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Acting Deputy Director

Mary Frances Cotch, Ph.D.

Mary Frances Cotch

Mary Frances Cotch, Ph.D., is the acting deputy director of the National Eye Institute (NEI).

Cotch joined the NEI in 1997 as a program director in the NEI Division of Extramural Research. Since 2001, she has led the epidemiology branch within the NEI Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications. Her research has encompassed various systemic diseases and conditions, from both population and individual perspectives. She is currently identifying risk factor patterns, health states, and functional abilities associated with vision loss and eye disease.

Cotch earned a B.A. in mathematics at the State University of New York at Albany and a Ph.D. in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Last updated: October 3, 2019