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From left, Andrew J. Feola, Machelle T. Pardue, and Sayantan Datta
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$200K grant will fund Emory Eye Center's optic nerve regeneration research
Jiaxing "Wayne" Wang, MD, will lead the two-year research initiative
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American Academy of Neurology recognizes research of Dr. Nancy J. Newman
Research advances understanding of Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy
Gene therapy research conducted by Emory Eye Center neuro-ophthalmologist Nancy J. Newman, MD was recently singled out for high praise by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Her abstract,
The Phase III REFLECT Trial: Efficacy and Safety of Bilateral Gene Therapy for Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON)
summarized the results of a multinational clinical trial for which Newman was the international coordinating principle investigator.Newman's was one of three scientific abstracts chosen for the
Top Science
honor from AAN's Science Committee, which received more than 2,400 submissions.Announcement of the three Top Science awardees was made just days before the American Academy of Neurology's 74th Annual Meeting in Seattle, by Dr. Natalia S. Rost, the AAN Science Committee chair.
I want to thank you Dr. Newman for truly pioneering work in neuro-ophthalmology, now, for many decades,
said Rost.And now, with this, you are bringing the reality of the most-recent cutting-edge gene therapy to patients with this devastating disease and disability.
The subject of Newman's investigation - Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy - is a rare but devastating disease that starts in one eye and invariably leads to bilateral blindness. It typically affects young otherwise healthy men. Researchers have traced the cause to point mutations in the mitochondrial DNA, causing the disorder to be passed down through the mother. While not every individual who has the disease will lose vision, when it does affect one eye, it invariably involves the other as well.
The most common point mutation that severely affects the patient is the 11778 mutation in the ND4 gene,
said Newman.We have shown that one can apply gene therapy with a viral vector and inject a complement of the abnormal gene into the eye where, hopefully, it is taken up by the retinal ganglion cells and makes up for the abnormality.
This therapy, called lenadogene nolparvovec, has been shown to improve LHON patients' visual acuity in the affected eye. Surprisingly, these experiments found that the uninjected eye also improved more than would naturally be expected of a LHON patient. This implies that there is some migration of the therapy to the other eye and optic nerve.
Following two phase-3 studies of unilateral gene therapy in LHON patients, a bilateral trial of the gene therapy (the REFLECT study) injected all patients with the gene therapy in one eye; injections into the second eye were randomly split between gene therapy and a placebo.
And indeed, all second affected eyes improved, whether they received an injection of the drug or the placebo. And they improved more than we would have expected from the natural history of the disease,
she said.
But what we also noted was that the eyes that received the placebo did not improve as much as the eyes that received the true gene therapy injection. And patients who received true injections in both eyes did better, overall, which seems to suggest a dosing effect.
Newman noted that some findings were counter intuitive. For instance, findings from REFLECT and the two previous unilateral gene therapy trials suggest that early introduction of the gene therapy - when only one eye is affected - does not prevent the second eye from being affected, even if that eye receives the therapy.
And, secondly, gene therapy seems to work best when it is introduced six months after patients first experience vision loss. This contradicts the typical reliance on early intervention. Newman and her colleagues have hypothesized that the initial swelling of axons from the retinal ganglion cells may create a barrier that hinders adequate uptake of the therapy during the first few months of vision impairment. As the swelling subsides, the gene therapy may be more effective.
We still have a lot to do, but for the patients who suffer from this devastating disease, this is a step in the right direction,
Newman said.
Welcoming an Emory Eye Center research champion
When Morton Waitzman, PhD, knocks on our door, we're only too happy to answer
Sixty years after he founded the Emory Eye Center's research division, Dr. Morton Waitzman and his wife, Aviva dropped by for a tour of the newly renovated Emory Eye Center lab recently. In addition to building the foundation of our iconic research program, Waitzman was on the original committee that helped plan the construction of the Clinic B building (where that research now takes place). Earlier this spring, Waitzman gifted Department of Ophthalmology Chair Dr. Allen Beck with the original blueprints for that project. Though he retired in 1991, Waitzman seamlessly slipped back into
shop talk
with the current team of researchers - including vice chair of Translational Research Dr. Hans Grossniklaus - who gladly gave him a tour of the facility. From left, they are: Drs. Hua Yang, Ganesh Satyanarayana, Grossniklaus, Waitzman, Priyanka Sharma, and Sayantan Datta. See more of the photos on the Emory Eye Center Facebook page!
Ocular Telehealth: A Practical Guide
demystifies a smart approach to healthcareEmory Eye Center ophthalmologists April Maa and Alexa Lu collaborated on the just-published guide
Physicians seeking to increase access to eye care have a new tool to help them. The recently published
Ocular Telehealth: A Practical Guide
is a compendium of best practices and emerging trends in ocular telehealth that have been tested, reviewed, and revised by working ophthalmologists and optometrists for the better part of a decade.
Chief among those experts is the book's editor, Emory University ophthalmologist Dr. April Maa, whose Technology-based Eye Care Service (TECS) program in the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 7 is the busiest in the VA enterprise.
We've been practicing in this space [telehealth] for years, so we were excited last year when Elsevier [Publishing] approached us about putting this book together,
said Maa, who solicited and edited contributions from more than two dozen practitioners, including her Emory colleague, Dr. Xiaoqin Alexa Lu (also an ophthalmologist).The work we've already done - setting up new billing strategies, monitoring patients, investigating technology - will make it easier for other providers to start a telehealth practice. They can use this book to get started.
Defining ocular telehealth
Telehealth
is a term that describes a wide array of approaches (and technologies) that allow some portion of a patient's health care to be processed or delivered remotely. Ocular telehealth has been finding its way into mainstream vision care for years.For instance, depending on the complexity of the eye condition, patients might find themselves alternating between in-person examinations and video-assisted wellness checks with their physician. In between, they may visit a satellite site to have a technician perform specific eye diagnostic tests, such as Humphrey visual fields. The results of that test can be electronically transmitted to the physician who can, on their own schedule, analyze them and determine next steps. Those next steps might include an in-person visit or a Zoom call.
A common thread, throughout, is the use of technology - in particular, telecommunications - to remove geographic distance from the equation. For ophthalmologists like Maa and Lu, whose practices cater to far-flung rural populations, that's a huge help. But they are not alone.
Previously, ocular telehealth was typically reserved for rural or underserved populations,
writes Robert Morris, OD, in chapter 1 ofOcular Telehealth
.During this pandemic, everyone became remote and underserved, making telehealth mainstream.
Getting beyond the School of Hard Knocks
Ocular Telehealth: A Practical Guide
analyzes the field from multiple angles, both practical and philosophical. There are chapters devoted to remote patient monitoring, the legal and ethical considerations of setting up an ocular telehealth practice, and billing/coding issues. A good deal of the book focuses on best practices for a broad spectrum of eye conditions. Each chapter author did extensive literature reviews to back their findings, but they also derived valuable data from what Maa and Lu sometimes refer to asthe school of hard knocks.
Experience can really tell us a lot. The VA system has a lot of physicians who've been incorporating telehealth into their practices for a while. They wrote a lot of this book. They've experienced and gotten beyond a lot of the barriers and challenges - experiences others don't need to repeat,
explains Maa.One thing all telehealth practitioners need to do is accurately assess their technology needs. Sufficient bandwidth for data-hungry diagnostic instruments, uber-secure data storage, and efficient transmission channels are just the beginning of this challenge. Each vision subspecialty has its own array of telehealth tools and instruments that need to be assessed and carefully coordinated to make the entire system work. The book's authors shared their experiences doing just that.
The anterior segment of the eye can be difficult,
says Lu, a cornea specialist.To get a good exam, you need better magnification, something more than a 2D photograph. You need a modality that will give you the ability to do 3D interpretations.
In her own research, Lu discovered that drone slit lamps offer a promising solution. Physicians can use these instruments to conduct an examination of a patient miles away, at a satellite clinic near home. Any time travel is reduced, access is improved.
You get the magnification you need and you get that videography that allows you to better understand what you are seeing,
she said.Change is in the air
Both Maa and Lu are excited about the future of ocular telehealth. They've already seen it expand access to traditionally underserved populations, particularly in rural areas of the country, including Georgia. Last year, the VA enterprise conducted more than 21,000 patient visits remotely using TECS. And, even though Maa and Lu do not bill Medicare for their VA-based telehealth services, both are encouraged by the fact the Medicare granted a waiver during the pandemic that allowed telehealth billing.
We hope it will continue after the pandemic,
says Maa.We're advocating for it.
Meanwhile, Lu is personally and professionally invested in expanding access to telehealth. She heads up the national training curriculum for TECS readers and manages the VISN 7 TECS teaching rotation for non-eye and eye providers. She devoted an entire chapter to this subject in the book because she strongly believes in teaching others to become future eye telehealth practitioners.
And we know that this is just volume 1,
adds Maa.Once physicians read this book and have their own experiences, we know they'll come up with new ideas for implementing telehealth. That will be in volume 2. We can't wait to see what they teach us.
Eventually, both physicians foresee a time when more patients can comfortably alternate between in-person and telehealth exams. More tests can be run by technicians at satellite sites, with the results being evaluated by physicians miles away.
But at the end of the day, neither Maa nor Lu is suggesting a one-size-fits-all approach to ocular health care.
You need to select the right patients for telehealth,
says Maa.If you try to force it on a person who is not comfortable with it or who really needs to be seen in-person, you will not get compliance. Quality of care may suffer. Our most important skill will always be our ability to judge our patients needs and then meet them where they are.
Emory Eye Center faculty shine at AAPOS Annual Meeting
Three physicians recognized with "Best in Show" for research poster
Daniel Nelson, MD
Amy Hutchinson, MD
Baker Hubbard, MD
Emory Eye Center pediatric fellow Dr. Daniel Nelson was recognized with a Best in Show award for his poster,
Unilateral or Sequential Treatment of Eyes with Bevacizumab for Retinopathy of Prematurity
at the 47th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS), held March 23-27 in Scottsdale Arizona.Nelson presented the work, which was co-authored with his mentors, Dr. Baker Hubbard and Pediatric Division director, Dr. Amy Hutchinson.
Joining them at the national gathering was a full complement of Emory Eye Center faculty, including Department chair, Allen Beck, MD, Phoebe Lenhart, MD, Jason Peragallo, MD, and Carolina Adams, MD.
Another familiar face, Dr. Rebecca Neustein, presented her research,
The Ahmed Glaucoma Drainage Device: Long-Term Clinical Outcomes in the Pediatric Population.
Neustein, a former Emory ophthalmology resident, is currently completing a glaucoma fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital and will join the EEC faculty later this year.Nelson presented the poster, which was a review of patients who were treated unilaterally or had their eyes treated sequentially for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), an eye disorder caused by abnormal blood vessels in the retina of a premature infant. Nelson had reviewed 10 years’ worth of ROP cases, focusing on instances where initially, only one eye met criteria for ROP treatment.
Most ROP cases are symmetric, so we end up treating both eyes by injecting intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) on the same day. However, in some cases, ROP presents asymmetrically,” said Nelson.
This is happening more frequently since IVB has become the preferred approach to treatment in many cases, supplanting laser treatment, which required general anesthesia. In this study, we wanted to look at how many instances we initially treated only one eye, and then see the natural history of the other untreated eye.
What we found, out of the 22 cases with one eye treated initially, was that 11 eventually required bevacizumab in the other eye. These findings do not support a strong systemic effect of IVB. But for those persistently asymmetric cases, it's a good treatment strategy to reduce systemic absorption of bevacizumab.
Another interesting outcome of the study found that unilaterally treated eyes demonstrated no significant difference in refractive error relative to the untreated eye.
The team concluded that additional study is needed since the number of patients studied was relatively few.
Doctors Lenhart and Peragallo presented and analyzed cases with their colleagues at the
Difficult Problems: Non-Strabismus
workshop, which Lenhart moderated.As practicing physicians, we gain invaluable insight into our own work when we are able to frankly discuss the clinical reasoning behind diagnosis and management,
said Lenhart, who currently serves as the vice chair of the AAPOS Professional Education committee.Analyzing tough cases with other pediatric ophthalmologists and strabismus experts is incentive to attend a workshop like this.
Attendees of the
What's New and Important in Pediatric Ophthalmology
workshop received something of a literature review that included interpretations of the top pediatric ophthalmology papers published in more than 27 high-impact journals. The collection was assembled by the AAPOS Professional Education committee.Our goal is to provide our colleagues with the newest high-quality information regarding patient care and treatment modalities for children and adults with strabismus,
explained Adams, who ran the workshop.We produced a comprehensive review along with a shorter version that features the top 10 percent of articles presented at the AAPOS annual meeting.
Working Together. Drs. Jason Peragallo, Phoebe Lenhart, Allen Beck, Rebecca Neustein, and Amy Hutchinson were among the many pediatric ophthalmologists who gathered at the AAPOS Annual Meeting in Arizona March 23-27
Now is the time to help Emory Eye Center
March 30 & 31 your donation to the Eye Center Research fund will be doubled
On March 30 and March 31, all donations to the Emory Eye Center Research fund will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000. That's right: your $25 donation will become a $50 gift to support our breakthrough vision research.
Visit the Emory Eye Center Research Fund page now to do your part!
Whether it's preventive healthcare or treatment of a serious eye trauma, the Emory Eye Center is committed to your long-term vision health. Over the next 24 hours, you can help Emory Eye Center strengthen that commitment by supporting the our designated Emory Eye Center Research Fund. Whether it's $5 or $500, it will support the kind of probing research that has made Emory's Department of Ophthalmology one of the top research hubs in the vision care.
Emory Day of Giving is a 36-hour online giving event celebrating everything Emory - and that includes the Emory Eye Center and Department of Ophthalmology. Over the next few hours, you'll have a unique chance to support what inspires you. Find out more at The Emory Day of Giving to view the other leaderboards and browse the matches and challenges.
The Department of Ophthalmology salutes Dr. Ghazala O'Keefe
The longtime Emory Eye Center physician and professor recognized on National Doctor's Day
The Emory Eye Center is excited to announce that Dr. Ghazala O'Keefe was singled out for special recognition by her peers on March 30, National Doctor's Day.
O'Keefe is one of more than 100 physicians across the School of Medicine who were selected for the honor, which recognizes exemplary dedication to improving patient health and well-being through direct care, research, and inspirational education of future providers. The individual winners were chosen from among hundreds of nominations that were submitted to the SOM Recognition Committee this year.
Colleagues called out O'Keefe for the knowledge, energy, and generosity she brings to her many roles - as a clinician, a mentor, and a thought leader.
She is an outstanding clinician who receives high praise from patients for her empathic care,
said Ophthalmology Department Chair Allen Beck.She is an excellent teacher and mentor and is a strong leader for her section.
From Ukraine to Atlanta: Finding a way home
An Emory Eye Center staffer shares her experience helping her aunt escape the chaos in their homeland
Editor's note: The Emory Eye Center staffer in this story was happy to share her experience, but asked us to omit her last name for privacy reasons. The photo, above, is of Natalia Lendel, when she arrived in Atlanta after fleeing the chaos that has overtaken her native Ukraine.
Screaming sirens. Smoldering buildings. Soot-covered children.
Nightly images of Ukraine's destruction have stunned many Americans into an awestruck silence. Yulia hasn't had that luxury. When the airspace over her native country was shutdown on February 23, her life went into overdrive.
By day, she kept a laser focus on her newly acquired job, as an ophthalmological assistant at the Emory Eye Center. But that left another 16 hours for Yulia to focus on the other side of the world, where her aunt, Natalia Lendel, was trapped in the Ukraine.
Vision2020 Link USA grant will support Global Ophthalmology in Ethiopia
Three-year, $90,00 grant recently awarded to EEC outreach program
The Emory Eye Center's Global Ophthalmology program (GO-E) has recently received an important boost in its efforts to expand access to both vision health and to ophthalmological training in Ethiopia.
A three-year, $90,000 grant, from Vision2020 LINK USA, will allow GO-E to continue training ophthalmology residents from Ethiopia's Addis Ababa University (AAU) while also bolstering much-needed screenings for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and diabetic retinopathy (DR).
Grossniklaus Research Group publishes uveal melanoma findings
Early detection of metastatic UM linked to liver
Research coming from Emory Eye Center's Hans Grossniklaus's group is opening a promising new avenue for detecting early-stage metastatic uveal melanoma in the liver.
The group's findings,
Non-invasive Detection and Complementary Diagnostic of Liver Metastases via Chemokine Receptor 4 Imaging
appeared in the February 10 edition of the journal Cancer Gene Therapy.Their identification of a biomarker for liver metastases came out of the team's work with uveal melanoma (UM), an ophthalmic cancer that almost exclusively metastasizes in the liver. Researchers in this study observed elevated levels of the chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) in both the liver metastases from their UM patients, and in the liver metastases of UM murine models. This led them to use a CXCR4-specific MRI contrast agent to detect small liver metastases in a mouse model. The relative simplicity of this approach may eventually offer patients a valuable option for detection and treatment.
Match Day 2022: The future of ophthalmology is looking great
Six outstanding med school grads to join Emory Ophthalmology in July
Emory Eye Center is proud to announce that six outstanding medical school graduates will be joining us in the fall to complete their residencies in ophthalmology. Announcement of the new class of residents was made February 8 - Match Day - by Jeremy K. Jones, the director of Emory School of Medicine's Residency Program in Ophthalmology. The six were selected from a field of almost 700 applicants.
We couldn't be happier to recruit such an amazing and diverse incoming class,
said Jones.They all come highly recommended with numerous publications, leadership roles, and life experiences that we have no doubt will make for a great addition to the Emory family. Thanks to everyone who helped us recruit such a great class, especially the one and only [EEC's Graduate Medical Education Residency program coordinator] Tracey Yancey.
Matthew (
Ryan
) Claxton earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Tennessee and his medical degree at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. Pasley Gordon earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Georgia and her medical degree at Augusta University. Brandon McKenzie earned his undergraduate degree at Swarthmore College and his medical degree at Howard University. Kafayat Oyemade earned her undergraduate degree at Spelman College and her medical degree at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. Kathryn Park earned her undergraduate degree from Brown University and her medical degree from the University of California School of Medicine at San Diego. Parth Vaidya earned his undergraduate degree at Wake Forest University and his medical degree at Virginia Tech's Carilion School of Medicine.
Dobbs Foundation grant will boost Emory Eye Center outreach to underserved
Jacquelyn O'Banion, MD
A two-year grant from the R. Howard Dobbs Jr. Foundation will focus on closing the health care access gap that prevents un- and underinsured Georgians from getting follow-up vision care.
Announcement of the $180,000 grant was made January 26, and applauded by Georgia Vision 2020, a statewide coalition of providers and advocates that includes Emory Eye Center and our outreach program, Global Ophthalmology (GO-Emory).
The Dobbs Foundation funds will allow us to strengthen the referral network of providers who can give patients direct access to follow-up medical care once a vision problem has been detected,
said Emory Eye Center ophthalmologist (and GO-E director) Jacquelyn O'Banion, MD, MSc.
Emory Eye Center to host 2022 Southeast Vitreoretinal Seminar in Atlanta
Ghazala O'Keefe, MD
Baker Hubbard, MD
Ending a two-year hiatus, the Emory Eye Center will once again sponsor the Annual Southeast Vitreoretinal (SEVR) Seminar at the JW Marriott Hotel March 25-26, 2022.
As in previous years, the 34th Annual SEVR is expected to attract top retina specialists, uveitis specialists, retina fellows, ophthalmology residents, and medical students from throughout the southeast. Led by Emory faculty, Ghazala A. Datoo O'Keefe, MD and G. Baker Hubbard, III, MD, participants will dive into a wide range of topics, including retinal vascular disease, ocular tumors, uveitis, retinal degenerations, updates on the latest clinical trials, and management of complex vitreoretinal surgery.
Emory Eye Center faculty to publish findings on hemangiopericytoma
A case report co-authored by Emory Eye Center's Hans Grossinklaus MD, Jill Wells MD, and Caroline Craven, MD is advancing understanding of conjunctival hemangiopericytoma, a rare but serious soft-tissue tumorous growth on the surface of the eye.
The team's article,
The article shares findings from the treatment of a 54-year-old patient who had developed a small, firm, non-painful, non-mobile vascular mass on her eye. Treatment commenced after three weeks and included surgical excision of the mass. A one-year follow-up examination revealed no recurrence.
Two Emory Eye Center faculty tapped for 2021 Morgan Distinguished Lecture
As the Emory Eye Center closes out 2021, we are proud to announce that, for the first time in the University's history, two faculty (both from EEC!) were tapped to co-present the prestigious John F. Morgan Distinguished Faculty lecture. Nancy J. Newman, MD and Valérie Biousse, MD, shared the honor, one of the most coveted bestowed by the University.
