When Megan Webber and Helene Dameris of KnowTheGlow first met Dr. Shamfa Peart from Jamaica, they were instantly drawn in by her warmth, intelligence, and dedication to her patients. They had been introduced to her by Dr. Basil Williams and Dr. Maura Di Nicola of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami, who had visited Jamaica to present at conferences and collaborate on patient care. Through this connection, Megan and Helene discovered not only an extraordinary physician but a powerful advocate for children’s eye health in Jamaica.
Dr. Peart is an ophthalmologist and vitreoretinal surgeon at The Eye Clinic at Bustamante Hospital for Children in Kingston. The clinic serves as the only dedicated pediatric eye clinic on the island, offering specialized care for children with serious eye conditions such as retinoblastoma, a rare and life-threatening cancer, and retinopathy of prematurity, a condition that can cause blindness in premature babies. It is a place where advanced care meets compassion, and where families find hope in the face of frightening diagnoses.
Dr. Peart’s work spans both adult and pediatric retina care, but her heart is clearly with the children she treats. For more than fifteen years she has been fighting to save sight and, when possible, preserve life. Alongside her colleagues, Dr. Leighton Maddan, Head of the Department, and Dr. Kristin Cowan-Lyn, she helps lead a dedicated team committed to providing specialized pediatric eye care across Jamaica. She and her team have a dedicated operating room every week, allowing them to provide timely interventions for cases like persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous (PHPV), cataracts, Coats disease, and retinoblastoma. Just last month, they treated two children with the “white glow” known as leukocoria, an unusually high number in such a short time. Dr. Peart teaches medical students about this sign, urging them to always consider retinoblastoma first while also understanding that it can be caused by other conditions..
In retinoblastoma cases, Dr. Peart and her colleagues work tirelessly to save at least one eye when possible. Recently, she referred a child with trilateral retinoblastoma to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Because one tumor was located away from the center of vision, she is hopeful that the eye can be spared. The clinic currently offers intravenous chemotherapy, cryotherapy, and other treatments, and Dr. Peart is exploring the possibility of adding new therapies, such as Topotecan, in collaboration with colleagues abroad. While intra-arterial chemotherapy is not yet available in Jamaica, she is optimistic about future advancements.
Families in Jamaica rarely abandon treatment. Once a child is referred to her clinic, parents almost always follow through with care. Even those who may first seek reassurance from a traditional healer return for medical treatment. Dr. Peart believes that parent support groups are vital, helping families connect with others who have faced similar fears and found hope. She knows the power of seeing a thriving young adult who once faced the same diagnosis.
Health care in Jamaica has been free since 2008, and while this opens doors for all, the hospital itself is more than sixty years old and in constant need of support. Lions Clubs help with school vision screenings, and WhatsApp serves as an essential tool for family communication. Prosthetic eyes, however, are not covered by the government, and the country recently lost its only ocularist to retirement. Dr. Peart is exploring training opportunities for a new specialist and is curious about the potential for 3D printing to fill this gap.
Her journey into medicine was inspired by her father, who is also a doctor. The youngest of five children, she was the only one to follow him into the profession. She still remembers putting on his stethoscope as a little girl and pretending to examine patients. Encouraged by her mentors during medical school, she found her calling in ophthalmology. Her skills were honed through a fellowship in Leicester in the United Kingdom, and she brought that knowledge home to Jamaica.
The Bustamante Eye Clinic stands today in part because of support from Orbis and the vision of Dr. Leon Vaughan, who started the clinic and helped lay the foundation for pediatric ophthalmology services in JamaicaThe Bustamante Eye Clinic stands today in part because of support from Orbis, which helped fund the pediatric clinic, train doctors, and provide seminars. While that partnership slowed during the pandemic, Dr. Peart hopes to see it revitalized. With every patient she treats, every student she trains, and every new possibility she explores, she is shaping the future of pediatric eye care in Jamaica. Her vision is clear: to ensure that no child loses sight or life to a condition that could be detected and treated in time.
