Dr. Leng is considered to be one of the top 150 worldwide leading innovators in the field of medical and surgical retina and serves the Department of Ophthalmology as both the Director of Clinical and Translational Research and the Director of Ophthalmic Diagnostics.
As a board-certified ophthalmologist and fellowship-trained vitreoretinal surgeon, Dr. Leng uses the latest techniques and small-incisional sutureless technology to minimize patient discomfort and maximize functional outcomes. He is committed to bringing the highest level of patient-centered care for all types of retinal conditions.
Dr. Jennifer Lim is the Director of the Retina Service at UI Health. Dr. Lim is involved in both the clinical treatment and research aspects of retinal and vitreous diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachment, and age-related macular degeneration, and she has been the principal investigator in dozens of clinical trials for various retinal diseases. Dr. Lim has performed more than 6,000 vitreoretinal surgeries, and she is one of the few surgeons in the United States to perform implantation surgery for the Argus II retinal prosthesis, which can restore vision in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a rare eye disease that causes damage to the retina, resulting in loss of vision. She is the Marion Schenk Chair for Research of the Aging Eye at the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
Dr. Rishi P. Singh MD is a staff surgeon at the Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic and Professor of Ophthalmology at the Lerner College of Medicine in Cleveland Ohio. He also currently serves as the medical director of informatics at the Cleveland Clinic. He received his bachelors and medical degrees from Boston University and completed his residency at the Massachusetts Eye and Infirmary Harvard Combined Program in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Singh then completed a medical and surgical fellowship at the Cole Eye Institute in Cleveland, Ohio.
He specializes in the treatment of medical and surgical retinal disease such as diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachment, and age-related macular degeneration. Dr. Singh has authored more than 180 peer reviewed publications, books, and book chapters and serves as the principal investigator of numerous national clinical trials advancing the treatment of retinal disease. Dr. Singh is the former president on the Retina World Congress and is on the board of the American Society of Retina Specialists.
Dr. Singh has been honored with several research recognitions such as the Alpha Omega Alpha Research Award and American Society of Retina Specialists Senior Honor Award.
Dr. Neil Bressler has been a member of the Wilmer Eye Institute’s faculty since 1988 and is the inaugural James P. Gills Professor of Ophthalmology. He specializes in retinal diseases, with special interests in diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration.
Dr. Bressler’s main research interests have been collaborative efforts in clinical trials of common retinal diseases, including age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, having chaired several NIH-sponsored and industry-sponsored multicenter randomized clinical trials and authored almost 300 peer-reviewed publications. He is a past chair of the NIH-sponsored Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network, and was responsible for guidelines, policies, protocol development as well as implementation, and to facilitate Network operations in a way that maintains academic integrity and optimal clinical trial performance. He also has chaired the National Eye Institutes Data and Safety Monitoring Committee for intramural clinical trials and the FDA Ophthalmic Devices Panel. Dr. Bressler is currently editor-in-chief of JAMA Ophthalmology.
Netan Choudhry, MD, is an Ophthalmologist at Cleveland Clinic Canada and is the co-founder and medical director of the Vitreous Retina Macula Specialists of Toronto, a premier academic retina practice. He is internationally recognized Vitreoretinal Surgeon with affiliations at both the University of Toronto and Harvard Medical School. He is universally recognized as a thought leader in retinal imaging and the diagnosis and treatment of rare disorders of the retina and vitreous.
Dr. Choudhry was the first to pioneer OCT imaging of the peripheral retina and is actively developing novel devices for imaging the retina and vitreous using non-invasive technology. He has published in the world’s most read/indexed journals including: The New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet, Ophthalmology and the Retina Journal. Dr. Choudhry’s innovative work in the field of retina has also been published on the covers of numerous journals further earning him the distinction of a pioneer in retinal imaging.
Dr. Choudhry is actively involved in medical education at the University of Toronto Department of Ophthalmology & Vision Sciences and he is also a faculty member for the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary Harvard Medical School Annual Vitreoretinal Surgery Fellows course. He has been an invited speaker at over 75 international conferences and symposia. Dr. Choudhry has published several book chapters in retinal medicine and wide-field imaging. In addition, he has also received research grants to investigate: Diabetic retinopathy, Age-Related Macular Degeneration, and uncommon conditions such as Retinitis Pigmentosa and Macular Telegiectasia.
Dr. Choudhry has served on the board of directors of the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) and the CNIB diabetic retinopathy & vision loss project. He has also worked as the program chair for the Canadian Retina Society as well as the Retina Section program committee for the Association for Vision in Research & Ophthalmology (ARVO). He currently serves as a board member for the Foundation Fighting Blindness Canada.