Newman and Biousse's talk, The Eye as a Window to the Brain: From Candlelight to Artificial Intelligence gave a fascinating history of their joint interest in reintroducing the ocular fundus examination - currently an infrequently performed practice conducted by non-ophthalmic physicians - into an effective tool of mainstream medicine.
Focus on Glaucoma Research: Andrew J. Feola, Ph.D.
A team of researchers headed up by Emory Eye Center researcher, Andrew Feola Ph.D., is investigating a hormonal link to glaucoma that could open doors to more effective treatment and prevention options. Under the auspices of a 5-year, $1.25 million National Institutes of Health grant and a 5-year, $800,000 Veteran's Administration grant, Feola, an assistant professor in the Emory Medical School, is probing the connection between estrogen deficiencies and glaucoma - the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world.
A two-year, $200,000 grant from the BrightFocus Foundation is funding Emory Eye Center researcher Jiaxing (Wayne) Wang MD, PhD, in his search for genes that are capable of modulating optic nerve regeneration.
Wang's proposal,
Genetic Mutation Enhance Optic Nerve Regeneration in BXD29 Mouse Strain
outlines his plan to identify the gene mutation that has allowed some test subjects to regenerate damaged or destroyed optic nerves.Damaged optic nerves lead to blindness in many diseases, such as glaucoma,
said Wang, who joined the Emory Eye Center's research team six years ago, after a successful career as an ophthalmologist in his native China. He currently collaborates as an assistant research scientist in Eldon Geisert's lab.If we can develop a gene therapy that will promote the regeneration of optic nerves, we could have a way to treat or prevent vision loss.
Promoting optic nerve regeneration is a promising therapy for treating vision loss in glaucoma,
said Dr.Preeti Subramanian, director of Science Programs, Vision Science at the BrightFocus Foundation.We at BrightFocus are excited to be supporting Dr. Wang's innovative research to identify genes that can promote this regeneration.
Wang is a part of a research team that has been using a particular strain sets of mice - BXD - to learn about the regeneration process. In previous work, the team found that subjects with a slight genetic mutation - BXD29-Tlr4lps-2J/J - had an enhanced capability to regenerate damaged optic nerves. More information is needed to formulate an actionable gene therapy regimen, however.
The overall goal of this proposal is to define the specific genetic mutation responsible for improved axon regeneration,
he said.We have identified all variants between the two strains [BXD29/Ty and BXD29-Tlr4lps-2J/J ] so we are in a good position to map the location of the mutation that governs axon regeneration.
Wang will cross-breed mice so that he can track and compare the genetic contributions each makes to the phenotypes of the resulting generations. This testing will allow him to eventually map the location of the beneficial mutation - a first step in establishing a clinical response.
This is exciting work that, to be honest, we had to be doing,
said Wang.We are incredibly thankful to the BrightFocus Foundation for giving us the freedom to advance this research.
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Emory Eye Center scientists impacting the future of vision research
Pardue, Datta, and Feola join collaborative research efforts
The first half of 2023 has been a busy one for the Research Division of the Emory Eye Center, as individual investigators are actively involving themselves in multi-disciplinary research.
Machelle T. Pardue, PhD
The newly appointed chair of the Emory Eye Center Research Division, Machelle T. Pardue , PhD, was recently named by the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) to a cohort of academics who've been tasked with conducting a consensus study on myopia. The Focus on Myopia-Pathogenesis and Rising Incidence committee will assess the current mechanistic understanding of the disease and identify knowledge gaps that further research may explore.
The committee will issue a white paper that will help researchers map out a productive strategy for investigating the causes and possible new treatments for myopia,
said Pardue. Some studies suggest that by the year 2050, about half of the world's population will have myopia.
Pardue's appointment to the NASEM committee comes just months after she was appointed to a working group within the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative for Diabetic Retinopathy (MTM-VIDR). As a member of the Functional Endpoints committee, Pardue is working with a wide cross-section of researchers to identify new diagnostic markers for the disease, which caused severe vision loss to the late actress in her final years.
Of particular interest to MTM-VIDR is Pardue's expertise in the electroretinogram (ERG), a non-invasive procedure that allows ophthalmologists to assess retinal health.
Research shows that ERGs can detect changes in the eyes of people with diabetes before vascular changes are identified,
she said. If we can detect the disease earlier, we can possibly prevent people from losing their sight, so this is a very exciting direction.
At least one clinical trial is currently investigating the efficacy of ERG assessments of diabetic retinopathy.
Andrew Feola, PhD
Earlier this spring, Andrew J. Feola, PhD was invited to participate in the Women's Health Research Initiative meeting - a working group that is seeking to augment women's health within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Feola's research focuses on glaucoma and the potential role that sex-specific risk factors play in developing this disease for women. His work investigates how menopause and estrogen signaling play a role in those pathologies. It also focuses on how a better understanding of the pathophysiology of ocular diseases can produce better therapeutic pathways for patient treatment.
As a researcher focused on women's health for more than 15 years, I am excited to participate in an initiative that brings focus to these important issues in the VA,
he said. Feola also holds an appointment with VA as a research biologist in the Center for Visual & Neurocognitive Rehabilitation.
Sayantan Datta, PhD
And, finally, in March Sayantan Datta, PhD was one of only 50 researchers from across the world invited by the Ryan Institute for Macular Research (RIMR) to join the Regenerative Medicine Task Force for a three-day exploration of strategies for fighting age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In recent years, stem cells have been successfully used to generate new retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells in patients who have lost it due to AMD.
Datta's cutting-edge research has taken this therapy a step further by using induced pluripotent cells (iPSC) as universal donors for the regeneration of RPE cells. If successful, this process will remove a barrier that could otherwise prevent all patients from having access to RPE therapy.
What we are doing at Emory is really what a lot of companies would like to achieve,
said Datta. And there is a lot of interest in making it go forward.
Yousef Khalifa, MD, Chief of the Ophthalmology Service at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Yousef Khalifa, MD recognized for Educator Appreciation Day
Longtime chief of the Grady Hospital ophthalmology service celebrated for mentoring next generation ophthalmologists
On May 24, the Emory School of Medicine marked Educator Appreciation Day by releasing the names of 175+ faculty whose knowledge, mentorship, and instruction have set the bar high for both colleagues and students alike.
Within the Department of Ophthalmology they singled out Yousef Khalifa, MD, a nine-year veteran of the Emory Eye Center who currently serves as the chief of service at Grady Hospital. A respected cataract surgeon, he has played an integral role in the education of 54 residents and many fellows who have rotated through the bustling urban hospital during his tenure.
The official nomination hailed him for going above and beyond in his approach to teaching:
Yousef Khalifa, MD
Allen Beck, MD
Maitri Mehta, MD
Dr. Khalifa has significantly enhanced our clinical teaching especially in the area of cataract surgery. He has arranged regular wet labs and cataract surgery simulation courses, programmatic step-wise learning processes in the operating room, and introduced newer technologies to our Grady clinics and operating room.
Eagerly echoing the praise was Allen D. Beck, MD, the F. Phinizy Calhoun, Sr Chair of Ophthalmology and the director of the Emory Eye Center.
Dr. Khalifa is extremely dedicated to resident education, particularly related to mentoring outstanding ophthalmic surgeon. His approach is innovative, personal, and tailored to each resident's skill set. We are so fortunate to have him as our chief of service at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Khalifa greeted the news with a refreshing combination of personal humility and collegial admiration.
I am grateful to be a part of the team at Grady, and to have received this honor,
he said.
I am motivated and challenged every day by the educational mission of the Emory Eye Center, which puts a bigger emphasis on teaching than a lot of other large centers. Many of the ophthalmologists practicing in Georgia were trained here. Each of them was trained not only to take good care of eyes, but to adapt their skills and knowledge to the different life experiences, backgrounds, and struggles of the people they serve. In the process of learning about ophthalmology, these residents have learned how to be better versions of themselves. I have enjoyed being part of the process that has brought them from not knowing to being really really good surgeons.
Maitri Mehta, MD, the outgoing ophthalmology chief resident for the class of 2023, was quick to return Khalifa's praise.
Dr. Khalifa is really dedicated to giving residents as strong a clinical experience as possible. He really stands out-shines, actually - as a surgical teacher,
she said.
More than answers, he guides us to ask the right questions. And then he makes sure we get the right training, so that we will be prepared to handle the most complex cases….As a clinician, if there's a logistical problem - with scheduling a patient or with OR availability for instance - he will pick up the phone and make it happen.
Allen D. Beck, MD, Machelle T. Pardue, PhD, Hans Grossniklaus, MD MBA, and John Nickerson, PhD
A Celebration of Research Excellence at the
Emory Eye Center
Research icons John Nickerson, Hans Grossniklaus, Machelle T. Pardue honored for career achievements
The Research Division of the Emory Eye Center has had a lot to celebrate this spring. At the top of that list are its people.
Research icons Machelle T. Pardue, PhD, Hans E. Grossniklaus MD, MBA, and John Nickerson, PhD were the guests of honor May 12 when Emory Eye Center hosted A Reception for the Celebration of Research Excellence at the Carlos Museum. The early evening soiree gave colleagues and friends an opportunity to both roast and celebrate the three, who recently marked some career-defining milestones.
It is no secret to anyone in our field these three have brought depth and impact to vision research,
said Allen Beck, the F. Phinizy Calhoun, Sr., Chair of Ophthalmology and director of the Emory Eye Center.
Together, they have contributed more than 100 years to the study of eye disorders, interventions, and vision health.
John Nickerson, PhD
Avid Cheering Section.Renowned for his research, John Nickerson is adored by his family. From left, they are his daughter Beth, grandson, Liam , wife Kathy and granddaughter Evelyn
First to the podium was John Nickerson, who recently stepped down from his role as the director of research. Nickerson now plans to narrow his research focus and mentor junior faculty during a 'phased retirement' that will begin this fall. He commended the department for leveraging P30 Core and T32 Training grants for more than 30 years. Then, with his signature dry wit, he told the gathering that there was 'a hint of glee' in his voice over the recent return of RPB funding, which he helped to oversee.
Among his most valued achievements, he said, was the establishment of the Atlanta Vision Research Community (AVRC), a collaborative group of researchers, physicians, post-docs, and educators that has become a springboard for new research, new collaborations, and mentorship in vision research and education. In addition to Emory, the AVRC draws members from Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Morehouse School of Medicine, the VA, and even the CDC.
It is really unparalleled. There is nothing like the AVRC anywhere in the country,
he said. What we have done with this group goes well beyond what we'd normally expect from an eminent school of ophthalmology. We have set the bar high for others.
Nickerson said he was also incredibly proud of the establishment of Molecular Vision, the first online, peer-reviewed journal indexed by the National Library of Medicine to give researchers immediate access to new findings in molecular biology, cell biology, and the genetics of the visual system (ocular and cortical).
It met a pressing need for researchers to gain immediate access to new research. We were 'open access before there was 'open access',
he said of the journal, which was founded in 1995.
His light-hearted quips notwithstanding, Nickerson was unmistakably serious when he turned his attention to his colleagues, friends, and family
It has been an absolute privilege to work with the faculty, staff, and students here. My sincerest gratitude is reserved for them,
he said. And I would not be here but for the support of my wife, Kathy, and daughters Beth and Becky.
Hans Grossniklaus, MD, MBA
Sticking Around to Do Pathology. Has Grossniklaus flanked by (from left) Baker Hubbard, MD, Daurice Grossniklaus, and Emory business professor Benn Konsynski PhD
Next up was Dr. Hans Grossniklaus, who recently completed his term as the president of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) and has also stepped away from clinical care over the past year. A 30+ year member of the Department of Ophthalmology, he assured his colleagues that he will continue to stick around to do eye pathology,
but will do so without a title he has held for four years: vice chair of translational research.
On the latter point, he pivoted to an insightful and humorous observation:
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that, with John [Nickerson] stepping down as the director of research and me stepping down as vice chair, we are going to be asking Machelle [Pardue] to do the work of two men. She'll do both. And I think she will do them both, better.
Grossniklaus told his colleagues that he will remain in the department, as a committed practitioner of translational research.
We're a clinical department so we've always brought what we found in the lab to benefit the care of our patients. As a translational researcher, I've always been the transition - not so much between John [Nickerson] and Machelle [Pardue] but between the basic science, the clinical science, and the pathology of ophthalmic disease. It's an important mission, one that we share with many of our predecessors.
Grossniklaus elicited applause as he mentioned the previous directors: Henry F. Edelhauser, P. Michael Iuvone, and John M. Nickerson. The applause grew louder at the mention of Machelle T. Pardue, the next speaker.
Machelle T. Pardue, PhD
Ready to Launch. Machelle T. Pardue with her husband and her EEC colleague, Baker Hubbard and his wife at the Research Celebration
Emory Eye Center's new vice chair and director of research brought an assuring mixture of humility and confidence to her time at the dais. She started by thanking all who paved the road this moment in her research career, including former Department chair Thomas Aaberg, who forged Pardue's first connection with Emory 20+ years ago.
was doing research for the VA in Chicago, so I was lucky to get that funding transferred when my husband got a job here in Atlanta,
she recalled. I remember visiting Dr. Aaberg in his office and saying 'Could I join your department?' He said yes, and for the next 15 years I grew a lab and some incredible research collaborations here.
Looking ahead, Pardue said she relished the opportunity to build on the strengths of a department that has always been like a second home, professionally. To that end, she mentioned four priorities that would frame her leadership.
My first priority is to build our research team,
she said.I look forward to welcoming new faces to our department and to sharing ideas that cross different disciplines.
To that point, Pardue also affirmed her commitment to translational research, an approach that demands cross-cutting collaborations between basic and clinical science as a way to improve patient care. She said one of the considerations that would influence new hire decisions would be the degree to which candidates could establish a translational research connection with current clinical faculty.
Another factor Pardue said would influence the recruitment of new researchers will be diversity. She told listeners that through a conscious recruitment of under-represented minorities she looked forward to building a presence that would more accurately reflect the diverse nature of both the patient
Take a peek at this photo album from the May 12 event!
RB Kids Day 2023 celebrates children and families
Four-year hiatus can't dampen the spirit of an Emory Eye Center tradition
On Saturday, May 13 Emory Eye Center once again hosted Retinoblastoma Kids Day - a celebration of the families and children who are fighting retinoblastoma.
A seemingly endless supply of funnel cakes, hot dogs, and carnival games guaranteed that the pint-sized patrons would find their jam. But from the smiles on their faces, the adults were having just as much fun.
That's exactly what we like to see,
said Baker Hubbard, MD, an Emory Eye Center retina specialist who has championed the annual event for eons. Hubbard and his colleagues knew most of the attendees at Saturday's event because they had treated them as patients at an Emory clinic.
We love to see the smiles on the kid's faces but it's just as important to see their parents take a moment to enjoy the simplicity of their children's laughter. That's what this day is all about. It is pure joy for me to catch up with them at this event.
Launched in 1999, the once-annual event was sidelined for four years during the COVID epidemic. In 2023, dozens of Emory Eye Center faculty, clinicians, and staff volunteered to be a part of the festivities, which included crafts, carnival games, face-painting, a bouncy-house, and a visit from some very friendly therapy dogs from Happy Tails.
Also supporting the event were a number of sponsors, including the Center for the Visually Impaired (CVI), Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, the Georgia Eye Bank, Chick-Fil-A, and the Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center.
The beauty of diversity in science, nature, and ARVO
Outgoing ARVO president Hans Grossniklaus talks about the steps ARVO took to create a more equitable research community
Emory Eye Center researcher Hans Grossniklaus, MD, MBA presiding over the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting as the group's president
The theme for the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting sparked more than a few thought-provoking debates. That's exactly what ARVO23 president, Hans Grossniklaus, MD, MBA intended.
Emory Eye Center and the Atlanta Vision Research Community (AVRC) contributed 35 presentations to ARVO 2023. Download a PDF of the titles, here
I chose 'The Beauty of Diversity in Science and Nature'' as the theme because it challenges us to remember the advantages of embracing diversity,
said Grossniklaus whose tenure as president of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) ended with the final gavel of the 2023 meeting, April 27.
Emory Eye Center researcher Debresha Shelton
This theme speaks to the mechanistic diversity in ocular disease, but it also speaks to how we, as vision scientists, are a diverse group with multiple backgrounds and perspectives.
By working with diverse individuals both inside and outside of our scientific community, we can find new innovative ways of approaching our research and advancing the field. The greater the diversity of our components, the stronger our outcomes will be.
Grossniklaus is proud of the ways ARVO delivered on that challenge this year.
It started with his choice of a keynote speaker: Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, PhD, the senior group leader at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus. Her talk, 'Emerging Imaging Technologies to Study Subcellular Architecture, Dynamics, and Function' launched some very productive chatter about using those techniques to study tissue samples from many parts of the body. Including, of course, the eye.
Three members of the Atlanta Vision Research Community (AVRC) take a break from presenting their posters at ARVO. From left, Hayden Haupt, Katie Bales, and Stephen Phillips
This could be very promising way to incorporate Big Data into the analysis of different eye conditions,
Grossniklaus noted. I will not be surprised to see a funding opportunity coming out of this discussion over the next year.
Lippincott-Schwartz also balanced out what is often a male-dominated named lectureship program at ARVO. Grossniklaus took steps to further diversify the speaking program by establishing a subcommittee that will actively identify and recruit women to fill named lectureships at future ARVO meetings. Next year, for instance, two of the four named lectureships will be reserved for women.
We are never wanting for good lecturers, and this year was no exception,
said Grossniklaus. But we can do better in terms of diversity. And we are setting ourselves up to be successful.
During Grossniklaus's tenure, ARVO also established Setting Your Sights (SYS), a group committed to developing a more diverse cohort of future researchers by forging early and meaningful pathways for under-represented aspirants. That starts with exposure.
Under the auspices of SYS, the 2023 ARVO meeting hosted a delegation of teen scholars from under-resourced high schools in the New Orleans area. Accompanied by their mentors, these teens were given a tour of the ARVO meeting, including poster presentations and an opportunity to talk with ARVO leadership about their research and careers.
If even one of these students decides to join the vision research community, this will be a great investment,
he said.
By far the most ambitious initiative of his one-year ARVO presidency has been the formation of a working group to redefine ARVO's concept of diversity.
Emory Eye Center researchers Sarah Talwar and Melissa Bentley-Ford
We are an international organization, so one thing we found was that an under-represented minority in one country might not be the same in another,
he said. If we are going to support under-represented groups in our field with mentors, with travel grants, and other opportunities, we need to know who they are and what they need.
One of the most critical take-aways from its inaugural work was the need to constantly revisit and revise definitions. The group's work will extend long beyond Grossniklaus's tenure.
The group concluded that they can't identify, definitively, what constitutes an under-represented group. So they decided that individuals who apply to ARVO for recognition as a member of a [new] under-represented group would provide information to support their qualification.
Looking back on the 5-day event, Grossniklaus thinks it checked off a lot of boxes for the 7,000+ researchers in attendance. It also fulfilled a simpler wish that was kicking around in his head for years.
At my first ARVO meeting, 40 years ago, I spent most of my time talking science with a renowned researcher, Gordon K. Klintworth because he was presenting a poster right next to mine. It was fascinating, and he was quite generous,
he said.
This year, I had a poster ['The Role of Macrophages in Vascular Formation in Uveal Melanoma '] and I got a chance to do the same. Talking with new and experienced scientists from all over the world. It was great. And it's really the heart of what ARVO is all about.
A growing number of women are finding their way into ophthalmic research. Above, some members of the Atlanta Vision Research Community pose before joining the Women in Eye And Vision Research (WEAVR) luncheon at ARVO. Several of these women are part of the Emory Eye Center's research division
Fighting Retinoblastoma. Paige, Tarik, and one-year-old Marley Camp, shortly after Marley was diagnosed with retinoblastoma. The young family was deluged with questions about the future. The answers came from a community of caregivers, including Emory.
Are you a RB Kid or family member? REGISTER HERE! We'll see you on May 13!
Celebrating families & kids who fight retinoblastoma
Former patient, Marley Camp, and her father to volunteer at RBK Day, May 13
Looking back, Tarik Camp can easily identify when his daughter Marley's retinoblastoma first revealed itself. It was a split-second observation that he didn't understand but couldn't dismiss.
I was giving her a bath and, just for a second there was a weird reflection in one of her eyes,
Camp recalls. At the time, of course, I just thought it was the light playing with me. But then I asked my wife Paige and she said she'd seen something strange, too. So we figured we'd bring it up at her one-year check-up.
Marley Camp
Life went into warp speed at that point, as the pediatrician's suspicions were quickly confirmed by Dr. Baker Hubbard, a retina specialist at the Emory Eye Center. Within a week of that well-child check-up, Marley was undergoing surgery at Emory to remove her left eye.
