Sharon F. Freedman, MD
Ophthalmologist, Pediatric Glaucoma Specialist, Pediatric Ophthalmologist
My Locations
About Me
I was born and raised right here in Durham, NC. After attending college at Duke, I ventured north to Boston, where I completed most of my medical training, and was fortunate to meet and marry the love of my life, my husband Neil (also on faculty as a cardiologist here at Duke). I returned to Durham for my Glaucoma fellowship, briefly joined the faculty “across the street” at UNC-Chapel Hill, and then returned “home” to Duke Eye Center in 1995, where I have been on the faculty ever since. Dual fellowship-trained in both Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus as well as in Glaucoma, I have a clinical and research focus on pediatric glaucoma and cataracts, as well as retinopathy of prematurity, but enjoy providing care for myriad pediatric problems of the eyes, including treatment of “grown children” with ocular alignment issues. My modus operandi is very simple – I simply try hard to treat each and every patient the way I would like someone to treat me. It works every time, and I am privileged to be a clinician and educator at Duke Eye Center and in Duke University Health System.
- Professor of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology 2007
- Chief, Pediatric Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology 2008
- Professor of Pediatrics, Pediatrics 2007
Call for an Appointment
Areas of Expertise
- Pediatric Eye Disease
- Childhood Glaucoma
- Retinopathy of Prematurity
- Eye Movement Disorders
- Cataract Surgery in Children
- Adult Strabismus
Ratings and Reviews
The ratings and reviews are based on patient responses to the overall provider rating question from the survey. The question reads: “Using any number from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst provider possible and 10 is the best provider possible, what number would you use to rate this provider?” Responses are converted to a 5-point rating system and applied consistently to all providers. Learn more about our survey process. Patients who see some types of providers receive a different version of the patient satisfaction survey. Those results are not available on DukeHealth.org.
Training and Education
Clinical Focus and Research
- Maldonado, Ramiro S., Rachelle O’Connell, Simon B. Ascher, Neeru Sarin, Sharon F. Freedman, David K. Wallace, Stephanie J. Chiu, Sina Farsiu, Michael Cotten, and Cynthia A. Toth. “Spectral-domain optical coherence tomographic assessment of severity of cystoid macular edema in retinopathy of prematurity.” Arch Ophthalmol 130, no. 5 (May 2012): 569–78. https://doi.org/10.1001/archopthalmol.2011.1846.
- Beck, Allen D., Sharon F. Freedman, Michael J. Lynn, Erick Bothun, Daniel E. Neely, Scott R. Lambert, and Infant Aphakia Treatment Study Group. “Glaucoma-related adverse events in the Infant Aphakia Treatment Study: 1-year results.” Arch Ophthalmol 130, no. 3 (March 2012): 300–305. https://doi.org/10.1001/archophthalmol.2011.347.
- Cabrera, Michelle T., Ramiro S. Maldonado, Cynthia A. Toth, Rachelle V. O’Connell, Bei Bei Chen, Stephanie J. Chiu, Sina Farsiu, et al. “Subfoveal fluid in healthy full-term newborns observed by handheld spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.” Am J Ophthalmol 153, no. 1 (January 2012): 167-75.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajo.2011.06.017.
- Shue, A., M. O. Wong, and S. F. Freedman. “Primary Congenital Glaucoma.” In Albert and Jakobiec’s Principles and Practice of Ophthalmology: Fourth Edition, 2121–58, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42634-7_168.
- Freedman, S., and A. Ely. “Childhood glaucoma.” In Handbook of Pediatric Retinal OCT and the Eye-Brain Connection, 313–34, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-60984-5.00070-6.
- Dosunmu, E. O., and S. F. Freedman. “Childhood glaucoma.” In Practical Management of Pediatric Ocular Disorders and Strabismus: A Case-Based Approach, 439–58, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2745-6_42.
- Chang-Wolf, Jennifer M., Evan R. Myers, Sharon F. Freedman, and S Grace Prakalapakorn. “Cost comparison of using reusable versus disposable equipment for retinopathy of prematurity screening rounds.” In J AAPOS, 26:82–84, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaapos.2021.10.006.
