Faculty

Biographical Info

Assistant Professor of  Ophthalmology
Contact Lens Service
Director, Tele-Ophthalmology Service
Director, Contact Lens Fellowship Program

Mailing Address:
Department of Ophthalmology
Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary
1855 W. Taylor Street, M/C 648
Chicago, IL 60612

Sees Patients at:
Specialty Care Building (SCB)
Contact Lens Service
Comprehensive Ophthalmology Faculty Practice (COFP)
1009 S. Wood St.
Chicago, IL 60612

Schedule an Appointment

Millennium Park Eye Center (MPEC)
30 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 410
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone:  (312) 996-2020

Dr. Scanzera is an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary at UIC. She is a contact lens specialist and clinician-scientist with a focus on health equity and access to eye care.

Dr. Scanzera received her BBA from Loyola University Chicago, OD from the New England College of Optometry, and MPH in Epidemiology from UIC. After completing her optometry Residency in Primary Care and Ocular Disease at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, IL, she went on to complete a clinical Fellowship in Advanced Medically Necessary Contact Lenses at UIC.

As a medically necessary contact lens specialist, Dr. Scanzera fits soft, rigid gas permeable, hybrid, and scleral lenses for acute and chronic conditions, and is also certified in the use of the EyePrint Pro, an impression based scleral lens. Her clinical interests include improving vision from corneal irregularities as well as reducing symptoms from severe ocular surface disease. In addition to her contact lens research, her time spent serving patients in Federally Qualified Health Centers, including Mile Square Health Center, served as a foundation for her career as a health disparities researcher. Dr. Scanzera was previously awarded a pilot grant from the Center for Health Equity Research (CHER) Chicago. She was also selected for the UIC Department of Ophthalmology K12 Clinician Scientist Development Program award. Health equity is central to Dr. Scanzera’s work as she uses human-centered design and implementation science in her research to examine how structural factors contribute to differences in eye care access, and to develop targeted interventions to reduce these barriers.

Dr. Scanzera is the Director of the Tele-Ophthalmology Service and Contact Lens Fellowship program at UIC. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry (AAO) and Scleral Lens Education Society (SLS). She is a member of the Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness, American Public Health Association, Lions Club International, American Telemedicine Association, and AcademyHealth. She currently serves on the AAO’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee and the University of Illinois Health System’s Health Equity Committee.

Dr. Scanzera sees patients at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary and Millennium Park Eye Center. She joined the faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary in 2016.

Education

BBA cum laude—Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL
OD with clinical honors—New England College of Optometry, Boston, MA
Residency in Primary Care and Ocular Disease—Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, North Chicago, IL
Clinical Fellowship in Medically Necessary Contact Lenses—Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, University of Illinois Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Chicago, IL
MPH (Master of Public Health) in Epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Selected Publications

Scanzera AC, Bontu S, Joslin CE, McMahon T, Rosenblatt M, Shorter E. Prevalence of Ocular Surface Disease and Corneal Irregularity and Outcomes in Patients Using Therapeutic Scleral Lenses at a Tertiary Care Center. Eye & Contact lens. 2019.

Scanzera AC, Tu E, Joslin CE. Acanthamoeba Keratitis in Minors with Orthokeratology (OK) Lens Use: A Case Series. Eye & Contact lens. 2020.

Hallak J, Scanzera AC, Azar DT, Chan RP. Artificial Intelligence in Ophthalmology during COVID-19 and in the post COVID-19 Era. Current Opinion in Ophthalmology. July 2020.

Scanzera AC, Cole E, Valikodath N, Pham C, Vajaranant TS, Edward DP, Hallak J, Leiderman YI, Kalinoski L, MacIntosh P, Aref AA, Shukla D, Bhat P, Tu E, Chan RP. Implementation of COVID-19 Protocols and Tele-Triage in an Academic Ophthalmology Department. Journal of Academic Ophthalmology. 2020.

Scanzera AC, Dunbar G, Shah V, Cortina S, Leiderman YI, Shorter E. Visual Rehabilitation with Contact Lenses Following Open Globe Trauma. Eye & Contact Lens. 2020.

Scanzera AC, Kim SJ, Paul Chan RV. Teleophthalmology and the Digital Divide: Inequities Highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Eye (Lond). 2020.

Scanzera AC, Thermozier S, Chang AY, Kim SJ, Chan RVP. Adherence to Urgent Eye Visits during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Population Characteristics Study. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2021 Dec 13:1-8.

Ndukwe T, Cole E, Scanzera AC, Chervinko MA, Chiang MF, Campbell JP, Chan RVP. Health Equity and Disparities in ROP Care: A Need for Systematic Evaluation. Front Pediatr. 2022;10:806691.

Scanzera AC, Deeley M, Joslin C, McMahon TT, Shorter E. Contact Lens Prescribing Trends for Keratoconus at an Academic Medical Center: Increased Utilization of Scleral Lenses for Severe Disease. Eye Contact Lens. 2022 Feb 1;48(2):58-62.

Scanzera AC, Kravets S, Hallak JA, Musick H, Krishnan JA, Chan RVP, Kim SJ. Evaluating the Relationship between Neighborhood-Level Social Vulnerability and Patient Adherence to Ophthalmology Appointments. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2023 Feb 23:1-10.

Scanzera AC, Nyenhuis SM, Rudd BN, Ramaswamy M, Mazzucca S, Castro M, Kennedy DJ, Mermelstein RJ, Chambers DA, Dudek SM, Krishnan JA. Building a new regional home for implementation science: Annual Midwest Clinical & Translational Research Meetings. J Investig Med. 2023 Mar 31:10815589231166102.

See a representative list of Dr. Scanzera’s published journal articles on PubMed and Google Scholar.