You have a lot of feelings when you hear that word [cancer]. But you figure you'll feel them later, when you have time, because right now, you need to help your kid and you are full of questions,
he said. Like 'Will she survive? ' and 'How will this affect her life? ' and 'What can I do to help her? '
Every case is different. For Tarik and Paige Camp, the biggest sigh of relief came when they discovered Marley's tumor had not metastasized. But many questions persisted for the working parents, who were juggling all of the other impossible tasks that all parents must tackle.
The answers came, bit by bit, from individuals who shared the Camps' experience - children, families, doctors who joined them in the fight against retinoblastoma. Many were associated with the Emory Eye Center, where Marley received ongoing care for her condition.
And that's a big reason why I'm committed to helping out with Emory's Retinoblastoma Kids Day. You are left with a big adjustment, a whirlwind, when you have this diagnosis,
he said.
And these are the people who can help you get through it. The families who have just been diagnosed and the ones, like mine, who have come through it. It's a chance to celebrate with people who feel the same way I do.
Joining Tarik at this year's RB Kids festival will be Marley, now a 17-year-old junior at Parkview High School where she plays center back on the varsity soccer team. On May 13, she'll be busy helping her old man make funnel cakes. But we predict Marley will also find ample opportunity to roll her eyes at Tarik's irrepressible 'Dad-isms.' Like this one he left us with:
She plays a fast-paced sport that requires quick reflexes. And she's playing better with one eye than a lot of kids do with two. She's even looking at colleges that can offer her an athletic scholarship. She really is that good.
Yup, Marley, we're rolling our eyes, too: Life really is that good.
Bandaged up and suited up. Marley Camp, age 1, after Emory Eye Center retina specialist Baker Hubbard, MD, surgically removed her left eye; right, Marley Camp, age 16, after she surgically removed the competition during a soccer match at Parkview High School.
Amy Hutchinson, MD, receives AAPOS Lifetime Achievement Award
Emory Eye Center's Dr. Amy Hutchinson was recently recognized by the American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmologists and Strabismus (AAPOS) with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Hutchinson formally accepted the award during the AAPO's 48th Annual Meeting, held in New York City, March 29-April 2.
Dr. Amy Hutchinson
The award recognizes Hutchinson's longtime commitment pediatric ophthalmology, particularly to the areas of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), myopia, and cerebral visual impairment. Hutchinson is the head of the Emory Eye Center's pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus section. She completed her ophthalmic residency at Emory and has been a member of the faculty for 20 years.
I want to congratulate Dr. Amy Hutchinson for receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from AAPOS,
said Dr. Allen Beck, the F. Phinizy Calhoun Sr. Chair and director of the Emory Eye Center.
She has contributed in many ways to our pediatric patients, especially those with retinopathy of prematurity. It is fitting for AAPOS to honor her with this award as she has taught and mentored countless students, residents, and fellows in our department.
Hutchinson deflected all praise, preferring instead to point out the great work her team presented at this year's AAPO.
I love the work that I am able to do, but I'm particularly proud of the work that our group presented at this year's event,
she said.
Dr. [Phoebe] Lenhart, presented a workshop, 'What's New and Important in Pediatric Ophthalmology?' as did Dr. [Jason] Peragallo, ('Hot Topics in Pediatric Neuro-Ophthalmology'). And our pediatric fellow, Dr.Andrew Fischer, presented a poster, 'Surgical Outcomes of Medial Rectus Plication Versus Resection in the Treatment of Exotropia'.
New mentoring program at Emory Eye Center seeks applications from under-represented medical students
April 24 is the application deadline for the Open DOOR program
The Emory Department of Ophthalmology is excited to announce the launch of a new program designed to open up the field of ophthalmology to medical students from historically under-represented groups.
The Open DOOR (Diversity and Opportunity in Ophthalmology Rotation) program is currently accepting applications from fourth-year medical students who are interested in applying to an ophthalmology residency program. The program will offer the selected candidate a $3,000 stipend to help defray the cost of an away rotation in ophthalmology at the Emory Eye Center this summer.
The application deadline is April 24. Download the application (pdf) now. The selected candidate will be notified on or around May 2, and will have until October of 2023 to complete the rotation.
At Emory Eye Center we understand that medical student away electives are prohibitively expensive for many,
said Dr. Jacquelyn O'Banion chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee.
We are dedicated to opening the door to those who are underrepresented in ophthalmology, particularly those from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds that may have barriers to participating in away rotations.
The program will include broad exposure to all ophthalmic specialties through rotations at Grady Eye Center and the Atlanta VA. The selected candidate will also be assigned to a resident mentor and join in the many clinical and educational activities offered through the Emory Eye Center, recently ranked as the #8 eye center in the nation by Ophthalmology Times.
Eligible candidates should be currently enrolled in a U.S. medical school, with an anticipated graduation date of spring 2024. They should also self-identify as a member of a group that is underrepresented in medicine, (as defined by the AAMC) or consider themselves from a disadvantaged socioeconomic background. In addition to a formal application, candidates should submit a letter of support and their curriculum vitae to Brenda Huffman at bhuffma@emory.edu by April 24, 2023.
Maria Aaron, MD and Nieraj Jain, MD recognized for National Doctor's Day
Emory Eye Center ophthalmologists among 50 recognized by their peers in the Emory School of Medicine
Two Emory Eye Center clinicians, Maria Aaron, MD, and Nieraj Jain, MD, have been singled out by their peers in the Department of Ophthalmology for recognition as a part of the University's 2023 National Doctor's Day celebration, March 30.
More than 200 physicians in the Emory School of Medicine were nominated by their colleagues for recognition on National Doctor's Day which marks the day in 1842 that Georgia physician Dr. Crawford Long first used ether as an anesthesia. Aaron and Jain share this distinction with more than 50 clinic and hospital-based physicians from Emory Healthcare.
Maria Aaron, MD: Ophthalmologists are some of the happiest doctors you'll ever meet
Maria Aaron completed her residency at Emory and served as the ophthalmology Residency Program director for 14 years. She only recently stepped down as the associate dean of Graduate Medical Education where she served for more than six years.
If you love being a doctor, and I do, it's because you find so much joy in each individual, every patient you see. It's really a privilege to be able to touch the lives of so many people. All of the doctors I work with feel the same way,
she said.
Nieraj Jain, MD: Ophthalmology chose him
Dr. Nieraj Jain
His peers nominated Nieraj Jain for going above and beyond for his patients
and for being the colleague that everyone turns to for clinical cases that no one else can diagnose.
But Jain, himself, does not recognize himself in such rarified terms.
I feel really fortunate to have found a true calling in ophthalmology, a profession that fits me,
he said.
And I think you'll find I'm just one of many at Emory that are equally deserving of this honor. As far as my patients are concerned, I am pretty low-key in my approach,
Dr. Ghazala Datoo O'Keefe with the 2023 Paul Sternberg, Jr., lecturers, Dr. Cecilia Lee, an Emory Eye Center alumna, and Dr. Aaron Lee. The three are holding the plaque upon which the names of all past and future Sternberg Lecturers are listed.
The 2023 Southeastern Vitreoretinal Conference welcomes vibrant discussion of AI
Two-day conference brought together retina specialists from all over the U.S.
The Emory Eye Center's 35th annual Southeastern Vitreoretinal (SEVR) conference wrapped up on March 25, after providing two days of insightful case analyses and thought-provoking discussions of new diagnostic and treatment approaches.
Highlighting the 2023 event was the Paul Sternberg, Jr. lecture, Big Data and AI Application in Ophthalmology
which was delivered jointly by Emory Eye Center alumna Cecilia Lee, MD, MS, and her colleague (and husband) Aaron Lee, MD, MSc.
Conference organizer Dr. Ghazala Datoo O'Keefe praised the two University of Washington researchers for investigating the employment of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL) and data science (DS) to improve the diagnosis of eye disorders, in particular diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration.
One of the problems diagnosing diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration in many parts of this country and the world is that many people don't have direct access to an ophthalmologist who can make the diagnosis,
said O'Keefe.
“What the Lees are pointing out is that with the application of artificial intelligence, we can take photos [or OCT scans], and a machine can identify findings consistent with diabetic retinopathy [or macular degeneration] to aid in referrals. “
O'Keefe also hailed the Lee's advocacy for establishing a system of open access to clinical data which will allow researchers across the world access to a balanced data set.
“Right now, getting access to certain data sets can be very expensive, which limits research to those who already have funding mechanisms in place,
she said. But if anyone who wanted to study these diseases could have unrestricted access to data sets that are balanced between age, race and severity of disease, the pace of research could be unparalleled.
Among the more than 60 attendees at this year's conference were ophthalmologists from as far away as Texas, Colorado, and California, as well as several former fellows of the Emory Eye Center program.
Mark your calendars now Next year's SEVR will be held on March 22-23, 2024.
Welcome HomeThis group shot includes current and former residents and fellows from the Emory Eye Center who attended the 2023 SEVR Conference. They are joined by some of their former mentors, including Dr. Ghazala Datoo O'Keefe, Dr. Baker Hubbard, Dr. Blaine Cribbs, Dr. Andrew Hendrick, Dr. Nieraj Jain, Dr. Josh Barnett, Dr. Kevin Ferenchak, Dr. Sruthi Arepalli, Dr. Homaira Ayesha Hossain, and Dr. Jiong Yan
"I am so grateful to be able to do this work'
Ophthalmic tech Rhonda Waldron reflects on 35 years at Emory Eye Center
Rhonda Waldron, MMSc, COMT, ROUB, CDOS
Above, Waldron instructs ophthalmic techs in Idaho on how to perform immersion A-scan biometry
On March 28, Rhonda Waldron celebrated 35 years at the Emory Eye Center - an accomplishment fueled as much by professional ambition as it is by love.
I worked as a retina tech and photographer in a private practice for a few years after I finished my training at Emory, but I just missed the doctors, the pathology, the patients at Emory. As soon as there was an opening, I came back.
The welcome mat was out.
Waldron says she felt blessed
when her first job at Emory Eye Center had her working alongside Dr. Thomas Aaberg, a renowned retina specialist and the former chair of the department. It's hard for Waldron to sum up all of the lessons she learned from Aaberg over the course of their 20-year history. The words
humility
and compassion
come up at regular intervals, however.
He taught me so much about retinal disease, but he also taught me so much more than that. He taught me not only how to treat patients but how to treat people -with warmth and respect,
she said.
And whether you were a physician or non-physician, he treated everyone the same. I found that all of the doctors at Emory followed suit, too. They aren't just good doctors. They are good people.
The collegiality of her mentors inspired Waldron to maintain her own high standards, even when times were tough.
We have many days when we are short-staffed and overbooked, and that can be hard,
she noted.
But I always try to think that there's a patient who needs me today and concentrate on that. In fact, many days when I get home from work my husband will ask me if I found the one that needed me today. My answer is inevitably 'yes'.
When I am in the exam room with a patient, I am so grateful to be able to do this work. Emory gets some of the toughest cases, the ones outside doctors can't handle. And it's amazing what we are able to do. I have learned so much from being here, and there is so much job satisfaction when you are able to help patients to see better or help give information to the doctors to aid in their diagnoses.
Waldron learned a lot outside the clinic as well - adding multiple certifications and trainings to her resume while working. In addition to being a certified medical technologist (COMT), she is a registered ophthalmic ultrasound biometrist (ROUB ), and a certified diagnostic ophthalmic sonographer (CDOS). In the clinic, she now specializes in ultrasound and intraocular lens (IOL) calculations.
In the late 90's Waldron took her knowledge and training to a new level by becoming a JCAHPO-accredited instructor. In this role, she has traveled the US, Canada, and Europe helping ophthalmic techs earn continuing education credits and giving talks on IOL calculations and ultrasound for physicians at professional conferences.
It might sound a bit contrived, but I think I probably affect more patients through my teaching than I do through my work in the clinic,
she said. Because if I can impart knowledge to others, hopefully patient care is improved on a much wider scale.
She pauses.
In a nutshell, it comes down to this: Let's say your next chart is a difficult patient - someone you know will try you and take a lot of time. But instead of thinking of yourself and how difficult it's going to be, I encourage people to think that maybe that's the patient who needs them the most today. The one who needs your patience, your kindness, your humility, and your specific skill set. Then, it will likely go much better. That's how I get through the days, and why I've worked here for so long. I love helping people.
When finding the right ophthalmologist matters
Longtime Emory Eye Center supporter Pratap Mukharji shares his debt of gratitude
Pratap Mukharji doesn't toss out the word 'philanthropy' for show. The semi-retired business management consultant sees gratitude as something akin to a benevolent debt. And he's accumulated a lot of
Pratap Mukharji
(early passport photo)
Pratap Mukharji, today
I was 16 when I came to this country from India. I had only $58 and a Rotary Scholarship to study in Boise, Idaho for a year.
My parents had very generously purchased a one-way ticket, but, from then on, I was a scholarship kid. The education that allowed me to achieve such success was paid for by the philanthropy of others. I will always consider it my duty, really, to give back, to support education.
That alone could easily explain Mukharji's longstanding commitment to the Emory Department of Ophthalmology. His yearly donations to the Vision Research Fund support the Eye Center's basic scientific and translational research - the foundation of future vision treatment breakthroughs.
But Pratap Mukharji's debt of gratitude goes a little deeper than that.
Diagnosed with glaucoma in his mid-20's, Mukharji came to Emory Eye Center about 11 years ago after a private practice ophthalmologist performed laser surgery on his left eye.
I don't know if it was doctor error or what. But that first surgery did not improve anything,
he recalls.
After that, I knew I needed to find someone with impeccable credentials to take over my glaucoma care. Without some intervention, I knew I was going to go blind. The good news is I had the means and the time to research what I should do next. Did I need to go to another part of the country or was there someone in Atlanta? Who was well-regarded in ophthalmology? Everything pointed to Dr. Allen Beck.
For a moment, a ripple of tension seems to escape from Mukharji's brow. After that first failed surgery, finding a skilled surgeon had become critical. Finding an ophthalmologist he could trust for the long haul was everything.
My father also had glaucoma, so there was a level of fatalism around the genetics of this diagnosis that I had to keep in check. And I did,” he says.
But having glaucoma or anything with your eyes where blindness is an eventuality is very stressful no matter what. Your vision is like none of your other senses…so yeah, it's a big thing. But at the same time life goes on. You have other responsibilities - your family, your career - so you can't let it stop you.
In Allen Beck, Mukharji found an ophthalmologist who was on the same page. In addition to being an experienced surgeon and a respected glaucoma specialist, Beck brought a calm, focused demeanor to all of their interactions.
I come from a background of scientists, so I was curious about the details of the procedure - a trabeculectomy - and I had lots of questions,” Mukharji says.
Dr. Beck would explain stuff in clinical and scientific terms, but he would also walk through them step by step. I was very appreciative of this approach, because, you know, the surgery is complicated and can be a bit scary at first. You are awake throughout.
But during the surgery, he had that same gentle, knowledgeable voice I was used to hearing. I always had the general sense that everything was completely under control. That was immensely comforting. And the proof is in the pudding, of course. He's a great surgeon. I had one surgery then, and another two years later. They were both successful.
Mukharji knows that his glaucoma diagnosis will require lifelong vigilance. Regular visits with a trusted ophthalmologist and strict adherence to all treatments. He considers himself lucky to have found a source for both.
I feel an enormous sense of gratitude to Dr. Beck and his team at the Emory Eye Center for preserving my vision. My goal, now, is to keep my eyesight long enough to outlast the rest of my body.
Laughter.
It looks like I might be able to do that.
On this Emory Day of Giving> consider giving to the Emory Eye Center's research or residency prgrams.
Etched into the Emory Eye Center culture
A lecture on anything by Dr. Geoffrey Broocker is the best tonic for residents during OKAP season
Above, Dr. Geoffrey Broocker giving lectures and connecting with EEC colleagues, Drs. Mort Waitzman and Baker Hubbard. Below, EEC resident Dr. Lauren Gibson holding her engraved diopter lens
If there's a reason why a group of sleep-deprived residents might volunteer to attend non-obligatory, back-to-back lectures, it's Geoffrey Broocker. Not long after the March 10 Grand Rounds lecture ended, residents circled right back into the Calhoun auditorium to hear this retired director of the Eye Center's residency program tell them everything he knows about ophthalmological pharmaceuticals.
For. Two. More. Hours.
They're here because they are prepping for their Ophthalmology Knowledge Assessment Program [OKAP] examinations and Dr. Broocker knows all there is to know,
said Emory Eye Center chair Dr. Allen D. Beck, himself a former Broocker protege.
But it's not just pharmaceuticals. Geoff has the perspective and the knowledge to teach them anything they need to know about being a good ophthalmologist. And he's retained the passion for doing just that.
Broocker served as Emory Eye Center's residency director for almost three decades before retiring in 2014. But for successive generations of young doctors-in-training, it's almost as though he never left. Broocker predictably returns at key points in the residency program - like OKAP season - to give lectures and connect with residents.
And then there's this: every ophthalmology resident in the Emory Eye Center program is gifted with a 20-diopter examination lens that has Geoffrey Broocker's initials carved into it. The gifting part was started by Broocker himself: he paid for the lenses out of his own pocket when he took over the residency program in the late 80's.
I could see that medical school can leave you with some pretty big debts to pay. So I decided to give [residents] something else, something practical, that they could use for the rest of their lives -- at least if they continue in ophthalmology.
Once Broocker retired, a group of his former students banded together to continue the tradition, adding the engraving as a tribute to their mentor.
Geoffrey Broocker's professional resume could have easily intimidated his young audience during his most recent visit to the Emory Eye Center. Mentored and trained at Wills Eye Center, he has chaired committees within the American University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO), and even served on the Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). But when he took to the lectern, Broocker had a very simple lesson he wanted to drive home: practical wisdom matters.
When you talk to new doctors about ophthalmological drugs, it's important to tell them that some of them can cost up to $10,000 a dose, which is more than a lot of patients can afford. So the real question is not whether or not you can write for it, but whether or not your patient is going to get it. You have to lay out more than one solution, whenever possible,
he said.
If it's a matter of prescribing a pill or eye drops and your patient has an unsteady hand, you have to think about what's practical. It's very easy for anyone to miss the eye with those drops. That's how you end up using up your drops before your insurance will pay for another prescription. So, again, which do you prescribe?
Broocker paused.
They don't always teach you this stuff in school.
But Geoffrey Broocker won't let you forget it. And that's one of the reasons he's etched into the culture of the Emory Eye Center.
2023 SEVR Conference will take up latest developments in dry AMD treatments, and more
Registration for the March 24-25 event is still open
Continued advances in treatment and research promise to make the 2023 Southeast Vitreoretinal Conference (SEVR) a powerful meeting ground for healthcare professionals, researchers, and retinal specialists. Hosted by the Emory School of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology, the conference will be held at Atlanta's JW. Marriott Buckhead on March 24 and 25.
Dr. Ghazala Datoo O'Keefe
Conference Organizer
The development of anti-VEGF therapy over 20 years ago changed the landscape of treatments for wet macular degeneration and reduced the likelihood of vision loss,
said Ghazala A. Datoo O'Keefe, MD, a faculty in Emory's Retina and Uveitis Service and the conference organizer.
Since then, we have been waiting to hear about potential treatments for the dry atrophic form of macular degeneration. This year, I expect discussions surrounding the interface between new treatments in retina and the impact of AI [artificial intelligence]. In addition, I hope to hear more about strides in genetic testing and in degenerative conditions including macular telangiectasia.
One of those emerging therapies involves pegcetacoplan injection, a drug recently approved by the FDA to slow the progression of dry AMD, or geographic atrophy (GA), a disease that is estimated to have impacted more than five million people worldwide. Dr. Kevin Ferenchak, a fellowship-trained retinal surgeon and specialist in inherited retinal diseases in the Emory Department of Ophthalmology, will be speaking about this promising new therapy at SEVR.
Pegcetacoplan injection is raising a lot of interest among retina specialists because it's a promising proof of concept for treatment of complement dysregulation,
he said.
Dr. Kevin Ferenchak
In the past, the only thing we could do for patients with GA was to offer observation and to advise them that the changes in their eyesight would be slow. Pegcetacoplan injection offers the possibility that progression will be slowed even further.
Among other things, we will be discussing any evidence that suggests that pegcetacoplan injection, could promote an exudative response,
he said.
And, certainly, we will be discussing the importance of monitoring of any patients who get a pegcetacoplan injection.
Also on the agenda for the 2023 SEVER will be Dr. Aaron Lee and Dr. Cecilia Lee, who, together will give a talk, entitled, Big Data & AI Application in Ophthalmology
The Lees are both endowed researchers from the University of Washington Department of Ophthalmology.
Registered attendees may make a case presentation by submitting a financial disclosure form prior to the conference. An early-bird conference registration rate will be in effect until March 13 and a special hotel rate will be offered until March 2.