When he’s not seeing patients, he enjoys watching hockey and spending time with his wife and three children.
Dr. Domalpally is interested in ophthalmology imaging research and works to develop imaging outcomes for clinical trials, particularly in the field of diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration. As the Research Director of the Fundus Photograph Reading Center, she is responsible for designing the research methods for evaluating ocular images and training and supervising graders in evaluation of ocular images for clinical trials. She has also established a quality control system to ensure reproducibility of the grading data. Dr. Domalpally also participates in operations committees for NEI funded projects such as Age Related eye disease 2(AREDS2), the Study of Comparative Treatments for Retinal Vein Occlusion2 (SCORE2) and the Multi-Center Uveitis Steroid treatment Study (MUST), and is the reading center co–investigator for the META MUST trial.
Her research interest involves novel outcomes and new imaging techniques such as autofluorescence, spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) layer segmentation and wide field photography and their validation for clinical trials. She has published extensively on imaging artifacts in OCT scans and ways to identify and correct the errors. She has also been worked on individual retinal layer segmentation and enface imaging to develop novel OCT related outcomes such as neovascular lesion volume ,drusen volumes and drusen and photoreceptor mapping. Some of these outcomes are now being evaluated in large datasets in NEI funded projects SCORE2 and META MUST and also in pharmaceutical trials.
She has developed a grading methodology for evaluating peripheral retina for features of dry AMD in both color and autofluorescence images. The method has been used in a large ancillary study in AREDS2 involving over 1000 participants. Multiple clinical trials evaluating treatments for geographic atrophy and dry AMD have also utilized this method.
Dr. Eliot Dow, M.D., Ph.D., is a clinician-scientist in ophthalmology who focuses on the application of machine learning and data science to retinal diseases. He earned an MD/PhD in the NIH-funded Medical Scientist Training Program at Cornell University and Rockefeller University/HHMI where he created and managed an image reading center and used machine-learning techniques to study nervous system wiring. He was also a visiting scientist and then post-doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research where he developed software for human-in-the-loop machine learning for large neuroscience data sets. Dr. Dow completed residency at the Jules Stein Eye Institute of UCLA earning a Heed Fellowship. During residency, he trained in clinical informatics at UCLA and conducted AI research with Dr. Pearse Keane as an honorary fellow at Moorfields Eye Hospital. Dr. Dow was then selected as the Byers Ophthalmic Innovation Fellow to pursue the development of machine-learning-based medical devices at Stanford University under the guidance of Dr. Mark Blumenkranz and Dr. David Myung. During that time, he also received mentorship from FDA leaders Dr. Malvina Eydelman and Bradley Cunningham on the regulation of AI-based software as a medical device. Dr. Dow serves as Associate Director of STATUS, an AI-based screening program for diabetic retinopathy in Stanford primary care clinics across the Bay Area. Dr. Dow is also currently completing clinical training as a medical retina fellow at Duke University where he continues to develop AI models for retinal diseases including macular degeneration and drug toxicity.
Dr. Korot is a vitreoretinal surgeon guided by the goal of maximally scaling improvements in patients’ lives through technology.
My work involves medical AI validation, guideline development, safety, quantifying model uncertainty, AI-driven pharmaceutical trial recruitment, partner management, and UX research.
Currently, I’m an adjunct faculty at Stanford, and practicing in Michigan. When not working, you can find me doing yoga, practicing drone photography and playing tennis.
Dr. Yannek Leiderman is a board-certified ophthalmologist and specialist in diseases and surgery of the retina and vitreous. Dr. Leiderman’s practice focuses on complex retinal detachment, proliferative vitreoretinopathy, diabetic eye disease, macular surgery (including macular hole and macular pucker), eye trauma, retinal vascular disorders, macular degeneration and other medical and surgical disorders of the vitreous, retina and macula. He enjoys working closely with other team members to provide personalized and comprehensive care for patients.
Dr. Aaron Lee was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas but grew up mainly in Denver, Colorado. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and then attended Washington University in St Louis for his medical degree. During his time there, he also completed a masters degree in clinical investigations. He then completed an internship at St John’s Mercy Medical center and was trained in ophthalmology at Washington University in St Louis.
