 8th Edition. Wolters Kluwer. 2021.
  • Dilru Amarasekera, Brenton Finklea. “Conjunctival Laceration”. The Wills Eye Manual 8th Edition. Wolters Kluwer. 2021.
  • Dilru Amarasekera, Brenton Finklea. “Chemical Burn”. The Wills Eye Manual 8th Edition. Wolters Kluwer. 2021.
  • Julienne Jeong; Sagar Shah; Shahin Hallaj; Nicholas O'Connor; Wesam Shalaby; Dilru Amarasekera, et al. Comparing Outcomes of Kahook Dual Blade with Bent Needle Goniotomy: A Non-Inferiority Retrospective Study. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2023; 64 (8): 4282.
  • Dilru Amarasekera, Arthur Resende, Michael Waisbourd, et al. Two Novel Electrophysiological Diagnostic Tests for Detection of Reversal of Retinal Ganglion Cell Dysfunction in Ocular Hypertension Patients. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2017. 2017;58(8):5844.
  • Michael Waisbourd, Arthur Resende, Dilru Amarasekera et al. Steady-State Pattern Electroretinogram and Transient Visual Evoked Potentials Analysis in Glaucomatous and Healthy Eyes.  Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2016;57(12):3946.
  • Horan T, Shalaby W, Myers J, Xia T, Amarasekera D. “Incidence of and Risk Factors for Early Post-operative Intraocular Pressure Elevation Following Goniotomy.” American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Annual Conference. April 2024.
  • Shortell J, Reddy R, Shalaby W, Mahajan A, Myers J, Amarasekera D. “Accuracy of Cup-to-Disc Ratio Assessment Amongst Trainees and Ophthalmologists Using a Simplified Optic Nerve Head Model.” Wills Eye Alumni Conference Free Paper Session. March 2024.
  • Amarasekera D, Hallaj S, Nieves C, Zhang T, Razeghinejad R. “Outcomes of Glaucoma Filtering Surgeries in Patients 85 and Older: A Retrospective Study.” American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Annual Conference. May 2023.
  • Amarasekera D, Shah S, Shukla A, Lee D. “Comparing Outcomes of Bent Needle Versus Kahook Dual Blade Goniotomy”. Wills Eye Alumni Conference Free Paper Session. March 2023.
  • Nieves C, Hallaj S, Amarasekera D, Razeghinejad R. “Outcomes of Glaucoma Filtering Surgery in Patients 85 and Older: A Retrospective Study.” Wills Eye Alumni Conference Free Paper Session. March 2023.
  • Amarasekera D, Lam S, Syed Z. “Trends in Female Authorship in Cornea from 2007 to 2019.” Wills Eye Alumni Conference Free Paper Session. March 2022.Awarded the Shipman Resident Research Award at the Wills Eye Alumni Conference 2022
  • Amarasekera D, Wu C, Lee, D. “Ologen Collagen Matrix Implantation for Overfiltering Trabeculectomy.” American Glaucoma Society Annual Meeting Super Bowl of Grand Rounds. March 2021.
  • Amarasekera D, Rapuano C, Syed, Z. “Trends in Female Authorship in Cornea from 2007 to 2019.” Women in Ophthalmology 2020 Summer Symposium Top Poster Podium Session. August 2020.
  • Ozzello D, Deaner J, Meeker A, Bonafede L, Amarasekera D et al. “Accuracy of Ophthalmic Diagnosis and Treatment by Physicians Referring Patients to the Wills Eye Emergency Room.” Wills Eye Hospital Alumni Conference. March 7, 2019.
  • Resende A, Amarasekera D, Waisbourd M et al. “Electroretinogram and Visual Evoked Potentials for Detecting the Reversibility of Ganglion Cell Dysfunction in Patients with Ocular Hypertension.” Brazilian Congress of Ophthalmology. September 3, 2016.
  • Amarasekera D, Eagle R. “Low-grade Sebaceous Carcinoma with a Somatic Mismatch Repair Mutation.” Pathology Honors Research Symposium. April 1, 2016.
  • Amarasekera D, Resende A, Waisbourd M et al. “Steady-state Pattern Electroretinogram and Short-Duration Transient Visual Evoked Potentials for Early Detection of Retinal Ganglion Cell Dysfunction in Ocular Hypertension Patients.” American Glaucoma Society Annual Meeting. March 4, 2016.
