Over 135 million individuals are af-flicted with diabetes across the world. In the US, diabetes affects over 18.2 million people (or 6.3% of the total population) and 800,000 new cases of type 2 diabetes are diagnosed each year (1). Retinopathy is the most common microvascular complication of diabetes, resulting in blindness for over 10,000 people with diabetes per year. Epidemiological studies have described the natural history of and treatment for diabetic retinopathy. There is evidence that retinopathy begins to develop at least 7 years before the clinical diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (2). Clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of photocoagulation, vitrectomy, and control of hyperglycemia and hypertension for diabetic retinopathy (Table 1). The current review will discuss the pathophysiology, screening, medical treatment, and future research for diabetic retinopathy.