Faced with Vision Loss, Young Man Bets on Himself

Faced With Vision Loss, Young Man Bets On Himself Duke Vision Rehab Program Helps Patients Regain Independence

BY LAURA ERTEL U ntil age 18, Zeeshan Polani had perfect vision. Then suddenly, during his first year in college, he lost central vision in his left eye. The right eye soon followed. Doctors were perplexed. It wasn’t until a genetic test was performed that Polani was diagnosed with a rare disease called Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Within months, Polani’s vision plummeted from 20/20 to 20/800. Suddenly, the active, upbeat, independent college student found himself legally blind from a disease for which there is no known treatment. Polani, a Durham native, withdrew from school. There were so many questions: How would he get to class, see the blackboard, read his textbooks? How could he find new ways to learn, when the traditional classroom setting didn’t meet his needs? How could he be a normal college student? Fortunately, Polani found his way to the Duke Vision Rehabilitation & Performance Division where, with the guidance of Division Chief, Diane B. Whitaker, OD, he gained strategies and tools to navigate the world with limited sight. “I knew I couldn’t let this defeat me; I had to keep moving,” Polani says. “I just told myself, ‘I’m going to figure this out.’” Whitaker told Polani about a scholarship Zeeshan Polani became legally blind after being diagnosed with Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) at the age of 18, during which he received care from Diane Whitaker, OD where he gained strategies and tools to navigate the world with limited sight.

program for visually impaired students and helped him secure funding and re-enroll at North Carolina Central University. She and the Vision Rehab team set Polani up with a desktop digital video magnifier and handheld magnifiers and showed him how to use accessibility tools on his laptop to read his professors’ PowerPoint presentations and textbooks. Polani got additional assistance from NCCU’s Student Disabilities Service, and helped the school improve its resources for visually impaired students. An avid basketball player before LHON struck, he figured out how to play basketball again by relying on muscle memory and trial and error. “Dr. Whitaker said, ‘Here is the pathway to get you where you want to go.’ She showed me how I could live a normal life again,” he says. Four years after receiving his diagnosis, Polani graduated from NCCU. Although he was still legally blind, his vision began creeping back gradually. This type of spontaneous remission is very rare, and nearly unheard of in patients with his particular genetic mutation. Today, Polani’s vision has improved to 20/25, and the Duke Vision Rehab team is helping him resume driving safely after six years of visual impairment. “Our mission is to support those experiencing any stage of vision loss by equipping and empowering them so they can maintain their independence and participate in life in a meaningful way,” Whitaker says of the Vision Rehab Division, which also raises awareness about resources and advancing technologies available to the blind/visually impaired community. “Zeeshan is a wonderful example of the functional independence all of our patients experience, even if sight is not restored.” Polani now works as a toxicologist, but his ultimate plan is to earn a master’s degree in health care administration and become a hospital Within months, Polani’s vision plummeted from 20/20 to 20/800. Suddenly, the active, upbeat, independent college student found himself legally blind from a disease for which there is no known treatment. Zeeshan at the driving simulator after regaining his sight. The driving simulator is one of many tools available in the Duke Vision Rehabilitation and Performance Clinc to assist in functional assessment.

administrator. “I’ve been through the health care system, and I see some of the flaws and I know how things should be. I’d like to get into a position where I can enact positive change.” His experience has inspired him to help others in his community, both through NCCU Student Disabilities Services and as a leader in a local service-based organization. Polani doesn’t know what the future will hold for his vision, so he is living one day at a time. “It’s all about perspective, appreciating the little things that others take for granted. God will only test you with things that you are uniquely able to handle. I’m very grateful for my family and friends, who have provided the love and support to help me through this. And I’m thankful for where I am, and I always bet on myself to handle what comes my way.”

Yousef Aldairy, MD Dr. Aldairy is a Harvard and Duke fellowship-trained retina specialist with expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as AMD, diabetic retinopathy, and retinal vascular diseases. Trained in the interpretation of retinal vascular imaging techniques, he specializes in the use of these imaging studies to guide injection and laser-based treatment of disease. He is involved in clinical trials and innovative therapies for the treatment of macular diseases and has special interest in advanced ocular imaging, specifically optical coherence tomography angiography. Dr. Aldairy is a member of the American Society of Retina Specialists, American Academy of Ophthalmology, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

Brad Barnett, MD, PhD Dr. Barnett is a cornea surgeon who treats patients with cataracts, corneal diseases and ocular surface diseases such as dry eye disease. He focusses on developing novel therapeutics and drug-delivery strategies to treat ocular surface disease, as well as novel devices and surgical procedures to advance the effectiveness and safety of keratoplasty and cataract extraction and intraocular lens implantation. He is an inventor on numerous awarded patents and numerous pending patents and has extensively published in the fields of nanotechnology, biomaterials and pharmacology including manuscripts in Science and Nature Medicine. He was awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Fellowship, a Pfeiffer Foundation Fellowship Aldairy Retina Barnett Cornea

and the Claes Dohlman Fellowship. Dr. Barnett has received the Wilmer Eye Institute Richard Green Teaching Award and has also authored numerous book chapters on surgical technique and clinical imaging.

