
Donald Mutti
Ohio State University · Optometry
Active 1986–2025
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About
Dr. Donald Mutti is the E.F. Wildermuth Foundation Professor in Optometry at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. He received his Doctor of Optometry degree in 1982 from the School of Optometry at the University of California Berkeley and later earned his PhD in 1992 after returning to Berkeley as a National Eye Institute Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. His professional experience includes conducting clinical research at CooperVision Ophthalmic Products, where he co-holds a patent in soft contact lens design. Dr. Mutti's research focuses on eye growth, refractive error development, and ocular biometry, with significant contributions to understanding myopia and emmetropization. He is a co-investigator on the NIH-funded Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Ethnicity and Refractive Error (CLEERE) Study, which investigates normal eye growth and risk factors for myopic refractive error. He also served as the Principal Investigator of the Berkeley Infant Biometry Study, a comprehensive investigation into ocular component development in infancy. A Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and a silver Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Dr. Mutti has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the Borish Award, the Glenn A. Fry Award, and the Herbert G. Mote Award for distinguished teaching.
Research topics
- Ophthalmology
- Medicine
- Optometry
- Internal medicine
- Optics
- Surgery
- Endocrinology
- Psychology
- Physics
- Psychiatry
Selected publications
JAMA · 2020 · 288 citations
Importance: Slowing myopia progression could decrease the risk of sight-threatening complications. Objective: To determine whether soft multifocal contact lenses slow myopia progression in children, and whether high add power (+2.50 D) slows myopia progression more than medium (+1.50 D) add power lenses. Design, Setting, and Participants: A double-masked randomized clinical trial that took place at 2 optometry schools located in Columbus, Ohio, and Houston, Texas. A total of 294 consecutive elig…
Interventions to slow progression of myopia in children
Cochrane library · 2020 · 195 citations
Background Nearsightedness (myopia) causes blurry vision when one is looking at distant objects. Interventions to slow the progression of myopia in children include multifocal spectacles, contact lenses, and pharmaceutical agents. Objectives To assess the effects of interventions, including spectacles, contact lenses, and pharmaceutical agents in slowing myopia progression in children. Search methods We searched CENTRAL; Ovid MEDLINE; Embase.com; PubMed; the LILACS Database; and two trial regist…
Myopia Progression as a Function of Sex, Age, and Ethnicity
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science · 2021 · 135 citations
Purpose: To model juvenile-onset myopia progression as a function of race/ethnicity, age, sex, parental history of myopia, and time spent reading or in outdoor/sports activity. Methods: Subjects were 594 children in the Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Ethnicity and Refractive Error (CLEERE) Study with at least three study visits: one visit with a spherical equivalent (SPHEQ) less myopic/more hyperopic than -0.75 diopter (D), the first visit with a SPHEQ of -0.75 D or more myopia (onset…
Repeated Low‐level Red‐light Therapy: The Next Wave in Myopia Management?
Optometry and Vision Science · 2023 · 31 citations
SIGNIFICANCE: Exposure to long-wavelength light has been proposed as a potential intervention to slow myopia progression in children. This article provides an evidence-based review of the safety and myopia control efficacy of red light and discusses the potential mechanisms by which red light may work to slow childhood myopia progression.The spectral composition of the ambient light in the visual environment has powerful effects on eye growth and refractive development. Studies in mammalian and…
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science · 2022 · 25 citations
1st authorCorrespondingPurpose: The purpose of this study was to compare axial and peripheral eye elongation during myopia therapy with multifocal soft contact lenses. Methods: Participants were 294 children (177 [60.2%] girls) age 7 to 11 years old with between -0.75 diopters (D) and -5.00 D of myopia (spherical component) and less than 1.00 D astigmatism at baseline. Children were randomly assigned to Biofinity soft contact lenses for 3 years: D-designs with a +2.50 D addition, +1.50 D addition, or single vision. Fi…
Recent grants
Soft Bifocal Contact Lens Myopia Control - Clincal Center
NIH · $2.9M · 2014–2019
NIH · $2.2M · 2006
NIH · $2.6M · 2014–2026
Frequent coauthors
- 264 shared
Karla Zadnik
- 99 shared
Jeffrey J. Walline
National Eye Institute
- 89 shared
Lisa Jones
- 87 shared
G. Lynn Mitchell
SUNY College of Optometry
- 81 shared
Lisa A. Jones‐Jordan
SUNY College of Optometry
- 75 shared
Loraine T. Sinnott
SUNY College of Optometry
- 59 shared
J. Daniel Twelker
University of Arizona
- 47 shared
Melvin L. Moeschberger
The Ohio State University
Labs
Education
- 1985
Ph.D., Optometry
The Ohio State University
- 1982
M.S., Optometry
The Ohio State University
- 1979
B.S., Optometry
The Ohio State University
Awards & honors
- Borish Award from the American Academy of Optometry (1996)
- Glenn A. Fry Award from the American Optometric Foundation (…
- Graduate Teaching Award from the Graduate Organization in Vi…
- Herbert G. Mote Award for distinguished teaching (2009, 2011…
- Alumnus of the Year of the UC Berkeley School of Optometry (…
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