Brian C. Stagg, MD, received the ARCS scholarship in 2013. He joined the Moran Eye Center as a faculty member in 2019, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma. He also performs cataract surgery and has a special interest in geriatric ophthalmology.

Stagg was recently accepted into the University of Utah’s Vice President’s Clinical & Translational Research Scholars Program, which supports young investigators. His population health-based research focuses on improving eye care delivery, using technology to tailor glaucoma care to the needs of each patient. This eliminates unnecessary and costly testing and treatments.

Stagg has used nationally representative surveys to understand how people in the United States receive eye care. For example, he is currently studying how people with eye diseases use eHealth, or patient-oriented information technologies such as communicating with providers online. It is harder for people with eye diseases to take advantage of these technologies. Stagg is also working to develop a clinical decision support tool using machine learning to improve decision making for glaucoma patients.

ARCS funding supported his interest in population health research.

“The ARCS grant allowed me to fund some of my early interests in research at a time that I would not have had funding otherwise,” said Stagg. “It has also given me credibility as I have applied for additional, larger grants.”

Stagg earned his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and his medical degree from the University of Utah. Following his Moran residency, he went to the University of Michigan, where he practiced as a comprehensive ophthalmologist and was a National Clinician Scholar research fellow studying population health. The clinician scholars program offers interdisciplinary training for clinicians to become change agents to drive policy-relevant research and partnerships to improve health and health care in the U.S. Stagg then completed a glaucoma fellowship at Duke University.