Chantel Boisvert, MD Dr. Chantal Boisvert received her medical degree from Laval University School of Medicine and completed her residency in ophthalmology at the University of Montreal Hospitals. She then completed two fellowships—one in pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus at UCSD Shiley Eye Center and the other in neuroophthalmology at USC Doheny Eye Center. Prior to joining Duke, she was associate clinical professor and director of medical education in ophthalmology at UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute. Her clinical interests include pediatric and adult neuro-ophthalmology and the evaluation and treatment of double vision. Dr. Boisvert has collaborated with neuroscientists and clinicians on research projects. She has extensive experience in the evaluation and treatment of refractive error and visual field assessment in non-human primates, some of her work has been presented to national veterinary medicine conferences. She has also collaborated on many different clinical trials involving the nervous system. Durga Borkar, MD Dr. Durga Borkar is a board-certified, fellowship-trained adult vitreoretinal surgeon. She completed her undergraduate and medical school training at Northwestern University. After a general ophthalmology at Harvard Medical Boisvert Chief, Neuroophthalmology Borkar Medical Retina, Vitreoretinal Surgery

School-Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary, she completed her vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital. Dr. Durga’s practice is focused on injection and laser-based treatment of retinal disease in the clinic, as well as complex surgical cases in the operating room. She specializes in diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, retinal vascular occlusion, macular edema, macular holes, epiretinal membranes, vitreomacular traction, secondary intraocular lens placement, and complex retinal detachments, among others. She has co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and several book chapters early in her career. She is the recipient of several awards for her excellence in research and clinical care, including the Heed Foundation Fellowship, the Society of Heed Fellows Award, and the AAO Advocacy Ambassador Award.

Roshni RanjitReeves, MD Dr. Roshni Ranjit-Reeves is an oculofacial surgeon. She completed a prestigious and rigorous fellowship training program at the Duke Eye Center after completing her ophthalmology residency in Tampa, Florida. She specializes in plastic surgery and reconstruction of the eyes and their surrounding structures including the eyelids, orbit, eye socket and lacrimal system. She is trained and well versed in laser and cosmetic surgery of the skin, injectable fillers, and neurotoxin for facial rejuvenation. In addition to performing aesthetic surgery on the skin to improve skin texture and reverse photo-aging with laser skin resurfacing, she also performs minimally invasive anti-aging procedures for facial rejuvenation such as injectable fillers and neurotoxins. Ranjit-Reeves Oculofacial Surgery

Her academic interests include chemical properties of fillers and neurotoxins and treatment regimens for skin of color. In addition to many peer-reviewed publications in aesthetics and orbital surgery, she has completed an ASOPRS thesis in carbon dioxide (CO2) periocular laser rejuvenation and hyperpigmentation trends with lower lid blepharoplasty. She has presented and served as a panel member and speaker at national meetings. Dr. Rosh is the oculofacial provider at Duke Eye Center of Winston-Salem.

Joanne Wen, MD Dr. Wen is a board certified, Duke fellowship-trained ophthalmologist specializing in the medical and surgical treatment of glaucoma and cataracts. She is highly skilled and experienced in cataract and glaucoma surgery as well as anterior Wen Glaucoma and Cataracts

segment laser procedures. She has a variety of research interests including using novel imaging techniques to diagnose glaucoma and developing new methods to measure eye pressure and the outflow facility of the eye. Dr. Wen is an active member in the American Glaucoma Society, American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and has presented at a number of national conferences. Lloyd Williams, MD, PhD Dr. Williams is a fellowship-trained corneal ophthalmologist specializing in medical and surgical diseases of the cornea and anterior segment of the eye. He completed a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in materials science and engineering. After doing medical research as an engineer, he went on to complete a Williams Cornea

master’s degree in physiology and a doctorate in neuroscience. Dr. Williams performs corneal transplants including DSEK for corneal transplantation and cataract surgery including astigmatism and presbyopia correcting intraocular lenses and lens exchange. He also performs vision correction surgery and other anterior segment surgery including pterygium and conjunctival surgery. Dr. Williams is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. Dr. Williams continues to be active in international ophthalmology and humanitarian work. He is the founder and chairman of the board of HelpMercy International and a founder of the MoranCore ophthalmology educational website.

DUKE EYE CENTER CONTINUES EXPANSION OF SATELLITE CLINICS I n recent years, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill—also called the Triangle region—and surrounding areas have experienced exponential growth, with more than 113,000 people moving to North Carolina between 2017 and 2018. The area has also been ranked in the top 10 for best place to raise a family, live, work, and retire—the Triangle is a great place to be. It is with no surprise that Duke Eye Center treated more than 200,000 patients last year, a record-breaking number for the clinics. As a result, Duke Eye Center has set its focus on clinic expansion. To better serve the residents in the Triangle and beyond, a new Duke Eye Center clinic opened in Holly Springs, welcoming eight new faculty members to the team. Duke Eye Center of Winston Salem added new providers, and we look forward to opening a new expanded clinic in the Research Triangle Park area later in 2020. In addition, NC Eye Ear Nose and Throat joined Duke Health in April 2019 helping to expand our ability to serve additional patients in our area. As North Carolina’s population growth continues to outpace the nation, Duke Eye Center will continue its efforts to meet the needs of the increasing patient population locally and beyond.

