Charline Boente, MD, MS, started a career as an engineer at a large wastewater system in California before deciding to pursue her medical degree.

Boente said she enjoyed the tangible systems-based problem-solving side of engineering; but she wanted more human interaction and the feeling that she was making an impact at an individual level. So, she transitioned to medicine and chose ophthalmology as a subspecialty. 

She joined Indiana University School of Medicine in 2016 as an assistant professor of clinical ophthalmology. Now, she serves as the Department of Ophthalmology’s residency program director, working closely with young medical minds.

She works daily out of Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health as a pediatric ophthalmologist. She also sees patients at the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital and IU Health Methodist Hospital. 

Boente's clinical and surgical practice encompasses various eye conditions, including strabismus, cataracts, glaucoma, optic nerve abnormalities, anterior segment anomalies, and neurotrophic keratopathy. She performs weekly retinopathy of prematurity exams.

Boente is listed as an investigator on several clinical trials through the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG).

In one study, she and fellow researchers are working to find the lowest dose possible of intravitreal bevacizumab, which is a medicine injected into the eyes of premature babies to treat retinopathy of prematurity. In another study, they are evaluating the effect of over-minus spectacles treatment for intermittent exotropia.