- Chen, Xi, S Grace Prakalapakorn, Sharon F. Freedman, Lejla Vajzovic, and Cynthia A. Toth. “Differentiating Retinal Detachment and Retinoschisis Using Handheld Optical Coherence Tomography in Stage 4 Retinopathy of Prematurity.” In JAMA Ophthalmol, 138:81–85, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2019.4796.
- Du, Tran-Viet, Shwetha Mangalesh, Francesco LaRocca, Derek Nankivil, Christian Viehland, Brenton Keller, Alexandria Dandridge, Sharon F. Freedman, Joseph A. Izatt, and Cynthia A. Toth. “Initial clinical experience with a novel highspeed ultra-compact handheld swept source optical coherence tomography imaging system to evaluate retinal microanatomy in adults, children and infants.” In INVESTIGATIVE OPHTHALMOLOGY & VISUAL SCIENCE, Vol. 58. ASSOC RESEARCH VISION OPHTHALMOLOGY INC, 2017.
Insurance Accepted
Duke Health contracts with most major health insurance carriers and transplant networks, including the ones listed below.
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Aetna
- Aetna Choice POS, Aetna Choice POS II
- Aetna Elect Choice HMO, Aetna Open Access Elect Choice
- Aetna Health Network Only, Aetna Health Network Option
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Limited Benefit Insurance PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice POS
- Aetna Medicare Assure Plan (HMO D-SNP)
- Aetna Medicare Eagle Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Essential Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Value Plan (HMO)
- Aetna Open Access HMO, Open Access Aetna Select, Aetna Open Access Managed Choice
- Aetna Open Choice PPO
- Aetna PCP Coordinated POS Plan
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (QPOS)
- Aetna Select HMO
- Aetna Traditional Choice
- Aetna Voluntary Indemnity Group Plan
- Aetna Whole Health – Duke WakeMed WKCC
- Aetna/CVS Health
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Ambetter
- Ambetter of North Carolina
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
- Blue Advantage
- Blue Medicare (HMO, PPO)*
- Blue Options (123, PPO, HSA)
- Blue Select
- NC State Employees Health Plan
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice does not participate in the plan.
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Cigna
- Cigna Behavioral Health (*Limited eligibility)
- Cigna Choice Plus
- Cigna Connect Individual Family Plan
- Cigna Open Access
- Cigna Open Access Plus
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*Please call Cigna Behavioral Heath to see if the provider is participating in your plan.
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Duke Group Plans
- Duke Basic
- Duke Select
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Experience Health
- Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO) Plan
- Gateway Health Alliance
- Healthgram
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Humana
- Humana Choice (PPO)
- Humana Choice - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana ChoiceCare - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana Gold Choice - Medicare Advantage (PFFS)
- Humana Gold Plus - Medicare Advantage (HMO)
- Humana Medicare Advantage Group Plan - NC State Retirees
- MedCost
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Medicare
- First Medicare Direct
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
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NC Medicaid
- AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina
- Carolina Complete Health
- NC Medicaid Direct
- WellCare of North Carolina
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TRICARE
- TRICARE Prime
- TRICARE Prime Remote
- TRICARE Select
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United Healthcare
- AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (HMO-POS)
- AARP Medicare Complete (HMO, PPO)*
- AARP Medicare Complete Essential (HMO)*
- All Savers Alternate Funding
- All Savers Fully Insured
- United Healthcare (HMO, PPO, POS)**
- United Healthcare Charter/Charter Balance/Charter Plus
- United Healthcare Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Core/Core Essential
- United Healthcare Navigate/Navigate Plus/Navigate Balanced
- United Healthcare Option PPO
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Options PPO
- United Healthcare Select/Select Plus
- United Healthcare Shared Services - Harvard Pilgrim/UHC Options PPO Network
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice and mental health providers do not participate with the plan.
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**Duke Health does not participate in UHC plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Before scheduling your appointment, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the Duke Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any co-payments, co–insurances, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with Duke, your out of pocket liability may be higher. We will contact you regarding your coverage and patient liability. If you are uninsured, learn more about our financial assistance policy.