Associate Director

Nisha R. Acharya, MD, MS
Elizabeth C. Proctor Distinguished Professor · Associate Director, Francis I. Proctor Foundation · Director, Uveitis & Ocular Inflammatory Disease Service and Uveitis Fellowship

Clinical Trials and Epidemiology of Ocular Inflammatory Disease

About

Dr. Acharya directs the Uveitis and Ocular Inflammatory Disease Service and the Uveitis Fellowship at the F.I. Proctor Foundation. Her clinical expertise is the diagnosis and management of patients with infectious and inflammatory eye diseases, including treatment with new immunomodulatory drugs and biologic therapies. Her research focuses on the design and implementation of clinical trials to determine the optimal treatment for these conditions, alongside epidemiological studies on ocular inflammatory disease — including immunosuppressive therapies, juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis, sarcoidosis, smoking and uveitis, and the impact of vaccines.

Education & Training

BS & MS, Biological Sciences / Health Services Research — Stanford University
MD — University of California, San Francisco
Internship, Internal Medicine — Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Residency, Ophthalmology — Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School
Fellowship, Cornea & Uveitis — F.I. Proctor Foundation, UCSF
Fellowship, Clinical Research — Proctor Foundation / Genentech, UCSF

Research Projects

Ongoing

Discovering Infectious Pathogens (DIP) Uveitis Study

With Dr. Thuy Doan and the DeRisi Lab at UCSF, the DIP study develops a new method for identifying infectious causes of uveitis. Where PCR is limited in the pathogens it can detect, next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics can identify known and previously unrecognized pathogens — helping uncover infectious causes of uveitis of unknown origin.
Collaborators: N. Acharya, T. Doan, DeRisi Lab (UCSF)

Epidemiologic Studies on Uveitis & Ocular Inflammation

Her group studies predictors of clinical outcomes (visual acuity, ocular complications) across uveitis subtypes, outcomes with immunomodulatory and biologic therapies, and risk factors for ocular inflammation including medication exposures and vaccines. Includes work with Dr. Vivien Tham and Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, and coordination of an international study validating diagnostic criteria for ocular sarcoidosis (co-investigator Dr. John Gonzales).
Collaborators: N. Acharya, E. Browne, J. Gonzales, W. Enanoria, T. Porco, V. Tham (Kaiser Permanente Hawaii)

Completed

ADJUST — Adalimumab in JIA-Associated Uveitis Stopping Trial

A multicenter, double-masked randomized controlled trial (Dr. Acharya as PI) evaluating whether adalimumab can be safely discontinued in children with controlled juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis. Results were published in The Lancet in 2025.
Role: Principal Investigator
Funder: NIH / NEI

First-line Antimetabolites for Steroid-sparing Treatment (FAST) Trial

An NIH-sponsored multicenter trial comparing methotrexate and mycophenolate mofetil — the two most common immunosuppressive agents for chronic non-infectious uveitis. The Proctor Foundation served as the clinical and data coordinating center, enrolling at Proctor, OHSU, and Northwestern, plus international sites (APEC in Mexico City and CERA at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne).
Role: Principal Investigator
Funder: NIH / NEI
Collaborators: N. Acharya, T. Porco, T. Lietman, W. Enanoria, E. Browne, J. Gonzales, M. Rao; Dr. Lourdes Arellanes Garcia (APEC, Mexico); Dr. Lyndell Lim & Dr. Anthony Hall (CERA, Australia)

Multicenter Uveitis Steroid Treatment Trial (MUST)

Dr. Acharya is site PI of MUST, comparing the fluocinolone acetonide (Retisert) steroid implant to systemic immunosuppressive therapy for chronic intermediate, posterior, or panuveitis. Enrollment is complete and patients have been followed for long-term outcomes; she has also served as a protocol chair to design future MUST-network trials on uveitic macular edema.
Role: Site Principal Investigator
Collaborators: N. Acharya, J. Gonzales, M. Rao (MUST Research Group, Johns Hopkins)

PeriOcular and INTravitreal Corticosteroids for Uveitic Macular Edema (POINT) Trial

Conducted by the MUST Research Group out of Johns Hopkins, POINT compared three regional corticosteroid regimens for uveitic macular edema — periocular triamcinolone, intravitreal triamcinolone, and the intravitreal dexamethasone implant — measuring change in macular thickness and following participants for six months.
Role: Site Principal Investigator
Collaborators: N. Acharya, J. Gonzales, M. Rao

Mycotic Ulcer Treatment Trials (MUTT I & II)

Randomized trials, with the Aravind Eye Hospital in South India, addressing fungal corneal ulcers. MUTT I found topical natamycin gave better visual outcomes than topical voriconazole; MUTT II studied whether adding oral voriconazole improves outcomes in severe fungal ulcers.
Collaborators: N. Acharya, T. Lietman, S. McLeod, T. Porco, K. O'Brien, K. Ray, N.V. Prajna; Aravind Eye Hospital (South India)

Key Collaborators

Thuy Doan, MD, PhD John Gonzales, MD Travis Porco, PhD Thomas Lietman, MD Jennifer Rose-Nussbaumer, MD Benjamin Arnold, PhD S.R. Rathinam, MD (Aravind) N.V. Prajna, MD (Aravind) DeRisi Lab (UCSF) MUST Research Group (Johns Hopkins)

Learn More

UCSF Profile & Full Publication List

Research Areas: Uveitis, Ocular Inflammation, Clinical Trials, Epidemiology

Learn more about UCSF Ophthalmology faculty research