S. Grace Prakalapakorn, MD, MPH (left) with colleagues and the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital in Hue, Vietnam. Photo by Geoff Oliver Bugbee/Orbis

30 Duke Eye Center News and Notes 2020

GLOBAL MISSIONS

S. Grace Prakalapakorn, MD, MPH, participated in an Orbis mission trip in Hue, Vietnam, where she conducted a Pediatric Ophthalmology Workshop as part of a three-week flying eye hospital program. The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital, once a cargo plane, is used as a teaching facility where doctors, nurses and medical technicians have received training onboard from some of the best ophthalmologists, nurses and biomedical engineers in the world. S. Grace Prakalapakorn, MD, MPH Leon W. Herndon, Jr., MD

Dr. Prakalapakorn also volunteered through the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) Faculty Exchange program with partner hospital Tianjin Eye Hospital in Tianjin, China. She spent time lecturing, seeing patients and held hands-on workshops for local pediatric ophthalmologists. Faramarz Hidaji, MD

Leon W. Herndon, Jr., MD, participated in a Cure Glaucoma Foundation Medical Mission trip in Lagos, Nigeria in Feb, 2019. The team lectured to over 100 ophthalmologists, and performed more than 100 glaucoma surgical procedures. Faramarz Hidaji, MD, recently completed a mission trip with Healing the Children in the Dominican Republic where 25 strabismus surgeries were performed. Lloyd Williams, MD, PhD, continues to be active in international ophthalmology and humanitarian work. He is the founder and chair of the board of HelpMercy International. HelpMercy International is focused on bringing light to the world through curing blindness in Sierra Leone and bringing clean water and health care to Man’Gunza Zambia.

DUKE CHOSEN AS LEAD SITE FOR APELLIS PHASE 3 STUDY D uke Eye Center was named the lead site for the phase III Apellis APL2-304 study of intravitreal APL-2 therapy in patients with geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, a study of 300+ patients to be enrolled at 53 international sites. Eleonora Lad, MD, PhD, will serve as the lead primary investigator (PI) for the trial. Duke was chosen due to the unique expertise amoung our faculty in visual function assessments for clinical trials of AMD.

Duke Eye Center current interventional trials Phase 1 trials opened in the last 3 years 27 15

FACULTY PARTICIPATE ON NATIONAL ADVISORY EYE COUNCIL FOR AMD RECOMMENDATIONS Catherine Bowes Rickman, PhD, professor of ophthalmology and Cynthia Toth, MD, Joseph AC Wadsworth professor of ophthalmology, were invited to participate in the AMD Pathobiology National Advisory Eye Council (NAEC) Working Group to investigate the current state of research on age-related macular degeneration (AMD), guide research directions, and expedite the development of new treatments. The ideas proposed by the panel were published in Nature Communications and suggests large-scale, integrated collaboration of leading clinicians, imaging experts, a wide variety of basic scientists, bioinformaticians and biostaticians. The experts also recommend creating a large biorepository of eye tissue from donors with and without AMD, generating multiple types of ‘omics data from disease and normal eye tissue, and designing computer models of the disease along with animal models.

Leon W. Herndon, Jr., MD, delivering the American Glaucoma Society Surgery Day Lecture. Catherine Bowes Rickman, PhD

Cynthia Toth, MD

Duke Eye Center 2019 NIH Grants: 94

Duke Ophthalmology Faculty who have received Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) Career Development Awards during RPB’s the 30-year celebration of the award at the 2019 ARVO annual meeting. Alessandro Iannaccone, MD, MS,; Vadim Arshavsky, PhD; Catherine Bowes Rickman, PhD; Daniel Stamer, PhD; Vasantha Rao, PhD; Xi Chen, MD, PhD

DUKE OPHTHALMOLOGY EXPANDS INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAM O ver the last year, Duke Ophthalmology faculty have led educational sessions at international society meetings and hosted international colleagues at Duke Eye Center—also called the Conference Exchange. One of our first outreach efforts includes a group of 10 faculty leading sessions in The Colombian Society of Ophthalmology—DUKE 2019 Course in Bogota, Colombia to share their knowledge and experiences with Latin American colleagues in various subspecialties of ophthalmology. The event featured Duke renowned ophthalmologists: Edward G. Buckley, MD; Scott W. Cousins, MD; Preeya K. Gupta, MD; Terry Kim, MD; Ilya Leyngold, MD; Felipe Medeiros, MD; Victor Perez, MD; S. Grace Prakalapakorn, MD, MPH; Federico Vélez, MD.

