34 | JUNE 27 • 2024 
J
N

T

he increasingly rapid 
progression of myopia 
(nearsightedness) has 
long been a growing concern 
in the medical community. The 
World Health Organization has 
recognized it as a leading global 
concern. 
One Southfield optometrist 
is working to change that. Shira 
Kresch, 33, grew up in Oak 
Park, attended Beth Jacob and 
then Mesores Rochel Seminary 
in Israel. She was accepted into 
Wayne State’s Health Pro Start 
Honors program in 2009 on a 
full Presidential Scholarship. 
When it came time to choose 
what medical specialty she want-
ed to study, Kresch shadowed 
different professionals, but none 
appealed to her.
“It was a problem,
” Kresch 
said. “My mom’s friend, an 
ophthalmologist, said that if she 
could do it all over again, she’
d 
do optometry. I didn’t even know 
what an optometrist was and 
decided to look into it.
”
Kresch shadowed two optome-
trists and was instantly hooked. 
In 2011, she began attend-
ing SUNY Optometry School 
in New York, dually studying 
vision research in addition to 
her regular optometry studies 
in their combination doctor of 
optometry and master’s of sci-
ence in vision science program. 
She completed her residency in 
2015-2016 at the NY VA Harbor 
Healthcare System, focusing on 
eye diseases alongside ophthal-
mology residents.
“I loved working alongside the 
ophthalmology residents. It felt 
like we were bringing the full cir-
cle package to patients,
” Kresch 
said.
After her residency, Kresch 
was invited to join Columbia 
University’s highly regarded 
ophthalmology department. In 
fact, they created a position for 
her to see if an optometrist could 
be integrated into the glaucoma 
division.

“G-d works in miraculous 
ways,
” Kresch said. “I still have to 
pinch myself when I think about 
it!”
The chairman told Kresch, 
“This is going to be an experi-
ment. If all else fails, you’ll be a 
general optometrist at Columbia 
University and that’s not too bad 
either!”
Kresch admitted, “The funny 
thing was that it was such an 
honor, a real dream come true. I 
would have done it for free. 
“But when the chairman 
brought up salary and benefits, 
I didn’t want him to think I 
was too easy! I’
d already started 

working in a private practice, so I 
told him, ‘I’ll have to think about 
it’ with a straight face and then 
went skipping down the hallway 
to call my husband and squeal 
into the phone!”
Kresch was on faculty at 
Columbia for over four years, 
where she worked in the faculty 
practice and lectured frequently.

A FOCUS ON MYOPIA
At one point, during a subway 
ride between locations, the vice 
president and director of the 
Glaucoma Service, Dr. Jeffrey 
Liebmann, bought up myopia 
management, which was becom-

ing a huge controversial topic. 
“I think you should explore 
myopia,
” Dr. Liebmann suggest-
ed.
“Sure, I’ll look into it,
” Kresch 
blithely told him, planning to 
do it one day, and was surprised 
when Dr. Liebmann immediately 
started emailing her articles on 
the subject.
“I realized he was serious,
” 
laughed Kresch, who immediate-
ly started researching the subject. 
“Usually, kids go to the eye 
doctor when they’re having 
issues seeing the board at school, 
get diagnosed with nearsighted-
ness and that prescription goes 
up every visit,
” explained Kresch. 
“This is how it’s always been. But 
now, the prevalence of myopia in 
kids is going up at an alarming 
rate with earlier onset and faster 
rates of progression than ever 
before. It’s so worrisome because 
the earlier the diagnosis, the 
faster the condition will progress. 
When I see toddlers holding a 
phone or tablet to their faces, I 
cringe.
”
A low level of myopia that 
doesn’t progress isn’t particularly 
worrisome. However, a diagnosis 
of myopia at a very young age 
that continues to progress can 
open the door to many eye com-
plications. 
“When a person’s vision gets 
worse, not only do they become 
more reliant on glasses, but 
there are structural changes in 
their eyes that can substantially 
increase their risk of getting glau-
coma, retina detachment, early 
cataracts, etc. Bottom line is that 
kids collectively have a much big-
ger risk of vision loss than ever 
before,
” Kresch said.
Researchers worldwide are 
working to figure out how to 
slow down this progression. To 
date, there are three non-invasive 
modalities that work, according 
to Kresch: special glasses, special 
contact lenses and compounded 
atropine drops. 
The specially designed glasses 

Southfield optometrist is on a mission 
to slow myopia progression.

A Different 
Kind of 
‘Vision Quest’

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

HEALTH

Dr. Shira 
Kresch