Anat Loewenstein, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and Sidney Fox Chair of Ophthalmology at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at the Tel Aviv University, Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, Tel Aviv Medical Center. Completed residency in the Department of Ophthalmology at the Tel Aviv Medical Center, fellowship in vitreoretina at the Wilmer Institute, Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore. Is Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Tel Aviv Medical Center since 2000. Completed a Master of Health Administration degree at the Tel Aviv University Business School. Is involved in the development of multiple innovative efforts, was the leader behind the development of novel technology for early detection of macular degeneration, as well as recently, the development of automated technology for detection of retinal disease activity and the development of augmented virtual reality to replace the operating microscope. Published more than 380 papers in peer reviewed journals, and contributed multiple chapters to ophthalmology textbooks. Has multiple roles in most prominent retina societies. Is active at most international retina meetings and is an invited speaker in most. Serves as the Editor of the Journal Case Reports in Ophthalmology, is an associate Serves as the chair of the Ministry of Health’s ethics committee and is a member of the National Council of Surgery and anesthesia. Received multiple international awards in most prestigious societies.
Medicine and, more specifically, ophthalmology, has been my family’s vocation for five decades. My parents are practicing physicians who gained great fulfillment from their careers. As a child, I was consumed by dinner table conversations about fascinating medical and ophthalmic cases. Those experiences sparked my interest in the field.
As a vitreoretinal surgeon at Tisch Hospital and the Ambulatory Care Center, I treat people who have diseases that affect the vitreous—a clear substance in the eye—the retina, and the choroid—the layer of the eye containing blood vessels and connective tissue. I perform surgery to repair retinal detachments and retinal tears and to manage retina problems associated with diabetes. I also treat macular holes and epiretinal membranes, and I perform secondary sutured intraocular lens implantation.
My team is committed to providing the best retinal care to our patients. We use advanced imaging techniques to achieve the most accurate diagnostic and prognostic information. Our staff and doctors work to provide personalized care based on patients’ needs and to maximize treatment outcomes.
While we use information from retinal research to guide our care, we also respect that every person has a unique retinal problem or concern. We are able to address individual concerns while maintaining a high level of evidence-based care.
In addition to caring for patients, I also perform research to understand retinal vascular diseases, including diabetes and vein occlusion, retinal drug toxicity, age-related macular degeneration, and the outcomes of retinal detachment surgery.
I have published more than 35 papers in the field of ophthalmology and coauthored The Yale Guide to Surgical Ophthalmology. I also contribute to continuing medical education and recently held a course on managing retinal vein occlusions.
Dr. Darius M. Moshfeghi is Chief of the Retina Division and Professor at the Horngren Family Vitreoretinal Center, Byers Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Moshfeghi received training in biomedical engineering as an undergraduate at Tulane University in New Orleans, followed by medical school, internship, and ophthalmology residency also at Tulane. Subsequently he performed fellowships in ocular oncology and orbital disease, followed by a 2-year vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at the Cole Eye Institute of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He was introduced to the concept of wide-angle imaging and its potential for telemedicine in pediatric retinal disease while treating patients with retinoblastoma at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He is an internationally-recognized expert in pediatric vitreoretinal disease and pediatric retinal telemedicine. He has dedicated his career to using telemedicine and digital technology to prevent blindness in children.
He founded the Stanford University Network for Diagnosis of Retinopathy of Prematurity (SUNDROP) program in 2005, and today it remains the oldest and largest telemedicine screening program for ROP in the United States. He has developed a national telemedicine screening program for Pediatrix with Stanford University for ROP called TELEROP. He has worked with industry both in a consultative and creative-founder role to develop wide-angle imaging camera technology as well as deep learning classifier platforms for the identification of disease in healthy term newborn infants.
He is actively involved in entrepreneurial activities, serving as a founder and a director of Pr3vent, Placid0, dSentz, and Promisight. He is actively engaged in promoting telemedicine to expand access of eye care and vision for all. He currently serves on the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Telemedicine Working Group and previously sat on the AAO’s ROP Telemedicine Task Force Panel. Additionally he is a founding member of the Collaborative Community on Ophthalmic Imaging a collaboration between stake holders and the FDA which was established by Mark Blumenkranz here at Stanford University.
He has collaborated extensively with the pharmaceutical industry in oversight (Alcon and Novartis Data Safety Monitoring Committees for Brolucizumab, Novartis Safety Review Committee Brolucizumab), steering committees (Regeneron Butterfleye, Bayer Photographic Committee for Firefleye, Iconic Therapeutics, Pykus), and drug development (Alexion).