Ethan Ames with Sharon Freedman, MD

FREEDMAN PATIENT GIVES BACK E than Ames, a resident of Holly Springs, NC, and longtime patient of Sharon Freedman, MD, professor of ophthalmology and chief of the pediatrics division, chose to give back to Freedman and Duke Eye Center pediatric patients by donating eye patches to the clinic. Ames was diagnosed with a pediatric cataract at the age of one. Freedman performed cataract surgery and subsequently six more surgeries over the next 17 years. He chose to give back to what he calls “my amazing doctor, Sharon Freedman at Duke” for his senior project. His aim was to find a way to help children and families that are experiencing a financial burden due to surgeries and treatments. With the help of family and friends, Ames collected almost 100 packages of eye patches that are given to pediatric patients in need during their visit. Ames chose to give back to what he calls “my amazing doctor, Sharon Freedman at Duke” for his senior project.

DUKE EYE CENTER OPHTHALMIC TECHNICIAN PROGRAM A GREAT CAREER IN LESS THAN A YEAR T he Duke Ophthalmic Technician Program is an affordable, accelerated 51-week certificate program with tremendous advantages and career advancement opportunities. High school graduates interested in an allied health career are encouraged to apply. Program Benefits:  Certificate from Duke University School of Medicine  Clinic rotations after 3 months of classroom time  Hands-on experience in a fast-paced environment at a top ranked eye center  Outstanding career advancement opportunities  More than 90 percent of graduates placed within one month of graduation

We now offer two sessions! Application Deadlines: April 30, 2020 for July 2020 start October 31, 2020 for January 2021 start

Visit dukeeyecenter.duke.edu/optech for more information.

Sanjay Asrani, MD, received a Senior Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology this year. He also received a U.S. patent for a device to lower eye pressure.

Edward Buckley, MD, will become Chair of the American Ophthalmology Society Council in 2020. He gave the 4th Kushner Medal Lecture and the 16th Annual American Eye Study Club Foundation Jerry and Donna Knauer Lecture.

Jiaxi Ding, MD, received an Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Laura Enyedi, MD, received a 2019 Women in Ophthalmology (WIO) Mentorship Award. She was also named section editor of the AAO ONE Network for pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus.

Sina Farsiu, PhD, was elevated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) to an IEEE Fellow for contributions to multi-frame super resolution and ophthalmic image processing.

Sharon Fekrat, MD, and Dilraj Grewal, MD, are among the first group of researchers whose proposal was selected for

Dilraj Grewal, MD, U.S. Senator Susan Collins, and Sharon Fekrat, MD, at her invited presentation to the Senate Committee Special Committee on Aging in April 2019.

funding through the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s (ADDF) Diagnostics Accelerator. They will be evaluating multimodal retinal imaging in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and incorporating deep learning.

Dilraj Grewal, MD, received a Senior Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). He was invited to speak at the Royal College of Ophthalmologists Annual Congress 2019 in Glasgow, UK, in May 2019.

Preeya Gupta, MD, was named an emerging leader in The Ophthalmologist Power List 2019. She serves on the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Corneal Clinical Committee.

Leon W. Herndon, Jr., MD, was named by the dean of Duke University School of Medicine to chair the Department of Neurology’s 5-Year Review Committee. He also participated in a Cure Glaucoma Foundation Medical Mission trip in Lagos, Nigeria, in February 2019.

Ilya Leyngold, MD, was promoted to associate professor of ophthalmology. He received the ASOPRS Research Award for the most outstanding original research paper of the year.

Eleonora Lad, MD, PhD, was inducted into the prestigious Retina Society during the invitation-only, 2019 Annual Meeting. Dr. Lad was selected as Faculty for the Heed Society resident retreat. She is serving as lead Primary >

Controversies in Cornea and Cataract Surgery Saturday, February 22, 2020 Keynote Speaker: Richard L. Lindstorm, MD Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 6th Annual Fellows Advanced Vitreoretinal Surgery Course (fAVS) and Wetlab Friday, April 17 and Saturday April 18, 2020 Vision Quest Duke OpTech continuing education program May 2, 2020 Resident and Fellows Scientific Symposium Friday, June 5-6, 2020 Keynote Speaker: Todd P. Margolis, MD, PhD Alan A. and Edith Wolff Distinguished Professor and Chairman, ophthalmology and visual sciences Washington University Physicians 4th Annual Glaucoma Fellows Course Saturday, September 26, 2020 32nd Annual Glaucoma Symposium Saturday, September 26, 2020 Grand Rounds— now streamed live— dukeeyecenter.duke.edu/ grandrounds April 14, 2020 April 23, 2019 May 7, 2020 Duke Community Events for Optometrists March 6, 2020 April 6, 2020 September 14, 2020 November 2, 2020

Investigator for the international phase III Apellis APL2-304 study. Dr. Lad was invited to serve on the Federal Drug Administration’s Ophthalmic Imaging Collaborative Community group, which will identify and clarify important challenges, best practices, strategies and standards, and advance innovation for ophthalmic imaging. Honors and Awards

Goldis Malek, PhD, became an ARVO Gold Fellow. She is serving as the Chair for the Retinal Cell Biology section of the ARVO Annual Meeting Program Committee (AMPC). Dr. Malek was invited to join the Foundation for Fighting Blindness Scientific Advisory Board.