The Emory University School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 8.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Residents from the Emory Deparatment of Ophthalmology for the classes of 2023, 2024, 2025. and 2026
Emory Eye Center celebrates Thank-A-Resident Day 2023
Every day, these ophthalmologists-in-training face challenges that never made it into a textbook. And they solve them.
When it came to handing out thank-you's for this occasion, Dr. Jeremy Jones was seriously hard-pressed.
A lot of the gratitude we experience during each rotation is front-loaded when we recruit,
says the EEC's residency education director. We know we are bringing in doctors who are as compassionate as they are smart. We just never know how they'll wow us.
But even Jones would agree that there's a special place in his heart for the chief resident -- that odd bird who is both a middle manager for a team of doctors-in-training and, well, every bit a doctor-in-training him or herself.
For the class of 2023, that chief resident is Maitri Mehta, a graduate of the Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine. Now in her final months of residency, Dr. Mehta helped us to celebrate all ophthalmic residents by sharing a little bit of her own journey becoming one.
Dr. Maitri Mehta is finishing up her last rotation at the VA Medical Center
Why did you enter medicine?
Well, a lot of people go into medicine because they want to help others. And that was the biggest driver for me, too. It was also the opportunity to be a leader, and to take the responsibility that comes with that. I liked the idea that the medical decisions I made would affect people's lives. I also like working in a team, and medicine is very much a team sport. You are working with a team of others whose knowledge and opinions are important.
My father is a cardiologist, and my mom's an internal medicine doctor, so I grew up seeing exactly what a medical career entails. And I always saw it in the most positive light. My parents are just very much in love with what they do. When I listened to them talk over dinner, I didn't realize how much responsibility they had at work or how difficult it can be to go through medical training. They just loved medicine so much that it was very normal for them to be at work all day and then come home and still talk about medicine. They liked asking each other questions about the different things they saw each day in their own practices. They still do.
Why did you choose ophthalmology?
I started out thinking I wanted to go into cardiology. But you get introduced to a lot of things in med school and once I discovered ophthalmology, it just checked a lot more boxes. For one thing, I really like doing things with my hands – like crafts, baking, or cake decorating. And ophthalmology relies a lot on the same refined manual dexterity and control.
The eye is pretty resilient in some ways, but it's also, you know, pretty delicate. You have to be comfortable with that. Eyes are really small, and the tissues don't like to regenerate themselves. And the surgeries on the eyeball itself, involve working in a space less than three centimeters around.
That's the sort of challenge that suits me. I am drawn to ophthalmology because it's based around working with a high degree of precision on something that is really intricate -- and really important. It doesn't make me nervous to work on it. It's really intriguing to me.
I also like the primary care, long-term aspect of ophthalmology. You can be someone's eye doctor for their whole life. And that means you can really get integrated into a community. You can establish a continuity of care that's not always possible in other specialties.
If you weren't an ophthalmologist, what would you be?
I would probably be a pastry chef. I really, really like pastry.
When I was a little kid, my parents never bought cookies or anything like that. And they weren't into baking – I think our oven was in the basement. But I had a sweet tooth and I was always interested in food. I would sit in my piano teacher's den and watch The Food Network while I was waiting to take my own piano lessons.. Eventually, I was like, 'You know what, I'm just going to use that oven. I'm going to learn how to bake .' And I did.
It's still my number one hobby - the thing I will turn to when I have a couple of hours. I love to make birthday cakes for other people or treats to bring to work. Cream puffs are fun to make. They're not as hard as people think they are. My specialty is French macrons - the little sandwich cookies. They're cute. You can make so many different flavors. And when they turn out well, it just feels really good.
But they're really tricky. I've made them a bunch of times now, so I kind of have the process down. That's what I like about baking: there are certain prescribed steps; if you follow the steps, most of the time, it'll work out. Most things work like that.
What advice would you give a new ophthalmological resident?
Residency is a steep learning curve, so don't be so hard on yourself. Most of us in medicine are used to learning things pretty quickly and we are good at retaining things so we can apply them or use them on a test. That's a structure that we're all very familiar with.
But when you are a resident entering a specialty, like ophthalmology, you are introduced to a lot more in-depth information while you are working. All at once. You have to absorb a lot while you are applying it. And you won't get it all at once, which can make you question yourself. Don't let it.
It's normal to feel challenged by what you don't know. But it's not a reflection of your abilities. That's what residency is there for. Don't let it stop you. You will never have all the answers. Don't let the experience of learning defeat you.
Dr. Maitri Mehta before giving a Grand Round lecture at the Emory Eye Center
What's next for you?
I will be completing my residency at Emory this spring and moving to Houston to join my husband who works in finance there. My plan is to do comprehensive ophthalmology, but I'm still interviewing. I'll probably join a practice rather than setting up my own shop because the [vision] community is very well-established in the city.
Welcome to Emory Eye Center at Grady An overhaul of our facilities at Grady Hospital has given everyone something to smile about.
And then there was light...
Overhaul of the Emory Eye Clinic at Grady Hospital brightens spirits, exam rooms, and patient care
Dr. Yousef Khalifa,
Chief of Grady Ophthalmology
From top: Expaneded work spaces for faculty and residents, a relaxing breakroom, and additional exam rooms
The smiles on the faces of physicians, techs, and patients were not in the blueprints of the recent upgrade to the Grady Hospital Emory Eye Clinic. But they were as common as the digital refractors when the doors opened on the clinic February 6.
The multi-year expansion of Emory Eye Center's Ambulatory Surgical Center at Grady Hospital features a work room that is bathed in natural light, a spacious workroom for residents, and a breakroom whose views of the city skyline rival those of any luxury penthouse.
The natural light alone makes it a better place to work and to provide services,
said Emory Eye Center director, Dr. Allen Beck. I cannot believe it is the same clinic we called 'the dungeon' when I was a chief resident there, more than 30 years ago. I applaud the hard work that has gone into its transformation.
Dr. Yousuf Khalifa, the chief of the ophthalmology service at Grady, also welcomed the brighter surroundings. But he was quick to point out that this overhaul is much more than cosmetic.
The new facility boasts three additional exam rooms (26, up from 23), a roll-on-roll-off procedure room, and exclusive full-time access to its own operating room. Ophthalmic surgeons will have access to an additional OR two days a week. (The prior arrangement had one OR that was shared with the OBGYN service.)
The new space is a state-of-the-art medical facility, built by world-renowned architects and designers who focused on improving patient experience and improved workflow,
he said.
The waiting room, sub-waiting room, and exam rooms are arranged to create a seamless journey for patients as they go from check-in to work-up and testing before their actual examination. The new floorplan minimizes that awkward backtracking that can leave patients and clinicians frustrated.
The whole set-up makes it easier for patients who come for surgery, too,
Khalifa noted. Services that many patients need, like financial counseling and social work will all be located on one floor, so they won't have to travel back and forth. And soon there will be a pharmacy where they can pick up medications on-site after their appointments and surgeries.
Roschanda Fletcher, senior clinical business manager, worked alongside officials from Grady and Emory to transform the physicians' dreams into a clinic reality. During a recent walk-through of the facility, she didn't try to hide her pride.
I can already see that this will increase our ability to see more patients in this community - a community that needs our services,
she said. Now we are in a great position to improve on every level. We can offer more services, see more patients, and offer our residents more learning opportunities.
Khalifa agreed heartily. The expanded space could allow the Emory Clinic to double its patient caseload and surgery volume by 2027.
More than that, this space speaks volumes about how much we value our patients, our staff, and our community,
he said. Patients are proud to come here, and we are able to offer them a better experience. I am proud to be a part of this.
Khalifa's sentiments were echoed by Dr. Jacquelyn O'Banion, director of the Emory Eye Center's Global Ophthalmology Program, and one of the many faculty clinicians on staff here.
The patients I've seen cannot believe that they are coming to such a beautiful clinic. That, all by itself, breaks down some of the barriers that keeps some people from seeking care.
Expanded and well-lit workspaces mean residents and mentors are no longer waiting for a free computer to complete their work.
New clinical trial to look at pentosan polysulfate sodium
Emory Healthcare patients with prior exposure to PPS invited to inquire about participation.
Dr. Nieraj Jain
The clinical trials program of the Emory Eye Center has just opened up a new assessment study for Emory Healthcare patients with interstitial cystitis and/or exposure to the drug pentosan polysulfate sodium PPS, commonly known as Elmiron.
The study, sponsored by Foundation Fighting Blindness, will look for potential complications and toxicity associated with the use of PPS, a commonly prescribed medication for interstitial cystitis. Emory Healthcare patients with prior exposure to PPS are invited to inquire about participation.
Eligible participants in this study will be asked to make one clinic visit, during which their pupils will be dilated, and their retinas examined using three different imaging techniques. All devices used for obtaining these images are FDA'approved for clinical use, noninvasive, and routinely used in clinical practice. The entire screening phase will take about 30 minutes.
All subjects in this study will be provided further care in the form of a notification regarding whether or not they harbor retinal changes suggestive of a potential drug toxicity. This study will not include a visit with a physician.
We previously identified a visually disabling retinal condition among some patients who have taken pentosan polysulfate, or Elmiron,
explained the study's principal investigator, Dr. Nieraj Jain, a retina specialist at the Emory Eye Center.
Patients in that group complained of progressive visual changes impacting their ability to read and see in dim lighting. Pigmentary changes in and around their macula could resemble other conditions unless specialized retinal imaging is obtained. We designed this study to investigate the prevalence of this unique retinal condition among users of pentosan polysulfate.
Patients who are unable or unwilling to come to the Emory Eye Center for retinal imaging will instead be asked to complete a brief questionnaire, via telephone interview, regarding their interstitial cystitis and medication history.
Match Day Magic: Emory Eye Center's Residency Class of 2027 announced
The Class of 2027From left, (top) Elizabeth Slaney, Megan LaRocca, Peter Kenny (bottom) Daniel Adamkiewicz, Joanne Thomas, Romanito Caleon
Emory Eye Center is proud to announce that six outstanding medical school graduates will be joining the Department of Ophthalmology in the fall of 2024, after completing their internship at the Emory School of Medicine. Announcement of the new class of residents was made February 1 - Match Day - by Jeremy K. Jones, MD, the director of Emory Eye Center's residency program. The six were selected from a field of almost 700 applicants.
We are thrilled to be welcoming this group to our practice in 2024.
said Jones, whose residency program was recently rated #5 in the nation by Ophthalmology Times.
The six new residents are: Megan LaRocca, who earned her medical degree from the University of California Irvine School of Medicine; Elizabeth Slaney, who earned her medical degree from Baylor School of Medicine; Joanne Thomas and Daniel Adamkiewicz - both from the August University medical program; and Ramoncito Caleon from Emory University School of Medicine.
Joining the Emory Eye Center this coming summer are the six residents who are now completing their internship year at the Emory School of Medicine: Matthew (Ryan) Claxton , a graduate of the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine; Nididi-Amaka Onyekaba a graduate of the Augusta University medical program; Brandon McKenzie a graduate of the Howard University medical program; Kafayat Oyemade , a graduate of the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine.; Kathryn Park, a graduate of the University of California School of Medicine at San Diego; and Parth Vaidyaa graduate of Virginia Tech's Carilion School of Medicine.
The Class of 2026 from left, Kafayat Oyemade, Kathryn Park, Parth Vaidya,Matthew (Ryan) Claxton, Nididi-Amaka Onyekaba, Brandon McKenzie
Machelle T. Pardue, PhD to lead Emory Eye Center's Research Division
January 1 appointment marks new era in translational research for EEC
Machelle T. Pardue, PhD, has been named the vice chair and director for research in the Department of Ophthalmology at Emory University School of Medicine. Pardue will lead a new strategic research vision for translational and clinical research for the department, which is associated with the Emory Eye Center.
Pardue's appointment formally commenced January 1, 2023
Pardue comes to this new role from the School of Biomedical Engineering, a joint program of Emory and the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she conducted research, taught, and served as the associate chair of faculty development (2020-22) and as the interim chair (2021-22). At Emory, she will now join the faculty as an associate professor of ophthalmology.
Pardue's research focuses on developing clinically relevant treatments for retinal disease that can make a difference in the quality of life of patients. Her specific interests are in developing novel screening and treatment strategies for early-stage diabetic retinopathy, elucidating mechanisms of myopia, and developing neuroprotective strategies for retinal degenerations.
We are very fortunate to have been able to recruit a scientist of her caliber to lead our research forward,
said Dr. Allen D. Beck, the F Phinizy Calhoun Sr Department Chair, who oversaw the national search. In Dr. Pardue, we have a colleague whose abiding commitment to collaboration and translational medical research are perfectly aligned with our mission
In her new role as vice chair and director for research, Pardue will oversee the strategic research vision for the department and the recruitment of new research faculty for its research mission. She has extensive experience mentoring students, junior faculty, research fellows and laboratory personnel.
Pardue's hire supports the department's commitment to vision research at Emory and in the larger Atlanta Vision Research Community (AVRC), an alliance of faculty and researchers from Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, Morehouse School of Medicine, and the Atlanta VA HealthCare system. The AVRC jointly sponsors clinical research seminars throughout the year and actively supports collaborative interactions between AVRC institutions.
Pardue is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. She has been awarded more than $18 million in direct research funding to support her research efforts. She is a firm believer that collaborative research is essential to translate results from bench to bedside. This is reflected in the fact that more than 78 percent of her 132 publications are derived from collaborations with more than 80 different investigators. Her findings have formed the basis for translational studies to human patients in three critical areas: (1) retinal prosthetics, (2) diabetic retinopathy, and (3) neuroprotection using TUDCA, L-DOPA or exercise.
Pardue received her bachelor of science in zoology from the University of Wyoming and her doctorate in vision science and biology from the University of Waterloo. Pardue also has a joint appointment as Senior Research Career Scientist at the Atlanta VA Healthcare System and will maintain an adjunct position in biomedical engineering.
Emory Eye Center to host the 35th Annual SEVR Conference March 24 & 25
The Southeastern Vitreoretinal (SEVR) Conference is a rite of spring for retina specialists
On March 24 and 25, the Emory Eye Center will once again gather together dozens of ophthalmologists, residents, fellows, surgeons, and researchers from across the south for the annual Southeastern Vitreoretinal (SEVR) Conference, to be held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Buckhead.
Led by Emory faculty Ghazala A. Datoo O'Keefe, MD, the 2023 SEVR Conference will dive deep into a wide range of topics, including retinal vascular disease, ocular tumors, uveitis, retinal degenerations, updates on the latest clinical trials, and management of complex vitreoretinal surgery. As in past years, there will be ample time for participants to present and compare cases, discuss surgical and treatment innovations, and mull opportunities for further research.
Kicking off the first day will be the Paul E. Sternberg, Jr. Lecture, Big Data & AI Application in Ophthalmology
which will be delivered by Dr. Aaron Lee, MD, MSc, and Dr. Cecilia Lee, MD, MS,, collaborative researchers and clinicians who jointly operate the University of Washington School of Medicine's Computational Ophthalmology Lab.
Later in the day, the Lees will deliver another talk, Generating Next-Generation AI Research Datasets and Opportunities
that will draw on studies they've conducted using multiple large data sets to investigate artificial intelligence/ machine learning (AIML).
SEVR provides such a unique learning environment for clinicians and researchers in this specialized area of ophthalmic medicine,
says Hubbard, the head of the Emory Eye Center's Retinal Division.
'I always walk away from these two days of intense discussion and debate with more energy and knowledge for my practice.
Registered attendees may make a case presentation by submitting a financial disclosure form prior to the conference. An early-bird conference registration rate will be in effect until March 13 and a special hotel rate will be offered until March 2.
Meet all of the Emory Eye Center Faculty at SEVR 2023
Emory Eye Center ranked #8 overall in national survey
2022 Ophthalmology Times survey results mark a return to the Top 10 for EEC
Dr. Allen D. Beck
The Emory Eye Center has once again been recognized as a Top 10 institution in the annual Ophthalmology Times survey. The 2022 poll of academic chairs and residency directors, released late last month, ranked the Emory Eye Center's residency program at #5 (up from #12 last year), its research program at #10, its clinical program at #6, and its overall stature at #8.
This is the first time in more than five years that any of the Emory Eye Center's programs have placed in OT's much-coveted Top 10 - a fact that was not lost on Center director Dr. Allen D. Beck, MD the F. Phinizy Calhoun, Sr. Chair of Ophthalmology.
The Emory Eye Center has always focused on strengthening our research, teaching, and clinical programs - the bedrock of our 150-year legacy,
he said.
That our efforts were recognized and lauded by our peers in 2022 sends an especially encouraging message to the men and women who've remained steadfast to our mission, even as a world-wide pandemic challenged us on every level.
Maxmizing the potential of talented residents
Dr. Jeremy K. Jones
Beck reserved special praise for his colleague, Dr. Jeremy K. Jones, MD, whose masterful coordination of the Center's residency program resulted in one of EEC's highest-ever OT rankings in that category.
We have been fortunate to attract some of the brightest minds to the Emory ophthalmic residency program. Jeremy does not let that potential remain undeveloped,
he said.
His energetic, hands-on approach to mentoring the next generation of ophthalmologists has graduated talent that has benefited the entire vision care community, nation-wide.
For his part, Jones was quick to credit the expertise, commitment and compassion of his colleagues.
I am very proud to be a part of a team that is being recognized nationally. And make no mistake about it, we are a team. Resident education is a top priority of Dr. Beck, our chair, and our chiefs at Grady and the VA Center, doctors [Yousef] Khalifa and [Steven] Urken. We are all very fortunate to work with top-tier residents who go on to take leadership roles in their practices, their communities, and in professional organizations nationally. The Ophthalmology Times survey also recognized their skill and their talent.
Expanding the breadth and depth of ophthalmic research
Dr.Hans Grossniklaus
Sayantan Datta, PhD
Andrew Feola, PhD
Beck was also thrilled that OT survey respondents recognized the Eye Center's reinvigorated commitment translational and basic research.
Garnering a ranking of 10 from such esteemed and accomplished peers is a tremendous vote of confidence,
he said. And it's confidence well-placed. We've always been committed to cutting edge research, and we're poised to dig even deeper in the coming years.
That said, 2022 was a busy year for the Emory Eye Center's research division. The vice chair for translational research, Hans Grossniklaus, PhD, MBA, was appointed to a one-year term as president of the premier ophthalmologic research organization, ARVO. The research division received one of only six unrestricted challenge grants awarded by Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB). Those funds will give EEC researchers more freedom to take smart risks in their bid for treatment and prevention breakthroughs.
The Center also began workinng with two new researchers -Sayantan Datta, PhD and Andrew Feola, PhD - recruited a new director, and made plans to continue expanding its research staff.
Clinical care that puts patients first
But, for this still-practicing glaucoma specialist, the most important of the Ophthalmology Times announcements revolves around the people he sees each day - as patients and as colleagues.
As the largest tertiary ophthalmic care facility in a city of six million people, our ultimate success is measured by the care we deliver each day - in routine exams, complex surgeries, and countless consults,
Beck said.
That's what makes the #6 clinical care ranking so very important to me - and to our entire medical team. And it's why we will continue to recruit only the best to join our team, now, and in the future.
Emory Eye Center wishes the best to clinical trials coordinator Jayne Brown
Brown opting for retirement after 36 years and nearly 60 clinical trials
At the Emory Eye Center, the clinical trials program claims an odd piece of real estate - call it the intersection of hard science and defiant hope.
We have to let the facts, the science, speak for itself when we are talking to patients about their participation in a clinical trial. But we also have to remember we are talking to people who have very deep feelings about their journey with us,
says Alcides Fernandes Filho, the associate director of the Emory Eye Center’s clinical trials program.
That's why we are careful to hire individuals whose hearts are as strong as their brains are sharp. People like Jayne Brown.
Fernandes made those observations January 4, the day he and the rest of the clinical trials team bid a fond farewell to Brown, who retired after 36 years as a clinical trials coordinator.
Jayne has exemplified what it means to provide compassionate care,
said Emory Eye Center director Allen D. Beck. We are better providers because of her.
In each of the almost 60 clinical trials she coordinated, Jayne Brown began by immersing herself in the regulatory mandates, data management requirements, and basic science involved. From there, she was able to dispassionately explain to patients the requirements, limits, risks, and possibilities of their participation. Inevitably, this led to a barrage of questions, more than a few tears, and a lot of unscripted problem-solving.
We've negotiated with trial sponsors to cover the patients' travel costs and accommodations,
Brown said. All of our patients always know that we [the clinical trials coordinator team] would do anything we could for them.
Looking back, Brown appreciates how this relationship enriched her life. Time and again, she witnessed how patients were able to identify their own source of hope amidst all the uncertainty they faced.
Most people who qualify for clinical trials have no other recourse for medical treatment. They are very vulnerable. The clinical trial is an option, and we can offer them that. Joining the trial gives them power because they are not giving up. But the trial may not help them, and we tell them that, too.