Finally, Dr. Moshfeghi is interested in medical training and mentoring of individuals pursuing careers in medicine and biomedical spaces. He was the founding director of the Stanford Vitreoretinal Surgery and Medical Disease Fellowship and remains actively engaged in the day-to-day training of the fellows and works extensively with medical students (and has served as a MedScholars mentor for many students) and visiting fellows.
Dr. Minhaj Nur Alam is a biomedical imaging and computer vision scientist with expertise in the field of biomedical imaging and medical artificial intelligence (AI). He has extensive research experience in developing AI models for medical AI tasks, optical device instrumentation (optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT/OCTA)), and developing quantitative imaging biomarkers. Dr. Alam trained as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Stanford University department of Biomedical Data Science
Dr. Nadia Waheed is Associate Professor in Ophthalmology at the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and Director of the Boston Image Reading Center. Her research interests include novel imaging modalities in the eye, OCT and OCT angiography, clinical trial endpoint development and the applications of these to non-exudative AMD and diabetic retinopathy. She has published over 100 papers in peer reviewed journals, over 100 abstracts, book chapters and editorials and is the co-author on 3 books, the ‘Handbook of Retinal OCT’, the ‘Atlas of Retinal OCT’ and ‘OCT Angiography of the Eye.’ She is an editorial board member of the journals ‘Retina’ and ‘IOVS.’
Dr. Waheed received her medical degree summa cum laude from the Aga Khan University Medical School, Pakistan, and a Masters in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. She trained in Ophthalmology at the Harvard Medical School/Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary Program in Ophthalmology, which was followed by a fellowship in retina at the Harvard Medical School/Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston. She has since worked at the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute before coming to Boston to the New England Eye Center.
Ursula Schmidt-Erfurth is Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University Eye Hospital, Vienna, Austria, one of the largest academic institutions in ophthalmology in Europe. She completed her medical training at the Ludwig Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany, and began a career as a research fellow at Harvard Medical School, Boston, where she pioneered in the development of photodynamic therapy, a breakthrough in retinal therapy. Professor Schmidt-Erfurth’s clinical activities include both surgical and medical retina. Her scientific research focuses on the development of novel diagnostic techniques, e.g., retinal imaging and novel treatment strategies such as intravitreal pharmacotherapy. She has founded the Vienna Study Center (VSC), which serves as the principal investigator site for multi-center clinical trials, and the Vienna Reading Center (VRC), an institution for digital retinal imaging performing image analysis for clinical trials connected with over 400 clinical centers worldwide. In 2013, she founded the OPTIMA project, an interdisciplinary laboratory including computer scientists, physicists and retina experts introducing artificial intelligence into ophthalmic image analysis. She is an inventor on several patents on retinal imaging and therapeutic methods. She is an adjunct professor of ophthalmology at Northwestern University, Chicago.
Professor Schmidt-Erfurth is a founding member of the Medical Imaging Cluster (MIC) and the speaker elect. She is a board member of EURETINA, the European Retina Specialists, and served as president of the society. She is a member of many professional organizations, including the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), Macula Society, Retina Society, Gonin Club, the European Academy of Ophthalmologists and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The author of over 360 original articles, Professor Schmidt-Erfurth serves on the editorial board of the British Journal of Ophthalmology (BJO), Investigative of Visual Sciences (IOVS), Acta Ophthalmologica and European Journal of Ophthalmology. Professor Schmidt-Erfurth has received numerous grants and awards, among others the Research Award by the German Ophthalmological Society, the Achievement Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Roger Johnson Award by the University of Washington, the Donald Gass Award of the Retina Society and the Donald Gass Medal of the Macula Society. She serves as a reviewer for the European commission, the Welcome Trust, the German Research Foundation (DFG) and other funding organizations. She is active in the board of the Austrian Research Foundation, OEFG, and Vicepresident of the European Forum Alpbach, an interdisciplinary platform for science, politics, business and culture, established in 1945, addressing the relevant socio-political questions of modern time.
Elliott Sohn, MD, FASRS is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa. He has served the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) as Chair of the Retina (RE) section of the Annual Meeting Program Committee, the University of Iowa Physicians Board as member-at-large, and Director of Retina Fellowships. Currently, he is vice-chair of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Residency Review Committee and serves as the American Board of Ophthalmology liaison to the Macula Society, American Board of Ophthalmology as oral examiner, and committees for Retina Society, ASRS, and APAO. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Macula Society’s Young Investigator Award in 2021.
