Natario
Couser
,
MD, MS
801 North Broadway
Baltimore, MD 21205
United States
About
Dr. Natario Couser is an associate professor with Kennedy Krieger Institute, Wilmer Eye Institute and the Department of Genetic Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is a clinical geneticist and pediatric ophthalmologist, and serves as the director for the Bone Disorders Program and Osteogenesis Imperfecta Clinic at the Institute. He previously served several years as the director of Ophthalmic Genetic Services in Richmond, Virginia.
Education
Dr. Couser received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Virginia and completed his medical education and internship in Internal Medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine. He completed his ophthalmology residency at Howard University, serving as co-chief resident in his final year. He received fellowship training in pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus at Emory University, completed a Master of Science degree in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University and training in clinical genetics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dr. Couser is one of only a few individuals currently board certified by both the American Board of Ophthalmology and the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics. He has participated with over 10 national committees/advisory panels including currently serving as the Chair for the Fundamentals and Principles of Ophthalmology Basic and Clinical Science Course Committee for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and as vice-chair of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Genetics Eye Disorder Committee. He has additionally served as a grant review panelist for Career Development Awards for the National Institutes of Health and as a member for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Advisory Panel on Rare Disease. On behalf of the American College of Medial Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), he has participated with the Summer Genetic Scholars Selection Committee, the Ophthalmic Genetics Subspecialty Next Generation Fellowship Training Award Program, and presently serves as the chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee. He is the deputy editor-in-Chief for Genetics in Medicine Open, an official journal of the ACMG, and an associate editor for Ophthalmic Genetics, an official journal of the International Society for Genetic Eye Diseases and Retinoblastoma (ISGEDR). He has been credited with over 120 book chapter, journal article and abstract publications, and has presented numerous invited lectures. He served as the primary author and sole editor for the textbook Ophthalmic Genetic Diseases: A Quick Reference Guide to the Eye and External Ocular Adnexa Abnormalities, 1st Edition, and has mentored over 50 medical students, genetic counseling students, residents, fellows and premedical students with independent projects, many of which have either resulted in book chapter or journal article publications or are currently in-progress of doing so. He was the founding director for the first dedicated specialty service in the state of Virginia focused on managing patients with ophthalmic genetic disorders.
Research
Dr. Couser’s special research interests include visual problems in school aged children, pediatric instrument-based vision screening in the preschool population, and the identification and management of genetic eye diseases including rare inherited disorders affecting the eyes. He has been the principal investigator on 10 clinical trial/IRB research studies and a co-investigator on several others.