Miguel Materin, MD, received a Senior Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).

Prithu Mettu, MD, received an ASRS Poster Award or the study, “Effects of the MitochondriaTargeted Drug Elamipretide on LeakageIndependent Vision Loss in Fellow Eyes with Neovascular AMD in the ReCLAIM Study.”

S. Grace Prakalapakorn, MD, MPH, received an Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).

Daniel Saban, PhD, was appointed to the Editorial Board of the journal Cornea. He will give a keynote lecture at the 2019 Faculty Promotions

Mays A. Dairi, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology with Tenure

Laura Enyedi, MD Professor of Ophthalmology

Ilya Leyngold, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology

Lejla Vajzovic, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology

Robin R. Vann, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology

Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society 2020 Conference. He was also selected to receive a Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) International Research Collaborators Award.

W. Daniel Stamer, PhD, is the 2019-2020 ARVO president. He co-organized the 2019 International Society for Eye Research/BrightFocus Foundation Glaucoma Symposia, Atlanta, Georgia and was Keynote Lecturer for 2019 Translational Research Day, Moran Eye Center, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Heather E. Whitson, MD, MHS, has been appointed deputy director of the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development at Duke University. She is committee chair of the newly formed advisory committee for the Center for Vision and Population Health at Prevent Blindness (CVPH).

Trainee Awards

Maria GomezCaraballo, BS, MS3, received the Duke Physician Scientists Institutional Award for her second third year of research in W. Daniel Stamer, PhD’s lab.

Mark GoerlitzJessen, MD, PGY4, received the Best Paper of Session (BPOS) Award at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) 2019 annual meeting for his paper, “The Impact of Epithelial Basement Membrane Dystrophy and Salzmann Nodular Degeneration on Biometry Measurements” in the session Pterygium, Salzmann’s, and Neoplasia.

Heed Fellows Four Duke vitreoretinal surgery fellows and a glaucoma fellow have been named Heed Fellows. The Heed Society of Fellows provides funding to talented young ophthalmologists who are pursuing postgraduate fellowship training. Next page, clockwise from top left:

Terry Kim, MD, will serve as president of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) and will be inducted during the annual ASCRS Meeting in May 2020. As an internationally recognized cornea, cataract and refractive surgeon, Kim was invited to give the Rising Sun Lecture at the 32nd Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (APACRS) Meeting in Kyoto, Japan, as well as the Keynote Lecture for the 113th Korean Ophthalmology Symposium in Seoul, Korea.

 Frank Brodie, MD, MBA  Sophie Cai, MD  Ang Li, MD  Katy Liu, MD, PhD

Heed Resident Retreat Recipients  Jane Kim, MD, PGY4 (below left)  Ellis Wisley, MD, MBA, PGY4

Society (AGS) at the 2019 mid-year forum. She was also selected to receive a Mentoring for the Advancement of Physician Scientists (MAPS) award.

VitreoRetinal Surgery Foundation (VRSF) Research Awards Five Duke trainees have earned the 2019 VitreoRetinal Surgery Foundation (VRSF) Research award. This distinguished award includes grant support for research and travel funds for presentations at national meetings. Recipients were mentored by Lejla Vajzovic, MD, Sharon Fekrat, MD, FACS, and Dilraj Grewal, MD. Below, clockwise from top left:  Sophie Cai, MD, vitreoretinal surgery fellow  Suzanne Michalak MD, PGY3  Arathi Ponugoti, BS, MS3  Anthony Therattil, BS, MS3  Ellis Wisely, MD, MBA, PGY4

Atalie Thompson, MD, MPH, had the highest ranked application for the AAO Advocacy Ambassador program and represented the American Glaucoma

2019–2020 RESIDENTS Henry Feng, MD Chief Resident Third-Year Residents Faith Birnbaum, MD Mark Goerlitz Jessen, MD Jane Kim, MD Nikolas Raufi, MD Obinna Umunakwe, MD, PhD Ellis Wisely, MD, MBA Second-Year Residents Pam K. Bhullar, MD Cassandra Brooks, MD Abhi Gudru, MD Suzanne Michalak, MD Matthew O’Sullivan, MD, PhD Michael Quist, MD First-Year Residents Amal Al-Lozi, MD Regina de Luna, MD Hesham Gabr, MD Priya Gupta, MD Kevin Jackson, MD Xinxin (Steph) Zhang, MD