There is no one line that makes this reality easier for patients to bear. To bridge those moments, Brown sometimes reminded them of the profound contribution they were making.
I would explain that through participation in the trial, they had a chance to help another person, someone with the same problem. Because all of the data we pull from their trial can help point doctors the right directions,
she said.
Personally, I think every patient who participates in a clinical study should pat themselves on the back, because, without them, we couldn't make progress on so many new treatments. Even mistakes give you good data.
Though they could always opt out of a trial for any reason at all, Brown never had a patient quit.
We wish we could say the same of Jayne Brown.
Emory Eye Center retinal surgeon Jiong Yan, MD welcomes the results of latest MacTel clinical trial
Phase III study for new impant puts novel treatment approach in line for FDA review
Clinical scientists from the Emory Eye Center are applauding the recent release of results from the Phase III clinical trials for a novel approach to macular telegniectasia-2 (MacTel), a disease that causes the gradual deterioration of central vision.
Official announcement of the results was made last month by Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., during a meeting of the MacTel Study Group held in Israel. The positive topline results mean the investigational implant, NT-501, and an associated encapsulated cell therapy (ECT) can now be reviewed by the FDA.
The multicenter, randomized, sham-controlled studies evaluated the safety and efficacy of the surgically implanted NT-501, a tiny hollow cylindrical membrane encapsulating genetically engineered human epithelial cells that continuously produce ciliary neurotropic factor (CNTF), a protein now clinically validated to slow the progression of MacTel.
After a long period of intensive research, development, and clinical trials, we are extremely gratified with our Phase 3 results,
said Thomas Aaberg Jr., MD, chief medical officer of Neurotech.
The recently completed studies demonstrated statistical significance for the pre-specified primary endpoint, rate of change in ellipsoid zone (EZ) area loss from baseline through 24 months. The rate of change in area loss translates to and demonstrates a change in the rate of photoreceptor loss.
These findings are an important step towards giving hope to those currently suffering with unrelenting vision loss and who don't have a way of stopping the progression of the disease today. We look forward to engaging with the FDA throughout the review process,
said Richard Small, chief executive officer of Neurotech.
Sharing that same sentiment is Emory Eye Center retinal surgeon Jiong Yan, MD, the principal investigator for Emory's ECT and NT-501 clinical trials for more than a decade. Yan's original investigations focused on the CNTF implant’s efficacy as a treatment for retinitis pigmentosa and atrophic AMD. When researchers later decided to evaluate its impact in MacTel patients, Yan was tapped to perform the first surgical implantation, due to her vast experience with the device.
The success of that surgery prompted additional interest in ECT as a potential treatment for MacTel - a finding that launched the recently completed suite of clinical trials.
Emory has played a pivotal role in the advancement of this trial and this approach. We were able to set the surgical standards and even created a video that was used to train other surgeons,
she said.
I think Emory Eye Center was chosen as the site for that first implant because of our outstanding reputation as a clinical trial site and our longstanding commitment. We had an incredible team that worked together - like [former EEC Chair Thomas M. Aaberg, Sr., MD], former retina section director Dr. Dan Martin. , current retina section director Dr. Baker Hubbard. , and clinical coordinators like Donna Leef. who did an enormous amount of work behind the scenes on this- and on many other trials.
So, yes, it is a tremendous honor for me to have worked on something that could potentially be impactful and a game-changer. But I also know that the honor goes to a team of collaborators in the department who worked hard on this.
The positive study results are good news for MacTel II patients. Pending FDA approval, the new treatment could provide a meaningful tool for slowing the progression of their vision loss.
About Macular Telangiectasia Type 2
Macular telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel), or idiopathic juxta foveal macular telangiectasia type 2, is a rare neurodegenerative disease with characteristic alterations of the retinal vasculature and localized retinal degeneration.1 The prevalence of MacTel ranges from 0.02% - 0.06% 2,3 with most patients diagnosed in their 40s and 50s.4 MacTel typically affects both eyes and causes a gradual deterioration in central vision.
About NT-501 Implant
Designed to be implanted into the vitreous cavity of the eye, the investigational NT-501implant is a tiny hollow cylindrical membrane which encapsulates human epithelial cells genetically engineered to produce ciliary neurotropic factor (CNTF) continuously, a protein now clinically validated in Phase 3 clinical trials to slow the progression of MacTel.
About Encapsulated Cell Therapy
Encapsulated Cell Therapy (ECT) is an investigational, first in class, platform technology that promotes continuous production of therapeutic proteins to the eye with the potential to treat a broad array of ocular diseases. It utilizes a proprietary, well-characterized retinal pigment epithelial cell line that has been genetically engineered to produce therapeutically active biologics. The cells are encapsulated in a semi-permeable membrane that allows for selective passage of therapeutic proteins.
The ECT platform is inserted during a single outpatient surgical procedure through a small scleral incision, and can also be removed through the same incision, if desired. ECT has the potential to address the current limitations of intraocular drug delivery by allowing for and ensuring patient compliance and reducing treatment burden with one surgical procedure that can deliver drug for at least 2 years.
About Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a private clinical stage biotech company focused on developing transformative therapies for chronic eye diseases. The core platform technology, ECT, enables continuous production of therapeutic proteins to the eye. Neurotech is currently studying in the clinic ECT candidates to treat Macular telangiectasia type 2 and glaucoma. To learn more, visit www.neurotechpharmaceuticals.com.
When qualifications + motivation = a better world
The lifelong dreams of EEC optometrist Susan Primo sent her on a mission to Tanzania this fall. It won't be the last one.
Susan Primo, OD, MPH, FAAO
There are a lot of things that qualified Susan Primo to participate in a recent medical mission to Tanzania.
Her resume includes advanced degrees in optometry and public health. She's a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry. And she has honed her skills for almost 30 years as an optometrist at the Emory Eye Center.
But what motivated her were not the sort of credentials that show up on sheepskin.
It was always my family's lifestyle to give back and It's always been in my plan,
said Primo, who is already planning her return to Tanzania.
As a child, my family moved a lot to follow my father, a minister [Rt. Rev. Quintin E. Primo, Jr., whose papers are housed at Emory]. It was an amazing experience. My father marched with Martin Luther King, and we learned a lot from that, to be aware of the work you do, to make it meaningful. Eventually we moved to Chicago and my father became the Episcopal Bishop there. Seeing the need, he opened up a homeless shelter, the Primo Center for women and children. My brother [Quintin E. Primo III] and his wife, [Diane] remain co-chairs of the Board of Directors. It's a thriving community facility in urban Chicago.
Working with Standing Voice
Training vision-impaired youth to be able to read from a classroom board is critical to their integration into future opportunities for higher education.
Her decision to tackle a health crisis on the other side of the world was a personal one for Primo. Aided by some SOUP funds, she used personal vacation time and personal funds to support much of the 11-day trip to Tanzania this past October. There, she celebrated what she considers the spirit of World Sight Day by staffing a vision clinic in Dar es Salaam that saw nearly 500 patients with albinism in five days.
The entire mission was coordinated by Standing Voice, an international non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to promoting healthcare access for, and defending the rights of, Africans living with albinism. Established 16 years ago, Standing Voice has created clinical networks to manage visual impairment and to prevent and treat skin cancer in Tanzania and Malawi, the hardest hit countries on the African continent.
In the United States, we might see albinism in maybe one out of 20,000 births,
said Primo. But in Tanzania, the incidence is closer to one in 3000. And the impact it can have over a lifetime, if untreated, is overwhelming.
Defying the scourge of albinism
The clinic that Dr. Susan Primo helped to staff saw almost 500 people with albinism. Above, a parent looks on as his son is examined. A lot of things are very much the same in the United States and Tanzania,
Primo observed. The anquished face of a concerned parent looks the same on both continents.
Triggered by a recessive genetic condition that impairs the body's production of melanin, albinism reduces or eliminates pigmentation of the skin, hair, and eyes. This renders patients more vulnerable to the sun's UV rays and, thus, to skin cancer. It also causes people with albinism to be visually impaired.
The social and economic impacts of this disorder are far-reaching. In Africa, a sun-drenched continent rich with rainbows of melanin, people living with albinism stand out and are often ostracized. According to a report issued by Standing Voice:
Many people with albinism are shut out of civil participation and unable to access the most basic opportunities and services, including healthcare, education, justice, housing, and employment. Rape of women with albinism is often thought to cure infertility and AIDS, while opportunistic witch doctors incite violence by peddling the myth that the body parts of people with albinism can generate wealth.
The organization found that half of all the violence visited upon people with albinism in Africa occurs in Tanzania and Malawi. And even if it does not always translate to violence, the social isolation suffered by many people with albinism leads to lifelong disparities in education, training, and economic well-being.
Collaborating with new partners
With almost 30 years of clinical experience as a low vision specialist and optometrist, Dr. Suan Primo found there was still a lot to learn from her Standing Voice colleagues during her 11-day trip to Tanzania
Primo was aware of these challenging statistics before she undertook the assignment in Tanzania. They didn't faze her. Inspired, perhaps, by her father's example and informed by her own experience working in a multi-cultural urban setting, she prepared by adopting a truly teachable attitude before entering the Tanzanian clinic.
The most important thing was to remember is that they already had some very knowledgeable and skilled optometrists there, so I came in humble, ready to hear and see how they did things,
she said.
And I don't speak Swahili so I had to slow myself down to work with a translator.
As she became acclimated to her new colleagues, Primo was able to bring some of her advanced medical training into their collaborations.
The optometrists in Tanzania usually do not have the same medical background that optometrists from the United States have, so I was able to teach them some things. I worked with five optometrists and actually gave a couple of talks - including one on how to manage patients with advanced visual field loss and another on surgical approaches to central vision loss like the Implantable Miniature Telescope.
Knowing she was coming into an under-resourced environment, Primo brought some low-tech tools to help her clinic colleagues and her patients in Tanzania: hand-held occluders, dome magnifiers, and near-point vision cards. Essilor Foundation donates surplus eyeglasses and Standing Voice supplies sunglasses and monocular telescopes that visually impaired school children can use when classroom lessons are taught from the front of the room, not a book.
It's easy enough for them to hold something close to their faces when they are reading, but when they have to keep up with what's happening at the front of the classroom, they need help; they can't hold everything close to their faces. The goal is to integrate students with albinism into mainstream classroom settings as much as possible to gain all the educational benefits and social networking available.
This observation quickly became the inspiration for her next visit. The details are still swirling, but, for Susan Primo, the big picture is firmly in frame:
There's a lot of assistive technology out there that could help, and I'm going to go find it to put in their schools,
she said.
Things like video magnifiers or closed-circuit televisions and even virtual reality that can magnify text and project it onto a screen or into a headset where it's easier to read. And that's really important for middle and high school students because their books are generally not large print. And they can't hold everything close to their faces all the time. If they cannot keep up, they will become separated from their peers, left out. We can stop that.
We think her parents would be proud. We certainly are.
As difficult a burden as albinism is to bear, Primo's patients found joy in their progress
Emory School of Medicine honors eight Emory Eye Center faculty
More than 400 faculty recognized at the first in-person celebration in three years
There was plenty for Emory Eye Center to celebrate October 13, when the Emory School of Medicine revived its Annual Celebration of Faculty Eminence. But we were not alone.
Altogether, the two-hour event honored 465 School of Medicine faculty, a group that included eight EEC stand-outs: Sachin Kedar, Andrew Hendrick, Nancy Newman, Ghazala O'Keefe, Jacquelyn O'Banion, Nieraj Jain, and Susan Primo.
Taking to the podium at the Emory Student Center for the first in-person ceremony in three years, School of Medicine dean Vikas P. Sukhatme started the evening out by thanking all attendees for supporting the goals of patient satisfaction, superior mentorship, and a compassionate school culture during the worst of the COVID 19 epidemic.
His sentiments were echoed by David S. Stephens, MD, the interim executive vice president for Health Affairs at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, who characterized the COVID-tested mettle of his colleagues by quoting a Japanese proverb:
Andrew Hendrick, MD
Fall down seven times. Get up eight.
A hidden gem that's no secret at the Eye Center
Andrew Hendrick In addition to celebrating his recent promotion to the rank of Associate Professor in 2022, it was announced that Dr. Hendrick was named as the 2022 recipient of the Hidden Gem Award for the Department of Ophthalmology. Nominated by Emory Eye Center chair, Dr. Allen Beck, Hendrick was lauded for his tireless commitment to mentoring and his superb surgical skills.
I am proud to work with amazing doctors at Grady like Dr. Andy Hendrick, who has run the retina service here for almost 10 years,
wrote Beck, in his nomination.
He is a most sincere and humble surgeon -someone who has revolutionized retina care at Grady with cutting-edge vitrectomy surgery, intravitreal injections, lasers, and much more. A model of professionalism and kindness, an amazing teacher, with legions of medical students, residents, and fellows who have learned and benefited from him.
Impacting the discipline
Sachin Kedar, MD, MS, MBBS
![Jacquelyn OBanion](../images/faculty-obanion.jpg")
Jacquelyn O'Banion, MD, MSc
Nancy J. Newman, MD, MA
Susan Primo, OD, MPH, FAAO
Sachin Kedar. Professor Kedar, the vice chair for Education in the Emory Department of Ophthalmology, was recognized for receiving the 2022 Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award for Program Director Excellence from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. This award recognizes program directors who have fostered innovation and improvement in their residency/fellowship programs and served as exemplary role models for residents and fellows.
Jacquelyn O'Banion Also promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 2022, Dr. Jacquelyn O'Banion was recognized by the Emory School of Medicine for receiving the 2021 Secretariat Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). This annual award recognizes the special contributions made by individuals to the Academy and to ophthalmology in several areas that are generally outside of the scope of traditional AAO awards. The director of Emory Eye Center's Global Ophthalmology Program (GO-E), O'Banion has been a relentless advocate for preventing vision loss through cross-cultural clinical service, research and education. She received the award for her work to promote Global Alliances.
Nancy Newman Already world-renowned in her field after a career that is full of clinical and research triumphs, Nancy Newman was again recognized by the Emory School of Medicine for receiving the Top Science award from the American Academy of Neurology. The AAN's award called out Newman's contributions as the lead investigator in a multinational gene therapy clinical trial. The Phase III REFLECT Trial: Efficacy and Safety of Bilateral Gene Therapy for Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON.
Newman's was one of three scientific abstracts chosen for the Top Science honor from AAN's Science Committee, which received more than 2,400 submissions.
Susan Primo A recognized specialist in low-vision/visual rehabilitation and the head of Emory Eye Center's Optometric Division, Dr. Primo was named co-chair of the Advisory Committee to Prevent Blindness by the Center for Vision and Population Health. Primo was lauded for employing a strategic public health approach to accomplish her goal of increasing access to primary eye care service in underserved communities.
Promotions for Behshad, O'Keefe, and Jain
Soroosh Behshad, Ghazala O'Keefe, and Nieraj Jain: With a combined 20 years of service as clinicians in the Department of Ophthalmology, Drs. Behshad, O'Keefe, and Jain were each promoted to the rank of Associate Professor.
In addition to his work with the Global Ophthalmology program, Behshad specializes in cornea, cataract, and refractive surgery care. He has served as the chief of the Emory Eye Center at St. Joseph's hospital since 2019.
O'Keefe's clinical and research focus on medical retina and uveitis. She is the director of the Medical Retina and Uveitis fellowship and is the Service Director for the Section of Uveitis and Retinal Vasculitis.
Jain's research focuses on the use of advanced retinal imaging modalities to assess disease progression and outcomes from novel treatments. He is actively engaged in interdisciplinary collaborations to broaden the application of novel imaging technologies.
Above, from left: Newly promoted Associate Professors Dr. Soroosh Behshad, Dr. Ghazala O'Keefe, and Dr. Nieraj Jain
Dobbs Foundation makes $486,000 gift to support AMD research at Emory Eye Center
Funds will support the stem cell research of John Nickerson and Sayantan Datta
Dr. John Nickerson
Dr. Sayantan Datta
A $486K gift from the R. Howard Dobbs, Jr. Foundation will enable the Emory Eye Center to investigate new stem cell strategies for combatting geographic atrophy (GA), a condition associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
The Dobbs funding will support the purchase of equipment that is critical to the ongoing translational research being conducted by Emory Eye Center's John Nickerson, MD, and Sayantan Datta, PhD. Their proposal, 'Differentiating Induced Pluripotent Cells into Retina Pigment Epithelial Cells as a Treatment for Geographic Atrophy in AMD,' outlines a process by which researchers will investigate the viability of using stem cells to regenerate a portion of the eye that is affected by AMD.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive disease that starts with the loss of central vision. Left untreated, it is the leading cause of blindness among the elderly. It is characterized by the decay of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) layer which eventually leads to the decay of the underlying photoreceptors. Patients with dry AMD experience geographic atrophy (GA), a condition which has no treatment.
The Emory Eye Center is thrilled to partner with the Dobbs Foundation, whose longstanding commitment to improving the lives of others mirrors our own,
said Allen Beck, MD, the F. Phinizy Calhoun, Sr. Chair of Ophthalmology and director of the EEC.
The generosity of this gift literally changes the landscape of our research, giving us the freedom to ask the questions that will, eventually, help us save vision.”
The Emory Eye Center's diverse research portfolio has been supported by multiple foundation gifts, government grants, and donations for more than a century. The Dobbs Foundation gift recognizes the importance of maintaining ongoing research.
In recent years, stem cells have been used to generate functional RPE which has then been used as a novel treatment for dry AMD. The new RPE is injected directly into the eye to replace dysfunctional atrophic RPE.
Nickerson and Datta will focus on using induced pluripotent cells (iPSC) to create the new RPE. Their work will focus on improving the process by which iPSC is differentiated to become fully functioning RPE. In a healthy human body, RPE generation is supported by the Bruch's membrane. To facilitate this process with stem cells, creating a scaffold that mimics Bruch's membrane will be an important first step.
The differentiation protocol for iPSC to RPE is still not perfect,
said Datta. But we have some promising new processes that could change things. For instance, some pharmacologically active small molecules have been shown to significantly improve RPE differentiation. Larger sets of small molecule libraries are now commercially available and can be used to test their efficacy on improved RPE differentiation.
The team will also investigate the possibility of improving immune response to transplantation by developing stem cells that are stripped of the factors that typically trigger rejection. By using these altered cells for RPE differentiation they hope the transplantation will avoid rejection issues.
This is the sort of iterative investigation that requires a sustained commitment to methodical, well-researched trials,
said Nickerson. We are ready and very excited to begin this work.
Family Reuinion. Modern-day cousins, Bickerton Cardwell, left, and F. Phinizy Calhoun, III had a mini-family-reunion at Emory's Calhoun Room, located in the Woodruff Health Sciences Building. Behind the boyhood friends are paintings of their forefathers, from left, Andrew B. Calhoun (one of the founders of the Atlanta Medical College, a precursor to the Emory School of Medicine), Abner W. Calhoun, MD (in his day, the only scientifically trained ophthalmologist south of Maryland) and F. Phinizy Calhoun, Sr., MD (who served as the chair of the department from 1910 until 1940) Find out more about the Calhoun legacy at EEC History
Emory Eye Center celebrates 150 years of service to Atlanta, Georgia, and the world
When we sat down to contemplate what a century and a half has meant to the Emory Eye Center, we quickly concluded that our history has transcended the narrow rectitude of calendar logic. At 150, the Emory Eye Center is more than a timeline of key dates. It is, in fact, a dynamic mission that has for generations inspired us to take smart risks and pursue cutting-edge solutions in our clinics, labs, classrooms, and community.
How do you summarize all that?
Quite simply, by recognizing that it's the people behind the Emory Eye Center who have made our mission relevant. To celebrate this fact, we turned to four individuals -F. Phinizy Calhoun III, Debra Owens, Dr. Tiliksew Teshome Tessema, and Dr. Allen Beck - whose collective reflections on the Emory Eye Center's story inspire us embrace the challenges that will come in the next 150 years.
F.Phinizy Calhoun III: Revisiting our roots
F. Phinizy Cahoun III
If Emory Eye Center had a maiden name, it would have to be Calhoun.
The forefathers of this institution - Andrew B, Abner W., F. Phinizy Sr., and F. Phinizy Jr.- carefully built and faithfully curated what is now a world-renowned medical service and teaching facility. Taken together, their leadership in the department spans almost half our 150-year history.
We gained insight into what made these pioneers tick during a recent visit to the Birmingham, Alabama home of F. Phinizy Calhoun, III [Phinizy III
] - son of F. Phinizy Calhoun, Jr., [Phinizy Jr.
]. who was the chair of the Emory Department of Ophthalmology from 1946 to 1978. Now retired from his own career in the film industry, Phinizy III spoke with candor and reverence about his father's commitment - to patients, to medicine, and to identifying a passion that would last him a lifetime.
