Joshua Ehrlich, MD, MPH

I'm an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and a Research Associate Professor at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. I'm also an Associate Director of UM's Center for Global Health Equity.

I completed my undergraduate education at Washington University in St. Louis, studying anthropology and Spanish. I received my M.D. from Cornell University, and a Master's in Public Health (epidemiology) from Columbia University. I then completed a residency in ophthalmology at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, followed by a clinical fellowship in glaucoma and anterior segment disease and a research fellowship, both at the University of Michigan.

My research is interdisciplinary, drawing on epidemiology, demography, health services research, and clinical insights to study healthy and optimal aging. Much of this work is centered on data collection, as well as characterizing and addressing the impact of sensory health on disability, wellbeing, and optimal aging. I am particularly interested in the influence of vision and multiple sensory impairments on cognitive, psychosocial, and physical health in older adults. I co-direct the Jerome Jacobson Global Program at the Kellogg Eye Center. In my role as Associate Director of the Center for Global Health Equity  I oversee the center’s Data Collaborative, which aims to promote equitable access to data, responsible data science, and reciprocal global health collaborations.

My research is been funded by the National Eye Institute, the National Institute on Aging, and the Fogarty International Center at NIH, Gates Ventures, and various philanthropic and professional organizations.

I am a founder of the NIH-funded SENSE Network, an international network supporting research examining the role of sensory functioning on health and aging. I am also an invited member of the Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health, the Vision Loss Experts Group (a technical advisory panel to the WHO and the Global Burden of Disease project), the Center for Vision and Population Health, and the editorial board of Ophthalmic Epidemiology.