  • Shortell J, McSwain K, Reddy R, Shalaby W, Myers J, Amarasekera D. “Accuracy of Eye Care Providers and Trainees Cup-to-Disc Ratio Assessment Using a Simplified Optic Nerve Head Model.” American Glaucoma Society 2025 Annual Meeting. February 2025.Awarded “Top Poster” at AGS 2025
  • Radgoudarzi N, Hallaj S, Boland M, Stagg B, Wang S, Xu B, Swaminathan S, Brown E, Chen A, Sun C, Amarasekera D, Myers J, Saifee M, Halfpenny W, Dirkes K, Zangwill L, Goetz K, Hribar M, Baxter S. “Multi-institutional analysis of barriers to extracting and harmonizing glaucoma testing data.” American Academy of Ophthalmology 2024 Annual Meeting. October 2024.
  • Hallaj, S., Swaminathan, S. S., Wang, S. Y., Xu, B. Y., Amarasekera, D., et al. "Barriers to Automated Visual Field Perimetry Data Extraction, Harmonization, and Representation." In OMOP, The Collaborative Community on Ophthalmic Imaging Foundation 2024 Virtual Conference. January 2024. Awarded “Top Poster” at CCOI 2024
  • Lalman C, Waisbourd M, Myers J, Zambrano R, Kolomeyer N, Amarasekera D, et al. “Artificial Intelligence Assessment of Disc Photos for Detection of Referable Glaucoma”. American Glaucoma Society Annual Conference. March 2024.
  • Hallaj S, Nieves C, Zhang T, Shah S, Amarasekera D, et. al. “Safety and Efficacy of Xen Gel Stent Versus Trabeculectomy and Tube Shunt Surgeries in Patients 85 and Older: A Retrospective Study.” American Glaucoma Society Annual Conference. March 2023.
  • Jeong J, Shah S, Hallaj S, O’Connor N, Shelaby W, Amarasekera D, Shukla A, Lee D. “Comparing Outcomes of Dual Blade with Bent Needle Goniotomy: A Non-Inferiority Retrospective Study.” Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting. May 2023.
  • Amarasekera D, Deaner J, Ozzello D, et al. “Accuracy of Referral and Phone-Triage Diagnoses in an Eye Emergency Department.” American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Session. November 2020. Awarded “Best Poster” at AAO 2020
  • Amarasekera D, Lam S, Syed, Z et al. “Trends in Female Authorship in Cornea from 2007 to 2019.” American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Session. November 2020.
  • Amarasekera D, Lam S, Syed, Z et al. “Trends in Female Authorship in Cornea from 2007 to 2019.” Women in Ophthalmology 2020 Summer Symposium. August 2020. Awarded “Top Poster” at WIO 2020
  • Amarasekera D, Resende A, Waisbourd M, et al. “Two Novel Electrophysiological Diagnostic Tests for Detection of Reversal of Retinal Ganglion Cell Dysfunction in Ocular Hypertension Patients.” Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting. May 7, 2017.
  • Waisbourd M, Resende A, Amarasekera D et al. “Steady-State Pattern Electroretinogram and Transient Visual Evoked Potentials Analysis in Glaucomatous and Healthy Eyes.” Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting. May 1, 2016.
  • Amarasekera D, Eagle R. “Low-grade Sebaceous Carcinoma with a Somatic Mismatch Repair Mutation”. Pathology Honors Poster Session. April 15, 2016.
  • Amarasekera D, Resende A, Waisbourd M et al. “Steady-State Pattern Electroretinogram and Transient Visual Evoked Potentials Analysis in Glaucomatous and Healthy Eyes.” Sigma Xi Research Symposium. April 13, 2016.
  • Amarasekera D, Resende A, Waisbourd M et al. “Steady-State Pattern Electroretinogram and Transient Visual Evoked Potentials Analysis in Glaucomatous and Healthy Eyes.” Alpha Omega Alpha Research Symposium. April 7, 2016.
  • Resende A, Waisbourd M, Amarasekera D, Hark L, Moster M. “A Prospective Pilot Study Evaluating the Novel Micropulse Trans-scleral Cyclophotocoagulation: Short-Term Results. American Glaucoma Society Annual Meeting. March 4, 2016.
  • Fudemberg S, Amarasekera D, Silverstein M, et al. “Overcoming Barriers to Eye Care: Patient Response to a Medical Social Worker in a Glaucoma Service.” American Glaucoma Society Annual Meeting. March 4, 2016.