Debra Owens: Hard questions, a soft heart, and the compassion to put them both to work
Debra Owens
When it comes to glaucoma, Debra Owens can give most first-year residents a run for their money. The CEO of the DRO Management Company is quick to rattle off facts about normal tension glaucoma (NTG), a chronic disease that causes vision loss by damaging the optic nerve.
Debra Owens is fighting that disease. And she's doing just fine- in part because she is, by nature, a velvet-gloved fighter (and a tenacious questioner). In her story we see a commitment to healing, teaching, and learning that inspires us to keep doing the same.
Long before she set foot into the Emory Eye Center, Debra Owens and her father, Don, both received treatment for their glaucoma from a private practice physician near their home. While Don had a tougher battle - he also had AMD - Debra's glaucoma appeared to be treatable with medicated eye drops. The drops she was prescribed - ophthalmic timolol -relied on beta blockers, a class of drugs that is also used to lower blood pressure.
This is where Debra Owens starts to sound a bit like a PGY-1.
Both Sides Now: Healing, teaching, and learning are reciprocal in the Global Ophthalmology Program
Dr. Tiliksew Teshome Tessema
Dr. Jacquelyn O'Banion
The Emory Eye Center's timeless mission - to heal, to teach, and to learn - finds a uniquely modern expression in the Global Ophthalmology (GO-E) program, established in 2011. In just over a decade, the program has brought much-needed ophthalmological care and education to more than 10,000 people in 20 countries -from rural Georgia to refugee camps in Jordan.
It has also brought capacity-building expertise to under-resourced medical facilities and training institutions like Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, and Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras in Tegucigalpa Honduras.
And the program has also established the GO-E fellowship - a training ground for ophthalmologists who want to bring a global perspective to their existing medical practices. Initiated in 2017, the fellowship has graduated five fellows thus far.
The GO-E program demonstrates reciprocal learning at its best,
explains GO-E director, Dr. Jacquelyn O'Banion.
The Emory ophthalmologists and GO-E fellows who join us on our global missions teach physicians to diagnose and treat patients and to perform sight-saving surgeries. We join them in providing that care, but we also stand back and observe how our partners negotiate work-arounds for obstacles that can get in the way of patient access - things like transportation to appointments, family obligations, payment practices, and literacy. This is our opportunity to learn, too.
read more
Dr. Allen Beck: Harnessing the power of hard work, compassionate care, and relentless inquiry
When Allen Beck first enrolled in the Emory School of Medicine, he thought he had a good idea of what lay ahead. He would learn how to be a good clinician. In the back of his mind, the young med student even toyed with the idea of one day returning to Tennessee to work alongside his father, Larson Dale Beck, an ENT doctor in private practice.
Allen D. Beck, MD
My Dad had gone to med school after serving in the Korean War, and I think that really influenced the type of medicine he wanted to practice. He was a clinician, working directly with the people in his community,
he said.
I thought that's what I would do, too. But I had this stupid notion that I was limited to either seeing patients in a clinic or doing pathology research in a lab. There was no in-between. I had no idea what academic medicine was.
Thirty-seven years and thousands of patients later, the now-chair of the Emory Department of Ophthalmology will tell you that in-between
is what gets him up in the morning. Academic and clinical medicine are at the heart of Emory Eye Center's legacy -and its future.
October 10 is the earlybird deadline to register for the Annual Southeast Ocular Oncology and Pathology Seminar
Emory Eye Center to host SEOP seminar on October 28
Dr. Ralph Eagle
On October 28 the Emory Eye Center will once again host the Southeast Ocular Oncology and Pathology Seminar at our Clifton Campus.
The day-long seminar is expected to attract ophthalmologists, oncologists, and other specialists from throughtout the region to discuss routine and challenging cases and treatment options in an open, intellectually demanding, and collaborative environment.
Seminar organizers are proud to announce that the 2022 Calhoun Distinguished Lecture will be delivered by Dr. Ralph Eagle, Chief of the Pathology Service at Wills Eye Hospital and professor of ophthalmology and pathology at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. Dr. Eagle's honors include the AOS, the Zimmerman Medal of the AAOOP, the Macula SocietyCs W. Richard Green Lecture, the ISOPVs inaugural Gordon K. Klintworth Lecture and the ISOO#s Henry B. Stallard Medal and Lecture. He has served as president of the AAOP and was a member of executive board of the American Registry of Pathology. He is director of CME and chairs the IRB at Wills.
The Southeast Ocular Oncology and Pathology Seminar will be held in the Calhoun Auditorium of the Clinic B building. CME credits are available. Early-bird registration for this event runs until Ocotber 10. Find out more about registration now.
The Emory Eye Center program faculty supporting this event are:
Hans Grossniklaus, MD, MBA, vice chair, Translational Research, F. Phinizy Calhoun Jr. Prof. of Ophthalmology and director, L. F. Montgomery Pathology Laboratory.
Jill Wells, MD,assistant professor, Comprehensive Ophthalmology section, director, the Ocular Oncology/Pathology section, Emory Eye Center
Baker Hubbard, MD, Thomas M. Aaberg Professor of Ophthalmology, director of Clinical Retina section, associate professor of ophthalmology, Vitreoretinal Surgery & Diseases section, Ophthalmic Pathology/Ocular Oncology section, Emory Eye Center
Ted Wojno, MD, James and Shirley Kuse Professor of Ophthalmology; director, the Oculoplastics section, Orbital and Cosmetic Surgery, Emory Eye Center
Emory Eye Center researcher Sayantan Datta explores new approach to age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
NIH-funded mitophagy study published in Autophagy journal
Above: Sayantan Datta, PhD, an assistant professor and researcher with the Emory Eye Center, is the lead author in a recently published article that takes a new approach to AMD. His co-authors include previous colleagues from Johns Hopkins University as well as current colleagues from Emory: Marisol Cano, Ganesh Satyanarayana, Tongyun Liu, Lei Wang, Jie Wang, Jie Cheng, Kie Itoh, Anjali Sharma, Imran Bhutto, Rangaramanujam Kannan, Jiang Qian, Debasish Sinha, and James T. Handa.
A recently published article from the lab of Emory Eye Center's Sayantan Datta presents findings that could dramatically impact the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other cell pathologies like cancer and fibrosis.
Appearing in the August 13 edition of the journal Autophagy, the article, Mitophagy Initiates Retrograde Mitochondrial-nuclear Signaling to Guide Retinal Pigment Cell Heterogeneity
explores the findings of Datta's five-year, National Institutes of Health (NIH) K-99/R00-funded study of mitophagy - a process by which cells regulate and maintain healthy function by processing and removing dysfunctional mitochondria.
Datta's team focused on the molecular mechanisms that connect mitophagy with AMD, a vision-robbing eye disease common among the elderly.
Currently, people with AMD may take supplements or vitamins, but there is nothing that effectively stops or reverses the process,
he said. One of our goals was to establish the scientific foundation from which a novel therapeutic treatment could be developed. We are encouraged by our findings.
Identifying epithelial to mesenchymal transition
Datta's team discovered that a disfiguration of the eye's retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells proceeds the deterioration of a patient's sight. These normally honeycomb-shaped cells become elongated due to a dysfunctional or dying mitochondria within them. In AMD, Datta's team found that the mitochondria was undergoing not mitophagy, but epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). The EMT process destroys the stability of RPE cells and causes the release of a cell-damaging substance called reactive oxygen species (ROS).
The ROS are thought to be the root cause of subsequent sight loss.
In the RPE cells, especially, the energy [ATP] that is generated by the mitochondria is critical to the eye's function. The retinal cells are multi-functional and need lots of energy,
said Datta. Ideally, we want to restore the mitophagy process and stop the EMT, which leads to irreversible cell damage.
Identifying a novel therapy
Datta's team also identified a new therapeutic approach that may eventually stop and reverse some of the hitherto untreatable damage caused by AMD.
Our work helped us to better understand the molecular mechanics and that allowed us to identify the pathways by which AMD progresses. If we can interrupt those pathways, we can interrupt the disease progression,
he said.
Datta described a treatment approach that shows a lot of promise. It focuses on the removal of ROS by injecting a specially tagged molecule into the RPE cells. This molecule transports a therapeutic drug, N-acetyl cystine (NAC) to the damaged mitochondria, where it scavenges
the harmful ROS from the cell.
Our work has implications that go well beyond that. We see a very real potential to widen our horizon of understanding of cancer pathophysiology, as well. We were also able to develop a nanoparticle-based therapy that is able to prevent cell change - thus providing a potential therapeutic target for many other diseases, like cancer.
Sayantan Datta, PhD, joins his co-author and colleague, Ganesh Satyanarayana, PhD, to review mitochondria slides in the Emory Eye Center laboratory where they continue to study AMD.
CTSA grant allows joint Emory-Georgia Tech research to launch
Deepta Ghate, MD
A recently awarded grant from the National Institutes of Health will support a joint Emory Eye Center-Georgia Tech investigation of driver safety for people who have glaucoma.
The project, Piloting Augmented Reality Cues for Enhancing Driving Safety in Glaucoma
was conceived by Emory Eye Center researcher and clinician, Deepta Ghate, MD, and her colleague, Srinivas Peeta, PhD, who heads up the Autonomous & Connected Transportation (ACT) Lab at Georgia Tech.
Their joint project received a $50,000 award from NIH's Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) - a program that promotes the efficient transformation of laboratory-borne science into innovations and interventions that improve individual and public health.
We are excited to be able to support Dr. Ghate's partnership with Georgia Tech,
said Emory Eye Center director and F. Phinizy Calhoun, Sr. Chair of Ophthalmology, Dr. Allen Beck, himself, a glaucoma specialist.
Dr. Ghate is performing the kind of translational research that can have a positive impact on the lives of glaucoma patients. We are so happy to have her on our faculty.
Ultimately, Ghate and Peeta seek to improve driving safety for individuals with peripheral vision loss - a problem that affects 13 percent of the population over 65 years of age. Drivers with glaucoma have been found to be three to five times more likely to be in a motor vehicle accident.
Ghate's previous research found that drivers with glaucoma are less able to deal with distractions while driving as compared to elderly people without glaucoma.
We believe that technology that cues road hazards - which is routine in many newer cars - may hamper elderly people with glaucoma rather than help. They may get distracted by the noise and the lights and, thus, make more mistakes while driving,
said Ghate, whose Glaucoma and Visual Psychophysics Lab will take a lead role in the research.
This funding is essential to identifying new solutions. It will fund scenario development in the simulator in Dr. Peeta's lab and generate pilot data for a larger study.
The joint research project will evaluate which glaucoma patients may benefit from augmented reality (AR) cues. It will also seek to identify which driving tasks may be best communicated using AR cues, Ghate said.
We will also evaluate which AR cuing modality - auditory or visual - works best for glaucoma drivers. We aim to evaluate the impact of visual and auditory AR cues on hazard detection and driving performance. We will also evaluate predictor variables for successful hazard detection in glaucoma and control subjects.
Revisiting a Legacy of Purpose with Paul Anderson
Longtime Emory Eye Center supporter celebrates his family's commitment to the Anderson Fellowships
A recent visit to the Emory Eye Center by Paul Anderson, Jr. provided an ideal opportunity to reflect on the importance of legacy. Anderson's, legacy and Emory Eye Center's.
For the better part of a century, the Anderson family has provided a deeply inspiring standard for the Emory Eye Center to emulate,
said Allen Beck, chair of the Department of Ophthalmology.
Earl Wills Anderson was principled, intentional, and undeterred by the hurdles that often hamper greatness. We are grateful for his commitment to the Yonsei University Department of Ophthalmology and creating this lasting connection to the Emory Eye Center.
A cursory glance at the Anderson Family history explains this high praise. And then some.
Earl Wills Anderson (Paul's grandfather) was an Emory College valedictorian, a doctor of ophthalmology, and a Methodist minister who traveled to Korea as a medical missionary in 1914. The Jug Tavern, Georgia native went on to found one of Korea's first ophthalmology departments at Yonsei University. He remained at the helm of that department for more than four decades, raising his family along the way.
My grandparents were just country people from Georgia who set sail for what, at that time, felt like the ends of the Earth. And it may sound like it was just a grand adventure, but I'd say it was a sense of purpose that motivated my grandfather to go to Korea. He felt called to provide medical care to those in need,
said grandson Paul Anderson, Jr.
The next generation, Paul H. Anderson, Sr., '38C, '40L, was born and raised in Korea, where that sense of purpose was everywhere around him. A lawyer by profession, he honored his father's legacy by establishing the Anderson Fellowship at Emory Eye Center in 1987. That endowment has since allowed 10 Yonsei medical students to study ophthalmology at the Emory Eye Center. The first of those Emory-trained fellows, Eung Kowon (EK) Kim, MD. PhD, went on to become chair of the ophthalmology department at Yonsei University.
Which brings us back to the current scion of that legacy, Paul Anderson, Jr.
Now retired from his own law practice, Paul Anderson Jr. remains inspired by the legacy laid down by his father and grandfather. As soon as COVID restrictions allowed, he asked to meet with the current Anderson Fellow, Dr. Seong-eun Robert
Kim, who is doing basic scientific research with EEC faculty Dr. John Nickerson. On his most recent visit, Anderson spent an afternoon reviewing the status of gene therapy research that Kim and Nickerson are pursuing under the auspices of the Anderson Fellowship.
I am a physician in my country, but I think physicians should know how to do basic research so they can teach others and further the discipline,
said Kim.
Paul Anderson, Jr., paused to listen to these words, as though they were an answer to a question he no longer needed to ask.
This Fellowship is not about me,
he said. It's about my family's commitment to Emory, the legacy of helping others, the value of research.
Paul Anderson, Jr. is 1975 graduate of the Emory Law School.
New global ophthalmology course will transfer wisdom borne from experience
EEC's Global Ophthalmology Director, Jacquelyn O'Banion, MD, helped develop the course, now offered by the American Academy of Ophthalmology
A new online course offered through the American Academy of Ophthalmology is answering the growing demand for practical and philosophical wisdom in the field of global ophthalmology.
The 10-part course, entitled Academic Global Ophthalmology, is free and now available to all AAO members.
Sometimes, even well-intentioned efforts to do global health outreach in other countries falls into the rut of being a fly-in, fly-out mission
,
explains Emory Eye Center clinician Jacquelyn O'Banion, one of nine ophthalmologists who spent two years building the course.
Jacquelyn O'Banion, MD
We can do better. By sharing best practices and foundational knowledge in public health, we can give learners the tools to be impactful as visiting physicians.
The fly-in, fly-out
scenario that O'Banion mentioned occurs when a group of well-funded (usually Western) physicians fly into a less-resourced country, perform surgeries on local people, and then leave. If they have failed to work with the local physicians and health systems during their visit, these doctors can bring more disruption than aid.
Patients develop the idea that the outside physicians are better, or more qualified, so they don't connect with their local physicians for routine or follow-up care after the visiting doctors leave,
said O'Banion. This is one of the problems we address in the course.
O'Banion knows firsthand of what she speaks. As the director of Emory Eye Center's Global Ophthalmology (GO-E) program, she has traveled the world to deliver physician education and patient care for the better part of a decade. The Texas native has worked in Peru, Eswatini, China, Ethiopia, and Honduras, to name a few. Working closely with her colleagues in these countries, she has learned to identify culturally appropriate, sustainable approaches to healthcare delivery and medical education.
Other ophthalmologists who collaborated on this course include Grace Sun, MD, Ashlie A. Bernhisel, MD, R.V. Paul Chan, MD, MBA, Brent Finklea, MD, Peter MacIntosh, MD, Jeff Pettey, MD, MBA, Robert Swan, MD, and Richmond Woodward, MD.
$300K grant from Research to Prevent Blindness comes to the Emory Eye Center
The unrestricted Challenge grant is one of only six awarded, nationwide
The Emory Eye Center and Department of Ophthalmology are pleased to announce that Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) has recognized our Research Division with an unrestricted, four-year, $300,000 Challenge grant.
Dr. Allen Beck
Dr. John Nickerson
The Eye Center received one of just six Challenge grants that were awarded by RPB in 2022. The funds will allow department chair Dr. Allen Beck to strengthen the school's commitment to ground-breaking translational research. Under the terms of the grant, Emory Eye Center will receive $75K a year to support its research mission, including research salaries, new equipment, lab supplies, data analysis, and the ongoing exploration of new research agendas. Those funds will be matched with an annual $75K grant from the Emory School of Medicine.
More than anything else, the RPB Challenge grant gives us the freedom to do good science. The job of a truly committed eye research team is to produce findings that result in improved vision for our patients,
said Beck, the F. Phinizy Calhoun, Sr. Chair of Ophthalmology.
The 2022 RPB Challenge grant - and the many that came before it - have given our researchers the chance to take smart risks when the science calls for them. Over the years, that flexibility has put our research teams in the position to collaborate with other cutting-edge investigators when the time is right. It is one of the most important investments we can make for our patients, our physicians, and the future of vision health.
Over the course of 30+ years, the Emory Eye Center has received more than $3M from RPB - funds that have allowed the school to continually attract top-notch research talent and to build and maintain state-of-the-art facilities.
The 2022 Challenge grant will propel EEC's overall research efforts in a variety of areas, including diseases that impact the retina/macula, ocular oncology, infectious diseases, and glaucoma / optic neuropathies. Research director Dr. John Nickerson said some funds will support a series of mini-research proposals - pilot projects that will expand basic science and launch new avenues for long-term research. He plans to solicit internal proposals beginning September 1.
These grants encourage our post-docs, grad students, and research faculty to forge stronger links between their basic and translational studies in the laboratory and our mission to improve vision health,
he said. They are enough to test some key hypotheses and to keep our team agile in their pursuit of new breakthroughs.
Since its founding, RPB has channeled more than $397M into eye research nation-wide. Their investment links RPB with nearly every major breakthrough in vision research for the past 60 years.
Recently published article explores the impact of COVID-19 on ocular health, healthcare access
A recently published article in NIH's National Library of Medicine is giving a clearer picture of how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated disparities in health status and in health care access for many historically underserved groups. The study also points out that large public hospitals like Grady could provide much-needed insight on how these minority communities are impacted by the unique ocular manifestations of COVID-19 infection.
Susan Primo, OD
Jacquelyn O'Banion, MD
The analysis, COVID-19 Related Health Disparities in Ophthalmology with a Retrospective Analysis at a Large Academic Public Hospital
was co-authored by second-year Emory medical student Grace Chung (first author), Grady Hospital optometrist Dr. Christie M. Person, and Emory Eye Center clinicians Susan Primo, OD and Jacquelyn O'Banion, MD.
It's important to perform health disparity research to advance better eye health for marginalized populations and people of color - people who are already facing persistent barriers and poorer health outcomes,
explained Primo.
COVID is just one example of how disproportionate rates and effects in certain communities can be worsened if not addressed. We are honored to contribute to the ophthalmic literature from our patient base at Grady.
Read the entire article online now or see the August 2022 print edition in the Advances in Ophthalmology and Optometry Journal
Now that's how Emory Eye Center celebrates its graduates
A beloved tradition, the Residents and Fellows Weekend, returns for the Class of 22
from left, Mark Morel, Jr., MD, Albert Liao, MD, Saraniya Sathiamoorthi, MD, Emory Eye Center Chair Dr. Allen Beck, Residency Coordinator Tracey Yancey, Residency Director Jeremy Jones, Lauren Hudson, MD, Aditya Rali, MD, Ben Enfield, MD
It was two days that were put on hold for three years.
But for many who participated in the Department of Ophthalmology's 2022 Residents and Fellows Weekend, it was worth the wait. Each year, the decades-old graduation tradition brings together proteges and preceptors for two days of laughter, celebration, and reflection. Scaled down or canceled for three years because of COVID, the 2022 Residents & Fellows Weekend was seen as a must-attend event in 2022.
This is one of the main reasons I love my job,
said Ophthalmology Department Chair Dr. Allen Beck, himself a graduate of the Emory School of Medicine, the Emory Ophthalmology Residency program, and the Emory Glaucoma Fellowship program.
It's this weekend, when we launch the careers of so many promising ophthalmologists - colleagues who literally represent the future of vision health in our region and the world. My only hope, really, is that we continue to connect, to learn from one another. I'm as happy as they are that they have finished their training here. But now I want them to remember to come back.
Is Mulligan
an Emory Eye Center graduate?
The weekend commenced with an 18-hole golf outing at the Stone Mountain Golf Club. Blue skies and gassed-up carts launched gleeful teams of optimistic residents, fellows, and faculty at 7:30 am. By 2 pm, all teams had returned from the par-71 course -- still smiling, but no longer harboring fantasies of a second career as a golf pro.
For the record, the First-Year Residents team bested the entire bunch with a score of 7 over par, while department chair Allen Beck, MD, took home bragging rights for putting closest to the pin. First-year resident Sami Ahmad, who had never before played golf, won the prize for longest drive.
Check out this Flickr slideshow of the day-long outing.
