Woon Chow, MD, PhD, MSHA
Neuropathology, Ophthalmic Pathology & Clinical Informatics
Department: Pathology and Ophthalmology
Phone: (804) 828-7950
Fax: (804) 828-8733
Email: Woon.Chow@vcuhealth.org
Assistant Professor of Pathology and Ophthalmology;
Deputy Chief Health Informatics Officer at the Central Virginia VA Health Care System
Woon Chow, MD, PhD, MSHA, is the Deputy Chief Health Informatics Officer at the Central Virginia VA Health Care System. A long-time local of the Richmond area, Dr. Chow pursued almost his entire educational journey at VCU. He earned dual undergraduate degrees in biomedical engineering and physics in 2003, followed by completing the combined MD/PhD program and receiving both his medical and graduate degrees in 2011. After completing his residency training in anatomic and clinical pathology in 2015, he left for Nashville to pursue subspecialty training in neuropathology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In 2017, Dr. Chow returned to join the VCU faculty. He continued to build on his extensive education by pursuing a graduate program in Health Administration part-time, completing it in 2024.
Besides his pathology credentials, Dr. Chow is board-certified in Clinical Informatics. Previously, he was the Associate Director of Pathology Information Systems and a Physician Informaticist at VCU, where he facilitated the Epic implementation and was intimately involved with many aspects of the transition as a Physician Builder, Workgroup Chair, Trainer, and Specialty Champion. Concurrently, he also helped implement one of the first large-scale digital pathology platforms with case-level integration with Epic. In his current administrative role, he helps direct one of the most comprehensive clinical informatics services at a VA facility. The service, based at the Richmond VA Medical Center, includes four specialized teams—core EHR (VistA-CPRS), supplemental applications, data analytics, and nursing informatics—and over 35 team members of diverse backgrounds.
Dr. Chow maintains a faculty appointment part-time at VCU and as a neuro- and ophthalmic pathologist, he is passionate about patient care, medical education, and research. He is considered the in-house authority when it comes to ophthalmic pathology. Beyond educating pathology trainees, he participates in the educational curriculum of Ophthalmology trainees at VCU and at Broward Health in Fort Lauderdale. He is a member of the Ophthalmic Pathology Education System committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Chow actively collaborates on multiple federally funded projects involving nanotechnology-based ocular drug delivery systems and novel photoactivated chemotherapeutic agents.
Ophthalmic Pathology
Contact Dr. Chow for a full CV
Print/Download Dr. Chow's Web CV (pdf)
Dr. Woon Chow abbreviated CV
Education
2003 Virginia Commonwealth University, B.S., Biomedical Engineering
2003 Virginia Commonwealth University, B.S., Physics
2011 Virginia Commonwealth University, M.D.
2011 Virginia Commonwealth University, Ph.D., Anatomy and Neurobiology
2015 VCU Medical Center, Residency, Anatomic and Clinical Pathology
2017 Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Fellowship, Neuropathology
2024 Virginia Commonwealth University, M.S.H.A.
Licenses & Certifications
Medical Licenses
Tennessee, Virginia
Board Certifications
American Board of Pathology (Clinical Informatics) American Board of Pathology (Neuropathology)
American Board of Pathology (Anatomic and Clinical Pathology)
Other Certifications
2019 Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), Basic Certificate in Quality and Safety
2021 Epic Physician Builder Program, Accredited Pathologist Builder
2022 Epic Physician Builder Program, Accredited Notecraft for Physician Builders
2022, 2024 Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), Certified Revenue Cycle Representative (CRCR), Recertification 2024
2022 Epic Physician Builder Program, Accredited Physician Power User
2022 Epic Physician Builder Program, Accredited Physician Builder
2022 Epic Physician Builder Program, Accredited Physician Builder Analytics
Selected Awards & Honors
2015 Voted “Most Diplomatic When Dealing with Clinicians,” Department of Pathology, Virginia Commonwealth University/VCU Health
2017 Anatomic Pathology Fellow Teaching Award, Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
2020 Top Docs, Richmond Magazine
2022 Top Docs, Richmond Magazine
2023 Top Docs, Richmond Magazine
Recent Grants and Funding
5/31/2019 to 6/2/2020
“Lipid Droplet Accumulation across Histologic Subtypes of Endometrial Carcinoma”
Contract for Histopathology Technical Assistance
$39,049.00
Role: Co-Investigator
