The proteins SERPINE1, QPCT, AKR1C2, IL2RB, and SRSF6 were prioritized by the COMET model compared to the models without pretraining, supporting their potential role in DR pathobiology, and were subsequently validated in an independent cohort.<h4>Conclusion</h4>We used multimodal AI to prioritize protein biomarkers of DR that are most strongly linked to EHR elements, as well as identifying other protein biomarkers associated with disease features like diabetic macular edema. Here, AKR1C2 is linked to diabetic macular edema.