Zeila Hobson

A sustainable fashionista with a keen eye for design and an unabashed bleeding heart, Zeila is a transformative business and mixed-methods research professional currently managing the UPMC Community Ophthalmology & Remote Access Programs (CORAP) at the UPMC Vision Institute.

Zeila’s team provides mobile vision clinic services in Allegeny and the surrounding counties, coordinates large-scale, multi-partner clinic events that deliver low- to no-cost care to hundreds of patients, supports the development and implementation of ophthalmology telehealth services, studies/mitigates barriers to care to improve patient outcomes, and builds durable partnerships with Pittsburgh-based nonprofits and social service organizations. Her work sits at the intersection of healthcare delivery, human-centered research, and community trust-building.

With proven leadership in cross-sector program design and execution, Zeila approaches each clinic deployment and remote ophthalmology initiative with patient autonomy and dignity as guiding principles, centering outcomes, qualitative feedback, and operational learning to continuously refine programs and workflows.

Zeila thrives in strategic roles that demand adaptability and accountability. She’s motivated by opportunities to expand impact through thoughtful growth and system-level creative problem-solving, particularly in the service of historically underserved communities.