37 2019–2020 CLINICAL FELLOWS Cornea Andrew R. Davis, MD Nandini Venkateswaran, MD Glaucoma Lindsay E. Dawson, MD Matt Duggan, MD Jaehong Han, MD J. Minjy Kang, MD Ang Li, MD Katy Liu, MD, PhD Atalie Thompson, MD, MPH Medical Retina Kishan Govind, MD Joon-Bom (Albert) Kim, MD Marilyn Marquez, MD Oculofacial Anna Ginter, MD Leon Rafailov, MD - Plastics Ophthalmic Oncology Abbas Haider, MD, MBA Pediatrics Lucas Bonafede, MD Tanya Glaser, MD Michelle Go, MD, MS Megan X. Law, MD Vitreoretinal Surgery Frank Brodie, MD, MBA Cindy Cai, MD Sophie Cai, MD Ananth Sastry, MD 37

ARVO President Reflects on Goals and Accomplishments

W. Daniel Stamer, PhD, FARVO, began his one-year term as the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) president at the commencement of the 2019 Annual Meeting in Vancouver. ARVO is the largest and most respected eye and vision research organization in the world, serving nearly 12,000 researchers from over 75 countries. Stamer also has been serving as the ARVO Physiology/ Pharmacology Section Trustee since 2015. He reflects on his career and why being involved in both basic and preclinical research has been significant to him. Get a glimpse into his professional background and his vision for ARVO during his tenure as president.

What research or projects are you currently working on? For the past 25 years, I have been investigating and learning about the molecular mechanisms that regulate intraocular pressure. During the course of these investigations, I have also spearheaded the development of useful cell, organ and animal models to identify novel targets and test new therapeutics for glaucoma. I am fortunate that my research is both basic science and preclinical, enabling me to work closely with both academic and industry collaborators toward a common goal of bringing new treatments to patients with glaucoma. Significant for people with glaucoma, two new drugs (Rhopressa and Vyzulta) have been recently approved, both with activity in the diseased trabecular meshwork tissue responsible for ocular hypertension. I was fortunate to conduct some of the foundational and preclinical research studies that supported activity and efficacy of these drugs in the trabecular meshwork.

What have been some of the highlights of your career to date? First and foremost was the superb career guidance and scientific training I received during my early years as a researcher. Among many others that shaped my career, I am thankful to have been mentored by Bob Snyder, John Regan, Andrea Yool and David Epstein. Second, it was a privilege to pass on what I have learned and serve as primary advisor to nine postdoctoral fellows, plus six PhD and two MS students who did their thesis work in my laboratory. My third career highlight was the work I performed with Ross Ethier and Darryl Overby at Imperial College in London while on a sabbatical that lead to earning the Lewis Rudin prize for glaucoma in 2012. Finally, I was thrilled with the opportunity to join an incredible group of clinician and research colleagues at the Duke Eye Center in 2011, where I was subsequently awarded a distinguished professorship and an endowed chair in 2014.

How have you been involved with ARVO through the years? My first ARVO Annual Meeting was in Sarasota 28 years ago. Every year since 1991, I have attended and presented at ARVO meetings, which has provided me the opportunity to showcase my work, generate new ideas, plus develop friendships, collaborations and my professional network. It was an honor to be given the opportunity to give back to ARVO, first as an elected member of the AMPC, then appointed as a member of the editorial board of Investigative

Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS) and finally elected as trustee, representing members of the PH section. As trustee, I served as chair of the finance committee and as chair of the awards committee for the ARVO Foundation. Finally, it has been a tremendous honor and privilege to be elected president, serving the membership of ARVO at the highest level.

What are your goals and vision as ARVO president? There are three initiatives that have been focus areas for me as ARVO president. The first is continuing to improve the communication between vision scientists and eye banks to increase the quantity and quality of human eye tissue for research. In a recent IOVS paper, we documented the opinions of ARVO members who were surveyed about availability of human eye tissues for research, and are getting ready to launch an online tool on the ARVO website called “EyeFind” to help connect vision researchers and eye banks (PMID: 30304462). Moreover, we successfully created a new grant funding mechanism to help pay for human eye tissues used for the generation of preliminary data for grant applications. This program is managed by the ARVO foundation and our first call for applications occurs in early 2020. A second area of emphasis is helping bridge the void between basic vision research and technology commercialization with ARVO’s Bench to Bedside (B2B) initiative, which will premier in Baltimore at the 2020 Annual Meeting. ARVO’s new B2B meeting will provide companies with an opportunity to share the trials and tribulations of taking a new discovery to the market with researchers. Additionally, the meeting will offer time for interactions between innovators and venture capitalists, including education on how to obtain funding and enter the beginning and middle phases of clinical trials. The third initiative involves ongoing efforts to improve ARVO’s international presence, given that one-half of our members are non-U.S. Our 2018 meeting in Hawaii facilitated an increase in participation from Asia and this past year we had our first meeting outside of the U.S., in Vancouver. Looking forward, ARVO is working to increase international participation by launching ARVO International, a meeting which will occur every two years, rotating between Europe, the Pacific Rim and Latin America. Our first ARVO International meeting will be in Hawaii October 15–18, 2020.