Exploring the science behind the patient care
On June 4, a half-day research session gave residents and fellows the opportunity to explore and showcase their commitment to the science behind clinical practice. Each of the six graduating residents and 13 graduating fellows prepared a 10-minute presentation grounded in their own clinical and academic interests. Retired ophthalmologist and Emory alumnus Liev Tackle, MD awarded the first and second-place presentations, which were:
Residents:
• Dr. Albert Liao's paper When Splits Go Wrong: Surgical Outcomes of Progressive Retinoschisis-related Retinal Detachments: A 17-year Survey from a Large Academic Center,
received top recognition in the category of graduating resident. (Preceptor: Jiong Yan, MD)
• Dr. Mark Morel, Jr, MD, took home second place for Early Corneal Neurotization Outcomes at Emory Eye Center.
(Preceptor: Soroosh Behshad, MD)
Fellows:
• Dr. Matt Boyko received top honor for Retinal & Optic Nerve MRI Diffusion-Weigh ted Imaging Hyperintensity in Acute Non-arteritic Central Retinal Artery Occlusion.
(Preceptors: Nancy J. Newman, MD, and Valerie Biousse, MD.)
• Dr. David Levine received second place for Vitamin A Deficiency Retinopathy
(Preceptor: Nieraj Jain, MD)
The research session was concluded with the Henry F. Edelhauser Lecture in Translational Research, entitled, The Genetics of Ocular Disease.
It was given by Dr. Joan O'Brien, the director of the University of Pennsylvania's Scheie Eye Institute.
Celebrating the grit and brilliance of our colleagues
Before they took their final leave, the graduating residents and fellows were guests of honor at a festive Graduation Banquet, held Saturday, June 4. From the podium, Emory Eye Center residency director Dr. Jeremy Jones made it clear that the current crop of newly minted ophthalmologists was like no other.
To say they were thrown a curveball in their medical training is an understatement,
he said.
Not only have they had to master an ever-increasing amount of information, knowledge, and surgical techniques; they have had to do so in the midst of a global pandemic. Many of our graduating fellows were asked to serve in their programs' ICUs or emergency rooms with little information on how to keep themselves safe from a virus we knew so little about. I'd like to give them all a round of applause, because, in spite of all of this, they came in extraordinarily well-prepared and competent. All of us on faculty know and understand the importance the fellows play in the training here at Emory. They are our first line supervisors and teachers of our residents. And for that, all of us are grateful.
The residents returned Jones's praise with their own slate of awards that spoke volumes about the Emory Eye Center's culture of mutual admiration.
Yousuf Khalifa, MD
Blaine Cribbs, MD
Ted Wojno, MD
• The 2021-22 Thomas M. Aaberg, Sr. Clinical Teaching Award was given to Yousuf Khalifa, M.D., In special recognition of your dedication to resident education, excellence in patient care, and outstanding teaching expertise. You are a role model to us all.
• The Multiple Hats
Award went to Jeremy Jones, MD, the director of resident education, For always knowing when to be our leader, teacher, therapist, and friend. We cannot thank you enough for the past 4 years.
• The Alliance
Award was given to Homaira Ayesha Hossain, MD For helping unite Uveitis and Rheumatology clinics at Grady, one EPIC message at a time.
• The Marathon” Award went to Joshua Barnett, MD, because You may not be able to run a marathon, but you can definitely operate for 26.2 hours straight in the Grady 4K3 OR.
• The Scheduling Wizard
Award went to Blaine Cribbs, MD, For always knowing exactly which retina patients need Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday follow-up appointments at the VA.
• The You Look Beautiful
Award went to Ted Wojno, MD, For demonstrating the skillful dance that is required when counseling post-op patients.
Check out this Flickr slideshow of the EEC Graduation Banquet
Dr. Sachin Kedar named to the Cyrus H. Stoner Professorship
Emory Eye Center's Vice Chair of Education brings a wealth of service, research, and knowledge to the the renowned professorship
The Emory Eye Center is proud to announce that Sachin Kedar, MBBS, MD, has been appointed to a five-year term as the Cyrus H. Stoner Endowed Professor in Ophthalmology, effective April 1, 2022.
Dr. Sachin Kedar
Currently the vice chair of Education for the Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Kedar first came to Emory in 2004 to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship in neuro-ophthalmology. He officially joined the Emory faculty in 2021, happily ending the department's national search for a senior-level neuro-ophthalmology faculty.
I am honored to be appointed as the Cyrus H Stoner Endowed Professor in Ophthalmology, which I see as an opportunity to enhance already outstanding educational programs in ophthalmic education,
said Dr. Kedar. My goal is to make Emory Eye Center, a leader in ophthalmic education.
Prior to joining the Emory Eye Center, Dr. Kedar served as a researcher, faculty member, and physician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where, among other things, he established a robust clinical practice, developed the medical student ophthalmology curriculum, and was named vice chair of Academic Affairs for the Department of Neurological Sciences. His tenure was also marked by numerous pedagogical honors, including the Innovative Teacher Award, the Faculty Mentor of the Year Award, and the 2021 ACGME Palmer J Parker Courage to Teach Award for his contributions to resident education.
We considered ourselves very fortunate to have been able to recruit Dr. Kedar to our faculty last year,
said Dr. Allen Beck, the Emory Eye Center Director and F. Phinizy Calhoun Sr. Chair of Ophthalmology.
And, now, we are delighted that he will continue the tradition of excellence that the Stoner Professorship represents. Dr. Kedar's renown in the field of neurology and neurologic education, his national and international service, and his frequent contributions to the neuro-ophthalmic literature made him an unmistakably strong candidate for the Cyrus H. Stoner Professorship.
Beck's accolades were echoed by Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves in his congratulatory letter:
This level of distinction recognizes your eminence as a scholar, as well as the accomplishments that have placed you at the very top of your field,
Fenves wrote.
Conferral of the title also signifies that you have made substantial contributions to Emory University's mission to create, preserve, teach, and apply knowledge in the service of humanity. You are most deserving of this prestigious honor. Thank you for enriching Emory's intellectual community.
Established by the estate of Cyrus H. Stoner, '32M, the endowed professorship provides salary and support for a senior physician and faculty member in ophthalmology at the Emory Eye Center. Dr. Stoner practiced ophthalmology at Georgia Baptist Hospital from 1946 until his retirement in 1980 and was a member of Emory's clinical faculty for most of those years. The Learning Resource Center at The Emory Eye Center is named in recognition of his years of service and generosity. The endowed professorship was Stoner's gift to future ophthalmologists.
Previous recipients of Cyrus H. Stoner Professorship are Dr. Kedar's colleagues in EEC's neuro-ophthalmology section: Dr. Valerie Biousse and Dr.Nancy J. Newman.
Dr. Michelle Cabrera explores diagnostic strategy for infants
The Knights Templar speaker shares her experience using optical coherence tomography
The Emory Eye Center was honored to have Michelle Cabrera, MD headline the May 20 Grand Rounds seminar with her talk, Handheld OCT as a Tool to Diagnose ROP.
Sponsored by the Knights Templar Foundation, Cabrera's presentation focused on the use of handheld optical coherence tomography (OCT) to assess retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a condition in which abnormal blood vessel growth can contribute to vision loss in some premature infants.
The chief of the Pediatric Ophthalmology Division at the University of Washington Medical School, Cabrera practices at Seattle's Children Hospital Ophthalmology Clinic. Her specialties include amblyopia and refractive error in children, strabismus, pediatric cataracts, and nasolacrimal disorders.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging technology that delivers immediate results. It is often used to diagnose macular degeneration in adults. In her pediatric ophthalmic practice, Cabrera has used a hand-held version of OCT to successfully obtain vitreoretinal findings. In addition to discussing her experience with the hand-held OCT, Cabrera explored standard and cutting-edge ROP diagnostic criteria in her presentation.
We were thrilled to have Dr. Cabrera share her professional experience with our residents, fellows, and staff physicians,
said Amy Hutchinson, MD, the director of Emory Eye Center's Pediatric Ophthalmology Division.
Her innovative work in this area has the potential to reduce the need for traumatic scleral depressed retinal examinations and truly transform the way we deliver care to these fragile babies.
ARVO appoints Dr. Hans Grossniklaus to presidency
Declares The Beauty of Diversity in Nature and Science
as the guiding principle behind his term
Dr. Hans Grossniklaus addressing his ARVO colleagues after formally accepting his new role.
On Wednesday, May 4 Dr. Hans Grossniklaus was formally appointed president of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) - the largest vision research organization in the world. At ceremonies held during the final day of the 2022 ARVO annual meeting in Denver, Grossniklaus officially took the reins from outgoing president Maureen Maguire, PhD and established his theme for next year's annual ARVO meeting to be The Beauty of Diversity in Nature and Science.
The appointment came as no surprise to those who know the longtime clinical pathologist and physician, currently the vice chair for Translational Research at the Emory Eye Center.
Dr. Allen Beck
Hans's approach to ophthalmic research fully embodies the spirit and potential of translational research,
said Emory Eye Center director and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Allen Beck.
He has dedicated his career to studying and treating patients with ocular melanoma, a life-threatening disease that may be first diagnosed on an eye examination. His work is a testimony to both his commitment to patients and his powerful intellect.
The new title conjured up humbling memories for Grossniklaus.
When I came to Emory, my research mentor was a past president of ARVO, [former director of EEC Research] Dr. Henry Edelhauser-the best translational research scientist in ophthalmology,
he said.
If I aspire to anything, it is to deserve a place alongside the truly great researchers who mentored me - Henry Edelhauser is certainly one, as is Lorenz Zimmerman and Dick Green. It's certainly true that I stand on the shoulders of giants.
It is a tradition for each ARVO president to establish a theme to guide their tenure. Grossniklaus explained that his theme comes from a deeply held conviction about optimizing both his research and the environment that produces it. Research is more rigorous and more productive, he noted, if it is accomplished from different perspectives, approaches, and data interpretations. Likewise, more diversity among the ranks of ARVO can only strengthen the organization's impact on the field.
Diversity is a hallmark of nature and has provided us with a beautiful natural world,
he said from the podium. Likewise, there is mechanistic diversity in ocular disease, and we, as vision scientists, are a diverse group with multiple backgrounds and perspectives. Imagine if we are able to fully embrace this diversity.
Grossniklaus praised ARVO's culture, which he characterized as being open to new ideas, innovation, and broad-based participation by members. He hopes to build on that by promoting opportunities to diversify the Board of Trustees, improve the nominating process, and encouraging corporate sponsorship of travel awards and scholarships for under-represented groups at ARVO events. All of this is particularly important for scientists who are just starting their careers, he noted.
I know this because I have seen how ARVO works. I presented my first poster at an ARVO conference in 1983. It was Glycosidases in Macular Cornea Dystrophy.
The presenter next to me was a well-known senior scientific investigator, Gordon Klintworth. To say he was well-established is an understatement. But when he started asking me questions about my work, that was not a barrier. We just fell into a conversation that was based on our mutual interest in the research. That's the sort of connection that can shape a career. And I've had many like it over the years. So, the idea behind this theme, really, is that I am paying it forward.
Outgoing ARVO president Maureen Maguire welcomes Dr. Hans Grossniklaus to his new term as ARVO president
Emory Eye Center welcomes NEI Director Michael F. Chiang
John Nickerson and his research team spent an afternoon discussing new findings
There was a true meeting of the minds on April 21 when National Eye Institute (NEI) director Dr. Michael F. Chiang stopped by the Emory Eye Center to discuss ongoing research projects with the Ophthalmology Department's team of faculty and post-graduate investigators.
The atmosphere was collegial but charged as Chiang listened attentively to the progress reports delivered by director, John Nickerson, PhD and seven researchers: Ross Ethier, Deepta Ghate, Sayantan Datta, Andrew Feola, Hans Grossniklaus, Michael Iuvone, and Jeff Boatright.
Chiang was fascinated by Ghate's presentation, Differential High-Level Visual Impairments and their Impact on Quality of Life in Glaucoma,
which explored the ways in which specific high-level visual impairments tend to differentially impact a patient's quality of life. In particular, it looked at the impact on routine life activities, such as face recognition, scene navigation, and risk of falling.
It's hard to come up with end points for all of the research we do in special diseases,
he noted. Visual acuity is a good measure, but is there a quality of life instrument that will work with other diseases? This is important work.
He also applauded the multidisciplinary approach of the different research teams, some of which included engineering faculty and researchers from the Georgia Tech School of Biomedical Engineering.
The eye and visual system are an incredible system for methodological scientific innovation which can eventually be applied to improve patient care,
he said. It's exciting to see collaborative research here that fits this model: graduate students at Georgia Tech working with ophthalmologists at Emory together to develop creative new solutions to problems.
As director of Emory's ophthalmic research efforts, Nickerson was only too happy to join in the discussions that followed each presentation.
Now more than ever, the Emory Eye Center is expanding our research program to keep pace with the need for new treatments, options, and perspectives in vision health. The presentations Dr. Chiang saw today demonstrated that there's no shortage of innovation in the next generation of researchers,
said Nickerson.
But it was particularly encouraging for those new researchers - and for me - to see firsthand how open Dr. Chiang is to new approaches. That's the sort of leadership that bodes well for the field.
Above: Sayantan Datta, PhD, an assistant professor and researcher with the Emory Eye Center, is the lead author in a recently published article that takes a new approach to AMD. His co-authors include previous colleagues from Johns Hopkins University as well as current colleagues from Emory: Marisol Cano, Ganesh Satyanarayana, Tongyun Liu, Lei Wang, Jie Wang, Jie Cheng, Kie Itoh, Anjali Sharma, Imran Bhutto, Rangaramanujam Kannan, Jiang Qian, Debasish Sinha, and James T. Handa.
A recently published article from the lab of Emory Eye Center's Sayantan Datta presents findings that could dramatically impact the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other cell pathologies like cancer and fibrosis.
Appearing in the August 13 edition of the journal Autophagy, the article, Mitophagy Initiates Retrograde Mitochondrial-nuclear Signaling to Guide Retinal Pigment Cell Heterogeneity
explores the findings of Datta's five-year, National Institutes of Health (NIH) K-99/R00-funded study of mitophagy - a process by which cells regulate and maintain healthy function by processing and removing dysfunctional mitochondria.
Datta's team focused on the molecular mechanisms that connect mitophagy with AMD, a vision-robbing eye disease common among the elderly.
Currently, people with AMD may take supplements or vitamins, but there is nothing that effectively stops or reverses the process,
he said. One of our goals was to establish the scientific foundation from which a novel therapeutic treatment could be developed. We are encouraged by our findings.
Identifying epithelial to mesenchymal transition
Datta's team discovered that a disfiguration of the eye's retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells proceeds the deterioration of a patient's sight. These normally honeycomb-shaped cells become elongated due to a dysfunctional or dying mitochondria within them. In AMD, Datta's team found that the mitochondria was undergoing not mitophagy, but epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). The EMT process destroys the stability of RPE cells and causes the release of a cell-damaging substance called reactive oxygen species (ROS).
The ROS are thought to be the root cause of subsequent sight loss.
In the RPE cells, especially, the energy [ATP] that is generated by the mitochondria is critical to the eye's function. The retinal cells are multi-functional and need lots of energy,
said Datta. Ideally, we want to restore the mitophagy process and stop the EMT, which leads to irreversible cell damage.
Identifying a novel therapy
Datta's team also identified a new therapeutic approach that may eventually stop and reverse some of the hitherto untreatable damage caused by AMD.
Our work helped us to better understand the molecular mechanics and that allowed us to identify the pathways by which AMD progresses. If we can interrupt those pathways, we can interrupt the disease progression,
he said.
Datta described a treatment approach that shows a lot of promise. It focuses on the removal of ROS by injecting a specially tagged molecule into the RPE cells. This molecule transports a therapeutic drug, N-acetyl cystine (NAC) to the damaged mitochondria, where it scavenges
the harmful ROS from the cell.
Our work has implications that go well beyond that. We see a very real potential to widen our horizon of understanding of cancer pathophysiology, as well. We were also able to develop a nanoparticle-based therapy that is able to prevent cell change - thus providing a potential therapeutic target for many other diseases, like cancer.
Sayantan Datta, PhD, joins his co-author and colleague, Ganesh Satyanarayana, PhD, to review mitochondria slides in the Emory Eye Center laboratory where they continue to study AMD.
CTSA grant allows joint Emory-Georgia Tech research to launch
Deepta Ghate, MD
A recently awarded grant from the National Institutes of Health will support a joint Emory Eye Center-Georgia Tech investigation of driver safety for people who have glaucoma.
The project, Piloting Augmented Reality Cues for Enhancing Driving Safety in Glaucoma
was conceived by Emory Eye Center researcher and clinician, Deepta Ghate, MD, and her colleague, Srinivas Peeta, PhD, who heads up the Autonomous & Connected Transportation (ACT) Lab at Georgia Tech.
Their joint project received a $50,000 award from NIH's Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) - a program that promotes the efficient transformation of laboratory-borne science into innovations and interventions that improve individual and public health.
We are excited to be able to support Dr. Ghate's partnership with Georgia Tech,
said Emory Eye Center director and F. Phinizy Calhoun, Sr. Chair of Ophthalmology, Dr. Allen Beck, himself, a glaucoma specialist.
Dr. Ghate is performing the kind of translational research that can have a positive impact on the lives of glaucoma patients. We are so happy to have her on our faculty.
Ultimately, Ghate and Peeta seek to improve driving safety for individuals with peripheral vision loss - a problem that affects 13 percent of the population over 65 years of age. Drivers with glaucoma have been found to be three to five times more likely to be in a motor vehicle accident.
Ghate's previous research found that drivers with glaucoma are less able to deal with distractions while driving as compared to elderly people without glaucoma.
We believe that technology that cues road hazards - which is routine in many newer cars - may hamper elderly people with glaucoma rather than help. They may get distracted by the noise and the lights and, thus, make more mistakes while driving,
said Ghate, whose Glaucoma and Visual Psychophysics Lab will take a lead role in the research.
This funding is essential to identifying new solutions. It will fund scenario development in the simulator in Dr. Peeta's lab and generate pilot data for a larger study.
The joint research project will evaluate which glaucoma patients may benefit from augmented reality (AR) cues. It will also seek to identify which driving tasks may be best communicated using AR cues, Ghate said.
We will also evaluate which AR cuing modality - auditory or visual - works best for glaucoma drivers. We aim to evaluate the impact of visual and auditory AR cues on hazard detection and driving performance. We will also evaluate predictor variables for successful hazard detection in glaucoma and control subjects.
Revisiting a Legacy of Purpose with Paul Anderson
Longtime Emory Eye Center supporter celebrates his family's commitment to the Anderson Fellowships
A recent visit to the Emory Eye Center by Paul Anderson, Jr. provided an ideal opportunity to reflect on the importance of legacy. Anderson's, legacy and Emory Eye Center's.
For the better part of a century, the Anderson family has provided a deeply inspiring standard for the Emory Eye Center to emulate,
said Allen Beck, chair of the Department of Ophthalmology.
Earl Wills Anderson was principled, intentional, and undeterred by the hurdles that often hamper greatness. We are grateful for his commitment to the Yonsei University Department of Ophthalmology and creating this lasting connection to the Emory Eye Center.
A cursory glance at the Anderson Family history explains this high praise. And then some.
Earl Wills Anderson (Paul's grandfather) was an Emory College valedictorian, a doctor of ophthalmology, and a Methodist minister who traveled to Korea as a medical missionary in 1914. The Jug Tavern, Georgia native went on to found one of Korea's first ophthalmology departments at Yonsei University. He remained at the helm of that department for more than four decades, raising his family along the way.
My grandparents were just country people from Georgia who set sail for what, at that time, felt like the ends of the Earth. And it may sound like it was just a grand adventure, but I'd say it was a sense of purpose that motivated my grandfather to go to Korea. He felt called to provide medical care to those in need,
said grandson Paul Anderson, Jr.
The next generation, Paul H. Anderson, Sr., '38C, '40L, was born and raised in Korea, where that sense of purpose was everywhere around him. A lawyer by profession, he honored his father's legacy by establishing the Anderson Fellowship at Emory Eye Center in 1987. That endowment has since allowed 10 Yonsei medical students to study ophthalmology at the Emory Eye Center. The first of those Emory-trained fellows, Eung Kowon (EK) Kim, MD. PhD, went on to become chair of the ophthalmology department at Yonsei University.
Which brings us back to the current scion of that legacy, Paul Anderson, Jr.
Now retired from his own law practice, Paul Anderson Jr. remains inspired by the legacy laid down by his father and grandfather. As soon as COVID restrictions allowed, he asked to meet with the current Anderson Fellow, Dr. Seong-eun Robert
Kim, who is doing basic scientific research with EEC faculty Dr. John Nickerson. On his most recent visit, Anderson spent an afternoon reviewing the status of gene therapy research that Kim and Nickerson are pursuing under the auspices of the Anderson Fellowship.