75N91019P00230, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
6/1/2022 to 5/31/2023
“Development of a Light-Releasable Derivative of Cisplatin with Reduced Off-Target Toxicity for the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer”
$3,000.00
Role: Co-Investigator
DT2022-04, Developmental Therapeutics Program Funding, Massey Cancer Center, VCU
9/1/2022 to 4/30/2027
“Sustained Release of Fenofibrate for the Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy”
$551,841.00
Role: Co-Investigator, 1%
R01EY033477, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health
8/3/2023 to 6/30/2024
“Light-Directed Therapy of Squamous Cell Head and Neck Cancer with a Novel, Dual-Acting Therapeutic”
$406,186
Role: Co-Investigator, 2%
R41CA281440, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
6/1/2024 to 5/31/2026
“DSP Nanoparticles for Treating Nitrogen Mustard-Induced Corneal Injury”
$223,495
Role: Co-Investigator, 1%
R21EY035974, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health
Professional Service (outside)
2020 to Present - Member, Executive Committee, International Association of Chinese Pathologists (IACP)
2021 to Present - Member, Ophthalmic Pathology Education System (OPES) American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO)
2022 to Present - Graduate Medical Education Faculty in Ocular Pathology, Ophthalmology Residency, Broward Health, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Recent Invited Presentations
“The Washing Away of Wrongs—Forensic and Pathologic Practices in Imperial China”, 22nd Washington Seminar on U.S.-China Relations, Kellogg Conference Center at Galludet University, Washington, D.C., 2016
Diagnostic Slide Session Case 7, “Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy-Related Inflammation” 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neuropathologists, Hyatt Regency Orange County, Garden Grove, California, 2017
Panelist, United Healthcare Network Annual Healthcare Summit, 11/11/2020 (Virtual; Recorded on 10/30/2020)
“Pathology Demystified: A Primer on Specimen Processing in the Clinical Laboratories”
2022 Perioperative Nursing Conference, Sponsored by VCU Health, (Live Virtual), 2022
“The Big Short: Investigating Ocular Nanotechnology” American Association of Ophthalmic Oncologists and Pathologists Companion Society Meeting
United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology 113th Annual Meeting, Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Maryland, 2024
Recent Publications
Chow, W.N., Simpson, D.G., Bigbee, J.W., Colello, R.J. (2007). Evaluating Neuronal and Glial Growth on Electrospun Polarized Matrices: Bridging the Gap in Percussive Spinal Cord Injuries. Neuron Glia Biology. Vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 119-26.
Wang, J., Li, B., Huang, D., Norat, P., Grannonico, M., Cooper, R.C., Gui, Q., Chow, W.N., Liu, X., Yang, H. (2021). Nano-in-Nano Dendrimer Gel Particles for Efficient Topical Delivery of Antiglaucoma Drugs into the Eye. Chemical Engineering Journal. Vol. 425, 130498.
Meng, T., Zheng, J., Chen, M., Zhao, Y., Sudarjat, H., Alex, A., Kulkarni, V., Oh, Y., Xia, S., Ding, Z., Han, H., Anders, N., Rudek, M., Chow, W.N., Stark, W., Ensign, L., Hanes, J., Xu, Q. (2023). Six-Month Effective Treatment of Corneal Graft Rejection. Science Advances. Vol. 9, no. 12, eadf4608.
Poudel, S., Kaffash, E., Zhao, L., Pangeni, R., Chow, W.N., Xu, Q. (2024). Dexamethasone Sodium Phosphate-Loaded Nanoparticles for Prevention of Nitrogen Mustard-Induced Corneal Injury. Experimental Eye Research. Vol. 243, 109902.
Ingabire, D., Qin, C., Sudarjat, Townsend, E.A., Pangeni, R., Poudel, S., Arriaga, M., Meng, T., Zhao, L., Raynold, A.A.M., Chow, W.N., Banks, M.L., Xu, Q. (2024). Nor-LAAM loaded PLGA Microparticles for Treating Opioid Use Disorder. Journal of Controlled Release. Vol. 373, pp. 93-104.
Meng, T., Zheng, J., Shin, C., Gao, N., Bande, D., Sudarjat, H., Chow, W.N., Halquist, M., Yu, F., Acharya, G., Xu, Q. (2024). Combination Nanomedicine Strategy for Preventing High-Risk Corneal Transplantation Rejection. ACS Nano. Vol. 18, no. 31, pp. 20679-20693.
Book Chapters and Monographs
Chow, W.N. (2018). Auditory Pathway. In J.S. Kreutzer, J. DeLuca, B. Caplan (eds.) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Cham: Springer. (First edition published in 2010)
Chow, W.N. (2018). Medulla. In J.S. Kreutzer, J. DeLuca, B. Caplan (eds.) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Cham: Springer. (First edition published in 2010)
Patents
Simpson, D.G., Bowlin, G.L., Colello, R.J., Chow, W.N., Jha, B.S. (Issued 2/21/2017). Electrospun Nerve Guides for Nerve Regeneration Designed to Modulate Nerve Architecture. United States Patent 9572909.
Print/Download Dr. Chow's Web CV (pdf)