Dr. Sohn’s translational research centers on age-related macular degeneration and degeneration from diabetes and inherited retinal diseases. His surgical expertise is in macular holes, epiretinal membranes, and diabetic/complex retinal detachments. He is a key opinion leader in gene and stem cell therapies, having served as investigator for numerous gene therapy trials in humans, and develops novel instruments for scaffold-based photoreceptor cell restorative treatment. His collaborative research is funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), for whom he regularly serves as grant reviewer.
He has written or co-authored over 90 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 10 book chapters and served as Associate Book Editor for the AAO Basic Techniques of Ophthalmic Surgery, 3rd edition. He is on the editorial board of Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing) and the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology and is an on-going reviewer for multiple ophthalmic and scientific journals. He is consistently voted one of the ‘Best Doctors in America’ and is a member of the Macula Society, Retina Society, American Society of Retina Specialists, European Society of Retina Specialists, Vail Vitrectomy, American Medical Association, and Sigma Xi Scientific Honor Society. He has given over 75 talks in the US and abroad on his research including invited lectures at Oxford University, Seoul National University, University of Ulsan/Asan Medical Center, University of Michigan, University of Washington, Harvard University/Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, Changgung Memorial Hospital (Taipei), Moorfields Eye Hospital, Penn State University, and Oregon Health Sciences University.
He is active in the local community as Advisory Board Member to the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art and Board of Directors of the Englert Theatre.
Lejla Vajzovic is a vitreoretinal surgeon with expertise in adult and pediatric retinal diseases and surgery. She is a Director of Duke Vitreoretinal Fellowship Program and is a tenured Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Duke University. She is passionate about translational research and collaborates closely with Duke Biomedical engineers to develop imaging devices to improve ophthalmic care. She serves as a principal investigator for numerous national clinical trials in early to late stages of development. Her research interests span from pediatric retinal diseases such as retinopathy of prematurity to adult diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and venous occlusive diseases, as well as vitreoretinal surgical topics such as retinal tears, retinal detachments, macular holes and macular puckers.
In addition, Dr. Vajzovic is interested in cutting edge technologies and recovery of vision in hereditary and common retinal diseases with gene-therapy, stem cell technology and retinal implants. She is a co-director of the Duke Pediatric Retina and Optic Nerve Center, and she directs the Duke Center for Artificial and Regenerative Vision, where performs gene-therapy delivery and she implants the Argus II “bionic eye” to restore vision to individuals with total blindness. An influential educator, she organizes and directs several highly successful national and international courses, including the first-of-its-kind Advances in Pediatric Retina Course at Duke and the international Duke Fellows Advances in Vitreous Surgery Course. She is director of prestigious Duke Vitreoretinal Surgical Fellowship and director of Duke Eye Center’s Continuing Medical Education program.
Dr. Vajzovic completed her vitreoretinal fellowship training at Duke and residency training at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, FL. While in training, she received Heed Fellowship Award, Society of Heed Fellows Award and Retina Society Research Award. She is active on the Women in Ophthalmology Board of Directors where she serves as a Chair of Clinical Trial Training Program. She is also elected member of the Retina Society, Macula Society and Club Jules Gonin Society. Dr. Vajzovic has been awarded the American Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement Award, American Society of Retina Specialists Senior Honor Award, Women in Ophthalmology Emerging Leader Award and Emerging Leader Award by Duke University School of Medicine and Duke Medical Alumni Association.
Zhichao Wu is a Principal Investigator and Head of Clinical Biomarkers Research at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA), whose research focuses on expediting the discovery of new treatments and prevention of irreversible vision loss from conditions such as age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma.”
Xincheng Yao, PhD is a Richard & Loan Hill Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Dr. Yao received his PhD in Optics from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2001. This was followed by his postdoctoral research in the Biophysical Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) from 2001 to 2004. He held a LANL Technical Staff appointment from 2004 to 2006. He served at CFD Research Corporation as a Senior Research Scientist from 2006 to 2007. He joined the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) as a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering in 2007, received his NSF CREER in 2011, and was promoted to a tenured Associate Professor in 2012. He joined the UIC as a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences in 2014, was appointed as a Richard & Loan Hill endowed Professor in 2016, and was selected as a University Scholar in 2018. Dr. Yao’s research interests include optical instrumentation, ultra-wide field fundus photography, functional optical coherence tomography (OCT), OCT angiography, super-resolution ophthalmoscopy, machine learning in medical image analysis and disease classification. He has served as the director of Instrument and Animal Facility cores at the UIC Lions of Illinois Eye Research Institute. He is an Associate Editor of Biomedical Optics Express and an editorial board member of Experimental Biology and Medicine. He was elected as a fellow of the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in 2019.
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