I am a physician in my country, but I think physicians should know how to do basic research so they can teach others and further the discipline,
said Kim.
Paul Anderson, Jr., paused to listen to these words, as though they were an answer to a question he no longer needed to ask.
This Fellowship is not about me,
he said. It's about my family's commitment to Emory, the legacy of helping others, the value of research.
Paul Anderson, Jr. is 1975 graduate of the Emory Law School.
New global ophthalmology course will transfer wisdom borne from experience
EEC's Global Ophthalmology Director, Jacquelyn O'Banion, MD, helped develop the course, now offered by the American Academy of Ophthalmology
A new online course offered through the American Academy of Ophthalmology is answering the growing demand for practical and philosophical wisdom in the field of global ophthalmology.
The 10-part course, entitled Academic Global Ophthalmology, is free and now available to all AAO members.
Sometimes, even well-intentioned efforts to do global health outreach in other countries falls into the rut of being a
explains Emory Eye Center clinician Jacquelyn O'Banion, one of nine ophthalmologists who spent two years building the course. fly-in, fly-out mission
,
Jacquelyn O'Banion, MD
We can do better. By sharing best practices and foundational knowledge in public health, we can give learners the tools to be impactful as visiting physicians.
The fly-in, fly-out
scenario that O'Banion mentioned occurs when a group of well-funded (usually Western) physicians fly into a less-resourced country, perform surgeries on local people, and then leave. If they have failed to work with the local physicians and health systems during their visit, these doctors can bring more disruption than aid.
Patients develop the idea that the outside physicians are better, or more qualified, so they don't connect with their local physicians for routine or follow-up care after the visiting doctors leave,
said O'Banion. This is one of the problems we address in the course.
O'Banion knows firsthand of what she speaks. As the director of Emory Eye Center's Global Ophthalmology (GO-E) program, she has traveled the world to deliver physician education and patient care for the better part of a decade. The Texas native has worked in Peru, Eswatini, China, Ethiopia, and Honduras, to name a few. Working closely with her colleagues in these countries, she has learned to identify culturally appropriate, sustainable approaches to healthcare delivery and medical education.
Other ophthalmologists who collaborated on this course include Grace Sun, MD, Ashlie A. Bernhisel, MD, R.V. Paul Chan, MD, MBA, Brent Finklea, MD, Peter MacIntosh, MD, Jeff Pettey, MD, MBA, Robert Swan, MD, and Richmond Woodward, MD.
$300K grant from Research to Prevent Blindness comes to the Emory Eye Center
The unrestricted Challenge grant is one of only six awarded, nationwide
The Emory Eye Center and Department of Ophthalmology are pleased to announce that Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) has recognized our Research Division with an unrestricted, four-year, $300,000 Challenge grant.
Dr. Allen Beck
Dr. John Nickerson
The Eye Center received one of just six Challenge grants that were awarded by RPB in 2022. The funds will allow department chair Dr. Allen Beck to strengthen the school's commitment to ground-breaking translational research. Under the terms of the grant, Emory Eye Center will receive $75K a year to support its research mission, including research salaries, new equipment, lab supplies, data analysis, and the ongoing exploration of new research agendas. Those funds will be matched with an annual $75K grant from the Emory School of Medicine.
More than anything else, the RPB Challenge grant gives us the freedom to do good science. The job of a truly committed eye research team is to produce findings that result in improved vision for our patients,
said Beck, the F. Phinizy Calhoun, Sr. Chair of Ophthalmology.
The 2022 RPB Challenge grant - and the many that came before it - have given our researchers the chance to take smart risks when the science calls for them. Over the years, that flexibility has put our research teams in the position to collaborate with other cutting-edge investigators when the time is right. It is one of the most important investments we can make for our patients, our physicians, and the future of vision health.
Over the course of 30+ years, the Emory Eye Center has received more than $3M from RPB - funds that have allowed the school to continually attract top-notch research talent and to build and maintain state-of-the-art facilities.
The 2022 Challenge grant will propel EEC's overall research efforts in a variety of areas, including diseases that impact the retina/macula, ocular oncology, infectious diseases, and glaucoma / optic neuropathies. Research director Dr. John Nickerson said some funds will support a series of mini-research proposals - pilot projects that will expand basic science and launch new avenues for long-term research. He plans to solicit internal proposals beginning September 1.
These grants encourage our post-docs, grad students, and research faculty to forge stronger links between their basic and translational studies in the laboratory and our mission to improve vision health,
he said. They are enough to test some key hypotheses and to keep our team agile in their pursuit of new breakthroughs.
Since its founding, RPB has channeled more than $397M into eye research nation-wide. Their investment links RPB with nearly every major breakthrough in vision research for the past 60 years.
Recently published article explores the impact of COVID-19 on ocular health, healthcare access
A recently published article in NIH's National Library of Medicine is giving a clearer picture of how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated disparities in health status and in health care access for many historically underserved groups. The study also points out that large public hospitals like Grady could provide much-needed insight on how these minority communities are impacted by the unique ocular manifestations of COVID-19 infection.
Susan Primo, OD
Jacquelyn O'Banion, MD
The analysis, COVID-19 Related Health Disparities in Ophthalmology with a Retrospective Analysis at a Large Academic Public Hospital
was co-authored by second-year Emory medical student Grace Chung (first author), Grady Hospital optometrist Dr. Christie M. Person, and Emory Eye Center clinicians Susan Primo, OD and Jacquelyn O'Banion, MD.
It's important to perform health disparity research to advance better eye health for marginalized populations and people of color - people who are already facing persistent barriers and poorer health outcomes,
explained Primo.
COVID is just one example of how disproportionate rates and effects in certain communities can be worsened if not addressed. We are honored to contribute to the ophthalmic literature from our patient base at Grady.
Read the entire article online now or see the August 2022 print edition in the Advances in Ophthalmology and Optometry Journal
Now that's how Emory Eye Center celebrates its graduates
A beloved tradition, the Residents and Fellows Weekend, returns for the Class of 22
from left, Mark Morel, Jr., MD, Albert Liao, MD, Saraniya Sathiamoorthi, MD, Emory Eye Center Chair Dr. Allen Beck, Residency Coordinator Tracey Yancey, Residency Director Jeremy Jones, Lauren Hudson, MD, Aditya Rali, MD, Ben Enfield, MD
It was two days that were put on hold for three years.
But for many who participated in the Department of Ophthalmology's 2022 Residents and Fellows Weekend, it was worth the wait. Each year, the decades-old graduation tradition brings together proteges and preceptors for two days of laughter, celebration, and reflection. Scaled down or canceled for three years because of COVID, the 2022 Residents & Fellows Weekend was seen as a must-attend event in 2022.
This is one of the main reasons I love my job,
said Ophthalmology Department Chair Dr. Allen Beck, himself a graduate of the Emory School of Medicine, the Emory Ophthalmology Residency program, and the Emory Glaucoma Fellowship program.
It's this weekend, when we launch the careers of so many promising ophthalmologists - colleagues who literally represent the future of vision health in our region and the world. My only hope, really, is that we continue to connect, to learn from one another. I'm as happy as they are that they have finished their training here. But now I want them to remember to come back.
Is Mulligan
an Emory Eye Center graduate?
The weekend commenced with an 18-hole golf outing at the Stone Mountain Golf Club. Blue skies and gassed-up carts launched gleeful teams of optimistic residents, fellows, and faculty at 7:30 am. By 2 pm, all teams had returned from the par-71 course -- still smiling, but no longer harboring fantasies of a second career as a golf pro.
For the record, the First-Year Residents team bested the entire bunch with a score of 7 over par, while department chair Allen Beck, MD, took home bragging rights for putting closest to the pin. First-year resident Sami Ahmad, who had never before played golf, won the prize for longest drive.
Check out this Flickr slideshow of the day-long outing.
Exploring the science behind the patient care
On June 4, a half-day research session gave residents and fellows the opportunity to explore and showcase their commitment to the science behind clinical practice. Each of the six graduating residents and 13 graduating fellows prepared a 10-minute presentation grounded in their own clinical and academic interests. Retired ophthalmologist and Emory alumnus Liev Tackle, MD awarded the first and second-place presentations, which were:
Residents:
• Dr. Albert Liao's paper When Splits Go Wrong: Surgical Outcomes of Progressive Retinoschisis-related Retinal Detachments: A 17-year Survey from a Large Academic Center,
received top recognition in the category of graduating resident. (Preceptor: Jiong Yan, MD)
• Dr. Mark Morel, Jr, MD, took home second place for Early Corneal Neurotization Outcomes at Emory Eye Center.
(Preceptor: Soroosh Behshad, MD)
Fellows:
• Dr. Matt Boyko received top honor for Retinal & Optic Nerve MRI Diffusion-Weigh ted Imaging Hyperintensity in Acute Non-arteritic Central Retinal Artery Occlusion.
(Preceptors: Nancy J. Newman, MD, and Valerie Biousse, MD.)
• Dr. David Levine received second place for Vitamin A Deficiency Retinopathy
(Preceptor: Nieraj Jain, MD)
The research session was concluded with the Henry F. Edelhauser Lecture in Translational Research, entitled, The Genetics of Ocular Disease.
It was given by Dr. Joan O'Brien, the director of the University of Pennsylvania's Scheie Eye Institute.
Celebrating the grit and brilliance of our colleagues
Before they took their final leave, the graduating residents and fellows were guests of honor at a festive Graduation Banquet, held Saturday, June 4. From the podium, Emory Eye Center residency director Dr. Jeremy Jones made it clear that the current crop of newly minted ophthalmologists was like no other.
To say they were thrown a curveball in their medical training is an understatement,
he said.
Not only have they had to master an ever-increasing amount of information, knowledge, and surgical techniques; they have had to do so in the midst of a global pandemic. Many of our graduating fellows were asked to serve in their programs' ICUs or emergency rooms with little information on how to keep themselves safe from a virus we knew so little about. I'd like to give them all a round of applause, because, in spite of all of this, they came in extraordinarily well-prepared and competent. All of us on faculty know and understand the importance the fellows play in the training here at Emory. They are our first line supervisors and teachers of our residents. And for that, all of us are grateful.
The residents returned Jones's praise with their own slate of awards that spoke volumes about the Emory Eye Center's culture of mutual admiration.
Yousuf Khalifa, MD
Blaine Cribbs, MD
Ted Wojno, MD
• The 2021-22 Thomas M. Aaberg, Sr. Clinical Teaching Award was given to Yousuf Khalifa, M.D., In special recognition of your dedication to resident education, excellence in patient care, and outstanding teaching expertise. You are a role model to us all.
• The Multiple Hats
Award went to Jeremy Jones, MD, the director of resident education, For always knowing when to be our leader, teacher, therapist, and friend. We cannot thank you enough for the past 4 years.
• The Alliance
Award was given to Homaira Ayesha Hossain, MD For helping unite Uveitis and Rheumatology clinics at Grady, one EPIC message at a time.
• The Marathon” Award went to Joshua Barnett, MD, because
You may not be able to run a marathon, but you can definitely operate for 26.2 hours straight in the Grady 4K3 OR.
• The Scheduling Wizard
Award went to Blaine Cribbs, MD, For always knowing exactly which retina patients need Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday follow-up appointments at the VA.
• The You Look Beautiful
Award went to Ted Wojno, MD, For demonstrating the skillful dance that is required when counseling post-op patients.
Check out this Flickr slideshow of the EEC Graduation Banquet
Dr. Sachin Kedar named to the Cyrus H. Stoner Professorship
Emory Eye Center's Vice Chair of Education brings a wealth of service, research, and knowledge to the the renowned professorship
The Emory Eye Center is proud to announce that Sachin Kedar, MBBS, MD, has been appointed to a five-year term as the Cyrus H. Stoner Endowed Professor in Ophthalmology, effective April 1, 2022.
Currently the vice chair of Education for the Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Kedar first came to Emory in 2004 to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship in neuro-ophthalmology. He officially joined the Emory faculty in 2021, happily ending the department's national search for a senior-level neuro-ophthalmology faculty.
I am honored to be appointed as the Cyrus H Stoner Endowed Professor in Ophthalmology, which I see as an opportunity to enhance already outstanding educational programs in ophthalmic education,
said Dr. Kedar. My goal is to make Emory Eye Center, a leader in ophthalmic education.
Prior to joining the Emory Eye Center, Dr. Kedar served as a researcher, faculty member, and physician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where, among other things, he established a robust clinical practice, developed the medical student ophthalmology curriculum, and was named vice chair of Academic Affairs for the Department of Neurological Sciences. His tenure was also marked by numerous pedagogical honors, including the Innovative Teacher Award, the Faculty Mentor of the Year Award, and the 2021 ACGME Palmer J Parker Courage to Teach Award for his contributions to resident education.
We considered ourselves very fortunate to have been able to recruit Dr. Kedar to our faculty last year,
said Dr. Allen Beck, the Emory Eye Center Director and F. Phinizy Calhoun Sr. Chair of Ophthalmology.
And, now, we are delighted that he will continue the tradition of excellence that the Stoner Professorship represents. Dr. Kedar's renown in the field of neurology and neurologic education, his national and international service, and his frequent contributions to the neuro-ophthalmic literature made him an unmistakably strong candidate for the Cyrus H. Stoner Professorship.
Beck's accolades were echoed by Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves in his congratulatory letter:
This level of distinction recognizes your eminence as a scholar, as well as the accomplishments that have placed you at the very top of your field,
Fenves wrote.
Conferral of the title also signifies that you have made substantial contributions to Emory University's mission to create, preserve, teach, and apply knowledge in the service of humanity. You are most deserving of this prestigious honor. Thank you for enriching Emory's intellectual community.
Established by the estate of Cyrus H. Stoner, '32M, the endowed professorship provides salary and support for a senior physician and faculty member in ophthalmology at the Emory Eye Center. Dr. Stoner practiced ophthalmology at Georgia Baptist Hospital from 1946 until his retirement in 1980 and was a member of Emory's clinical faculty for most of those years. The Learning Resource Center at The Emory Eye Center is named in recognition of his years of service and generosity. The endowed professorship was Stoner's gift to future ophthalmologists.
Previous recipients of Cyrus H. Stoner Professorship are Dr. Kedar's colleagues in EEC's neuro-ophthalmology section: Dr. Valerie Biousse and Dr.Nancy J. Newman.
Dr. Michelle Cabrera explores diagnostic strategy for infants
The Knights Templar speaker shares her experience using optical coherence tomography
The Emory Eye Center was honored to have Michelle Cabrera, MD headline the May 20 Grand Rounds seminar with her talk, Handheld OCT as a Tool to Diagnose ROP.
Sponsored by the Knights Templar Foundation, Cabrera's presentation focused on the use of handheld optical coherence tomography (OCT) to assess retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a condition in which abnormal blood vessel growth can contribute to vision loss in some premature infants.
The chief of the Pediatric Ophthalmology Division at the University of Washington Medical School, Cabrera practices at Seattle's Children Hospital Ophthalmology Clinic. Her specialties include amblyopia and refractive error in children, strabismus, pediatric cataracts, and nasolacrimal disorders.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging technology that delivers immediate results. It is often used to diagnose macular degeneration in adults. In her pediatric ophthalmic practice, Cabrera has used a hand-held version of OCT to successfully obtain vitreoretinal findings. In addition to discussing her experience with the hand-held OCT, Cabrera explored standard and cutting-edge ROP diagnostic criteria in her presentation.
We were thrilled to have Dr. Cabrera share her professional experience with our residents, fellows, and staff physicians,
said Amy Hutchinson, MD, the director of Emory Eye Center's Pediatric Ophthalmology Division.
Her innovative work in this area has the potential to reduce the need for traumatic scleral depressed retinal examinations and truly transform the way we deliver care to these fragile babies.
ARVO appoints Dr. Hans Grossniklaus to presidency
Declares The Beauty of Diversity in Nature and Science
as the guiding principle behind his term
Dr. Hans Grossniklaus addressing his ARVO colleagues after formally accepting his new role.
On Wednesday, May 4 Dr. Hans Grossniklaus was formally appointed president of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) - the largest vision research organization in the world. At ceremonies held during the final day of the 2022 ARVO annual meeting in Denver, Grossniklaus officially took the reins from outgoing president Maureen Maguire, PhD and established his theme for next year's annual ARVO meeting to be The Beauty of Diversity in Nature and Science.
The appointment came as no surprise to those who know the longtime clinical pathologist and physician, currently the vice chair for Translational Research at the Emory Eye Center.
Dr. Allen Beck
Hans's approach to ophthalmic research fully embodies the spirit and potential of translational research,
said Emory Eye Center director and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Allen Beck.
He has dedicated his career to studying and treating patients with ocular melanoma, a life-threatening disease that may be first diagnosed on an eye examination. His work is a testimony to both his commitment to patients and his powerful intellect.
The new title conjured up humbling memories for Grossniklaus.
When I came to Emory, my research mentor was a past president of ARVO, [former director of EEC Research] Dr. Henry Edelhauser-the best translational research scientist in ophthalmology,
he said.
If I aspire to anything, it is to deserve a place alongside the truly great researchers who mentored me - Henry Edelhauser is certainly one, as is Lorenz Zimmerman and Dick Green. It's certainly true that I stand on the shoulders of giants.
It is a tradition for each ARVO president to establish a theme to guide their tenure. Grossniklaus explained that his theme comes from a deeply held conviction about optimizing both his research and the environment that produces it. Research is more rigorous and more productive, he noted, if it is accomplished from different perspectives, approaches, and data interpretations. Likewise, more diversity among the ranks of ARVO can only strengthen the organization's impact on the field.
Diversity is a hallmark of nature and has provided us with a beautiful natural world,
he said from the podium. Likewise, there is mechanistic diversity in ocular disease, and we, as vision scientists, are a diverse group with multiple backgrounds and perspectives. Imagine if we are able to fully embrace this diversity.
Grossniklaus praised ARVO's culture, which he characterized as being open to new ideas, innovation, and broad-based participation by members. He hopes to build on that by promoting opportunities to diversify the Board of Trustees, improve the nominating process, and encouraging corporate sponsorship of travel awards and scholarships for under-represented groups at ARVO events. All of this is particularly important for scientists who are just starting their careers, he noted.
I know this because I have seen how ARVO works. I presented my first poster at an ARVO conference in 1983. It was
Glycosidases in Macular Cornea Dystrophy.
The presenter next to me was a well-known senior scientific investigator, Gordon Klintworth. To say he was well-established is an understatement. But when he started asking me questions about my work, that was not a barrier. We just fell into a conversation that was based on our mutual interest in the research. That's the sort of connection that can shape a career. And I've had many like it over the years. So, the idea behind this theme, really, is that I am paying it forward.
Outgoing ARVO president Maureen Maguire welcomes Dr. Hans Grossniklaus to his new term as ARVO president
Emory Eye Center welcomes NEI Director Michael F. Chiang
John Nickerson and his research team spent an afternoon discussing new findings
There was a true meeting of the minds
on April 21 when National Eye Institute (NEI) director Dr. Michael F. Chiang stopped by the Emory Eye Center to discuss ongoing research projects with the Ophthalmology Department's team of faculty and post-graduate investigators.
The atmosphere was collegial but charged as Chiang listened attentively to the progress reports delivered by director, John Nickerson, PhD and seven researchers: Ross Ethier, Deepta Ghate, Sayantan Datta, Andrew Feola, Hans Grossniklaus, Michael Iuvone, and Jeff Boatright.
Chiang was fascinated by Ghate's presentation, Differential High-Level Visual Impairments and their Impact on Quality of Life in Glaucoma,
which explored the ways in which specific high-level visual impairments tend to differentially impact a patient's quality of life. In particular, it looked at the impact on routine life activities, such as face recognition, scene navigation, and risk of falling.
It's hard to come up with end points for all of the research we do in special diseases,
he noted. Visual acuity is a good measure, but is there a quality of life instrument that will work with other diseases? This is important work.
He also applauded the multidisciplinary approach of the different research teams, some of which included engineering faculty and researchers from the Georgia Tech School of Biomedical Engineering.
The eye and visual system are an incredible system for methodological scientific innovation which can eventually be applied to improve patient care,
he said. It's exciting to see collaborative research here that fits this model: graduate students at Georgia Tech working with ophthalmologists at Emory together to develop creative new solutions to problems.
As director of Emory's ophthalmic research efforts, Nickerson was only too happy to join in the discussions that followed each presentation.
Now more than ever, the Emory Eye Center is expanding our research program to keep pace with the need for new treatments, options, and perspectives in vision health. The presentations Dr. Chiang saw today demonstrated that there's no shortage of innovation in the next generation of researchers,
said Nickerson.
But it was particularly encouraging for those new researchers - and for me - to see firsthand how open Dr. Chiang is to new approaches. That's the sort of leadership that bodes well for the field.
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