Kathleen B. Digre, MD
Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology
Kathleen Digre is a Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology at the University of Utah School Of Medicine. After receiving her BA from Augustana College (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) in English and German, she earned a Master’s Degree at the University of Arkansas in English literature. She matriculated with a MD from the University of Iowa in 1981, followed by an internship in internal medicine, neurology residency, and neuro-ophthalmology fellowship at the University of Iowa. She joined the University of Utah faculty in 1987 and directed the Neuro-ophthalmology program and clinic at the Moran Eye Center and currently directs the Headache Clinic at the University of Utah.
Dr. Digre recently completed her two year term as the president of the North American Neuro-ophthalmology Society, having served on the board of directors for 9 years. She serves as secretary to the American Neurological Association. She examines for the Board of Neurology and Psychiatry. Dr. Digre sits on the editorial board for the Journal of Neuro-ophthalmology and reviews for 18 medical journals.
She currently directs the University of Utah’s Center of Excellence in Women’s Health formerly funded by the Office on Women’s Health (OWH), Department of Health and Human Services. She is also the chair of the steering committee for an OWH funded project, UWIN (Utah Women’s Health Information Network) and directs a project on screening for diabetic retinopathy using telemedicine.
Her research focuses on clinical disorders of the Optic Disc, increased intracranial pressure (pseudotumor cerebri) and anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. Her book, Practical Viewing of the Optic Disc was published in 2003. Further interests include the study of headache in adolescents, and neuro-ophthalmic disorders in pregnancy. She is the author of over one-hundred peer-reviewed articles, reviews and abstracts, and she lectures in the United States and Internationally.
One of Dr. Digre’s passions is teaching. Starting out as an English teacher in a German Gymnasium and later at a University, she evolved into a Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology. She continues to instruct and mentor fellows in neuro-ophthalmology, graduate students in the College of Health, residents in neurology and ophthalmology, and medical students at the University of Utah. She lectures to community groups about headache.
Honors awarded to Dr. Digre include: Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Omega Alpha, Hancher Finkbine Award, Heed Fellowship in Ophthalmology, Residents teaching award, and Fellowship award to the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM). She received the 2004 Gender Equity Award for the University of Utah given by the American Medical Women’s Association. Since 1994, she has been listed in “Best Doctors in America”. In 2008 she received both The Distinguished Service Award from the North American Neuro-ophthalmology Society and also the Linda K Amos Distinguished Service to Women Award from the University of Utah.
She volunteered for a Women’s Health Care initiative to Tibet in 1999 and currently sits on the medical advisory board to One HEART (Health Education and Research in Tibet), and to the Intracranial Hypertension Research Foundation.
Another of Dr. Digre's projects is working with the North American Neuro-ophthalmology Society and the University of Utah Eccles Health Sciences Library to promote and develope the Neuro-ophthalmology Virtual Educational Library (NOVEL). The library has a variety of collections and covers most disorders seen in neuro-ophthalmology. See: http://library.med.utah.edu/NOVEL
Dr. Digre is married with two college-aged daughters. Her hobbies include reading and discussing books, running, skiing, fishing, opera, hiking, and traveling.