What have you learned from your tenure as president and on the ARVO board of trustees? I learned that ARVO is a firstrate, well run organization that constantly strives to better serve its membership. I was very impressed with the professionalism of staff, ARVO leadership and the hard work and dedication of my fellow board members; who volunteer hundreds of hours of their precious time to serve their fellow ARVO members. For me, it was a true education and honor to serve with them these past five years. Toth Receives Prestigious Accolades

Cynthia Toth, MD, earned several prestigious awards. Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) has granted Toth an RPB Stein Innovation Award. This award provides flexible funding to scientists actively engaged in research with the goal of understanding the visual system and the diseases that compromise its function. The award funding will support Toth’s work to advance the use of rapid, non invasive imaging with optical coherence tomography (OCT) to determine eye and brain injury. These OCT advancements will improve patient access to advanced imaging and clinicians’ ability to find and treat eye and brain injuries. She was selected for a 2019 Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Translational Accelerator Award, one of three awards given annually. Her project, Optical Assessment of Retinal Microvascular Ischemia in Cardiopulmonary Bypass, was one of three projects selected for the award. Recipients were selected for their outstanding potential to translate scientific discoveries into better outcomes in a clinical and population settings. Toth was a 2019 recipient received the of the Women in Ophthalmology (WIO) Scientific Contribution Award for her significant contributions in the field of ophthalmology. 39

FACULTY LEADERSHIP Edward G. Buckley, MD Chair, Department of Ophthalmology Vice Dean of Medical Education, Duke University School of Medicine Vice Chancellor Duke-NUS Affairs Scott W. Cousins, MD Vice Chair of Strategy Director, Center for Macular Diseases Director, Ophthalmic Imaging Medical Director, Duke Eye Center Durham

Felipe Medeiros, MD, PhD

Eric A. Postel, MD Vice Chair, Technology Director, Clinical Research Unit

Vice Chair, Clinical Affairs Chief, Ambulatory Eye Surgery

Division Chiefs Chantel Boisvert, OD, MD – Neuro Ophthalmology Sharon Freedman, MD – Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Division Leon W. Herndon, Jr., MD – Glaucoma Division Anupauma Horne, MD – Comprehensive Division Glenn Jaffe, MD –Vitreoretinal Division Terry Kim, MD – Cornea, External Disease and Refractive Surgery Division Diane Whitaker, OD – Vision Rehabilitation and Performance Division Julie Woodward, MD – Oculofacial Division Cynthia A. Toth, MD Chair, Department APT Committee Sanjay Asrani, MD Medical Director Duke Eye Center, Cary

Christopher Boehlke, MD

Laura Enyedi, MD Medical Director Duke Eye Center, Raleigh

Medical Director Duke Eye Center, South Durham

Preeya Gupta, MD Medical Director Duke Eye Center, Page Road, PDC At-Large Member Robin R. Vann, MD Medical Director Perioperative Services Carol Ziel, MD Medical Director, Duke Eye Center of Winston-Salem Vadim Arshavsky, PhD Scientific Director of Research Glenn J. Jaffe, MD Director, Duke Reading Center Eleonora Lad, MD, PhD Associate Director, Clinical Research Unit Catherine Bowes-Rickman, PhD Director, Third-Year Medical Student Program Pratap Challa, MD Director, Residency Program Sharon Fekrat, MD, FACS Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor of Surgery Director, Vitreoretinal Surgery Fellowship Associate Chief of Staff, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center Goldis Malek, PhD Chair, Diversity and Inclusion Committee Kelly Muir, MD, MHSc Director, Ophthalmology Fellowship Program Chief, Division of Ophthalmology, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Lejla Vajzovic, MD

Nathan Cheung, OD Victor Perez, MD

Jullia A. Rosdahl, MD, PhD

Julie A. Woodward, MD Director, Ophthalmology Continuing Education Program

Director, Optometry Education Director, Foster Center for Ocular Immunology

Director, Medical Student Education Director, Patient Education Director, Public Education Program Director, Ophthalmic Technician Program Faculty Liaison

ADMINISTRATION

Adrienne Lloyd, MHA, FACHE Elizabeth Hunter, MHA, CFM Heidi Campbell, COT Tammy Clay, MHA Martha Dellinger, MHA

Chief Administrative Officer Director of Finance Director of Operations Division Administrator Division Administrator

COMPREHENSIVE OPHTHALMOLOGY Anna Bordelon, MD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Thomas S. Devetski, OD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Anupama Horne, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Thomas Hunter, MD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Charlene James, OD Medical Instructor in the Department of Ophthalmology Nicola (Nicky) Kim, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Assoc. Medical Director, Main Eye Center Laurie K. Pollock, MD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology William Rafferty, OD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Dianna Seldomridge, MD, MBA PDC Consulting Assistant Professor Tina K. Singh, MD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Robin R. Vann, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology

CORNEA AND REFRACTIVE SURGERY Bradley Barnett, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Christopher S. Boehlke, MD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Alan N. Carlson, MD Professor of Ophthalmology Melissa Daluvoy, MD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Preeya Gupta, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Terry Kim, MD Professor of Ophthalmology, Anthony Kuo, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Assistant Professor Biomedical Engineering ++ Victor Perez, MD Stephen and Frances Foster Professor of Ocular Immunology and Inflammation Terry Semchyshyn, MD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Amanda Steele Johnson, OD Assistant Consulting Professor of Ophthalmology Kenneth Weinlander, MD Assistant Consulting Professor of Ophthalmology Lloyd Williams, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology

GLAUCOMA

Sanjay Asrani, MD Pratap Challa, MD Jiaxi Ding, MD Divakar Gupta, MD Leon W. Herndon, Jr., MD Jill B. Koury, MD Stuart J. McKinnon, MD, PhD

Felipe Medeiros, MD, PhD

Frank J. Moya, MD Kelly W. Muir, MD, MHSc Jullia Rosdahl, MD, PhD Henry Tseng, MD, PhD Molly M. Walsh, MD, MPH Joanne Wen, MD Carol J. Ziel, MD Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Professor of Ophthalmology Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor in Neurobiology ++ Joseph A. C. Wadsworth Professor of Ophthalmology Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology

VISION REHABILITATION AND PERFORMANCE Diane Whitaker, OD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Xi Chen, MD, PhD Scott W. Cousins, MD

Sharon Fekrat, MD, FACS

Dilraj Grewal, MD Majda Hadziahmetovic, MD

Alessandro Iannaccone, MD, MS, FARVO Glenn J. Jaffe, MD

Eleonora Lad, MD, PhD Miguel Materin, MD

Prithu Mettu, MD Eric A. Postel, MD Stefanie G. Schuman, MD Cynthia A. Toth, MD

Lejla Vajzovic, MD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Robert Machemer, MD Professor of Ophthalmology Professor in Immunology ++ Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor of Surgery Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Medical Instructor in the Department of Ophthalmology Professor of Ophthalmology

Robert Machemer, MD Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Professor of Ophthalmology Professor of Radiation Oncology ++ Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Professor of Ophthalmology Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Joseph A.C. Wadsworth Professor of Ophthalmology Professor in Biomedical Engineering++ Associate Professor of Ophthalmology

NEURO-OPHTHALMOLOGY Chantal Boisvert, OD, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Mays Dairi, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Sidney Gospe III, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Landon Meekins, MD Medical Instructor in the Department of Ophthalmology

OCULOPLASTICS

Ilya Leyngold, MD Jason Liss, MD Roshni Ranjit-Reeves, MD

Julie A. Woodward, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Assistant Consulting Professor of Ophthalmology Professor of Ophthalmology Professor in Dermatology ++

PEDIATRIC OPHTHALMOLOGY AND STRABISMUS Edward G. Buckley, MD James P. and Joy Gills Professor of Ophthalmology Professor in Pediatrics ++ Nathan Cheung, OD Medical Instructor in the Department of Ophthalmology Laura B. Enyedi, MD Professor of Ophthalmology Professor in Pediatrics ++ Sharon F. Freedman, MD Professor of Ophthalmology Professor in Pediatrics ++ Faramarz Hidaji, MD Assistant Consulting Professor of Ophthalmology S. Grace Prakalapakorn, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology MD, MPH Associate Professor in Pediatrics ++ Yos Priestley, OD, FAAO Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Federico Velez, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology

VITREORETINAL DISEASES AND SURGERY Yousef Aldairy, MD Medical Instructor in the Department of Ophthalmology Michael Allingham, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Durga Borkar, MD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology

RESEARCH OPHTHALMOLOGY Vadim Arshavsky, PhD Helena Rubinstein Foundation Professor of Ophthalmology Professor of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology ++ Catherine Bowes-Rickman, PhD Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor in Cell Biology ++ Romain Cartoni, PhD Joint Appointments – Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology ++ Sina Farsiu, PhD Joint Appointments – Paul Ruffin Scarborough Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Associate Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering ++, Associate Professor in Computer Science++ Paulo Ferreira, PhD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor in Pathology ++ Pedro Gonzalez, PhD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor in Pathology ++ Jeremy Kay, PhD Joint Appointments – Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, Assistant Professor of Neurobiology, Assistant Professor in the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences ++ Paloma Liton, PhD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor in Pathology ++ Rupalatha Maddala, PhD Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology Goldis Malek, PhD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Associate Professor in Pathology ++ P. Vasantha Rao, PhD Professor of Ophthalmology Professor in Pharmacology & Cancer Biology ++ Daniel R. Saban, PhD, MS Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Nikolai Skiba, PhD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology W. Daniel Stamer, PhD Joseph A.C. Wadsworth Research Professor of Ophthalmology Professor in Biomedical Engineering++ Sandra Stinnett, DrPH Associate Professor of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics Associate Professor in Ophthalmology ++ Fulton Wong, PhD Professor Emeritus of Ophthalmology Professor in Neurobiology and Pathology ++ Assistant Professor in Pathology ++

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