Eduardo Alfonso, MD, Director
Michael A. Kass, MD, Chairman
Stephen D. McLeod, MD, Director
Joan Miller, MD, Director
David J. Wilson, MD, Director
Eduardo C. Alfonso, MD, Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and director of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute's patient care facilities, Anne Bates Leach Eye Hospital in Miami, and outpatient facilities in Palm Beach Gardens, Plantation and Naples, Florida, is one of the most recognized ophthalmologists in the world. Holder of the Edward W. D. Norton Professor of Ophthalmology until 2009, when he was named to the Kathleen and Stanley Glaser Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology, he is known for his clinical expertise in diseases and surgery of the cornea and ocular microbiology and laser vision correction. He has published numerous articles in refereed journals, chapters, and has been guest lecturer nationally and internationally. He is fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology where he has been awarded the distinguished honor award and senior honor award. He has been named as one of America's Top Doctors since 1992. Dr. Alfonso graduated summa cum laude from Yale University in 1976. He graduated from Yale Medical School in 1980. His ophthalmology residency was completed at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami School of Medicine. He completed fellowships in cornea and ocular pathology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Harvard Medical School.
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Michael Kass, MD, is the Bernard Becker Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Kass did his undergraduate work at the University of Michigan and then received an M.D. and M.S. (Neurophysiology) from Northwestern University. He was a resident, chief resident and Glaucoma Fellow at Washington University.
Dr. Kass was an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Glaucoma Service at Yale University School of Medicine. He then joined the faculty at Washington University in 1975 rising from Assistant Professor to Professor and Chairman in 1998.
Dr. Kass has been active in many ophthalmic organizations. He has served as Secretary of Continuing Education of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and as a Director of the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation. He is currently on the National Eye Institute Data and Safety Monitoring Committee for Intramural Clinical Trials. He has been active at Washington University Chairing the Governance Committee and the Faculty Practice Plan Finance Committee, as wall as serving as Chair of the Liaison Committee for Medical Education. Dr. Kass is the Chief of Ophthalmology for Barnes Jewish Hospital where he has served as Chairman of the Medical Executive Committee. Dr. Kass has served on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Ophthalmology, Vision Research and The Sight Saving Review.
Dr. Kass has published more than 160 peer reviewed papers and has given eleven named lectures including the Calhoun, Sugar, Fralick and Shaffer Lectures. Dr. Kass received the Lewis Rudin Glaucoma Prize in 2003 and the Senior Honor Award and Life Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Dr. Kass has had a long interest in glaucoma and aqueous humor dynamics. He has received numerous grants from the National Eye Institute and from Industry.
For the past 16 years Dr. Kass has been the Principal Investigator of the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study. He and his colleagues determined that early treatment of elevated intraocular pressure reduced the incidence of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). They have also identified predictive factors to assess the risk of developing POAG in ocular hypertensive patients.
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Stephen D. McLeod, MD, is the Theresa M. and Wayne M. Caygill M.D. Endowed Chair and Professor and Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco.
Dr. McLeod's subspecialties include refractive surgery, and cornea and external disease. In the field of refractive surgery, Dr. McLeod's work involves the diagnosis and surgical management of refractive error through techniques such as laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). In the field of cornea and external disease, Dr. McLeod diagnoses and treats of corneal, conjunctival and anterior segment disorders, corneal infection, inflammation and opacification, ocular surface tumors, trauma, adult cataract and intraocular lens complications, as well as infantile developmental corneal anomalies and pediatric cataract.
Dr. McLeod's research interests are broad, extending from refractive surgery to the diagnosis and management of eye infections both in the U.S. and in the developing world. His major areas of work include the development of implanted accommodating devices for the treatment of presbyopia, as well as the development of materials to improve the performance of artificial corneas. He is also conducting a series of studies designed to improve diagnostic tests for bacterial infections of the eye, a major blinding condition around the world.
Dr. McLeod is active in a number of national organizations. He serves as an examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology; co-editor for the Archives of Ophthalmology OnLine; and as an editorial board member for the Archives of Ophthalmology, the scientific ophthalmology journal of the American Medical Association. He also serves on the ophthalmic devices advisory panel of the FDA.
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Joan W. Miller, MD, is the Henry Willard Williams Professor of Ophthalmology & Chair, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School and Chief of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Joan Whitten Miller was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School. She completed her ophthalmology residency and a vitreo-retinal fellowship at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dr. Miller is the first female physician promoted to the rank of Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, and the first woman to serve as chair of the Department of Ophthalmology. Additionally, Dr. Miller is the director of Mass. Eye and Ear's Angiogenesis Laboratory and a vitreo-retinal physician in the Retina Service at the Infirmary.
Dr. Miller's research interests focus on ocular neovascularization, particularly as it relates to age related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy, including the molecular mechanisms of angiogenesis and neuroprotection, the development of effective therapies, and drug delivery. She and her colleagues at Mass. Eye and Ear pioneered the development of photodynamic therapy (PDT) using verteporphin (Visudyne®), the first pharmacologic therapy for AMD able to reduce and slow vision loss. The group also identified the importance of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in neovascular AMD, and helped develop the anti-VEGF therapies pegaptanib and ranibizumab—the latter able to improve vision in about one-third of patients with neovascular AMD. While these approaches have improved the outlook for patients with AMD, Dr. Miller and her colleagues continue investigations to elucidate the pathophysiology of vision loss and improve therapies for AMD.
An internationally recognized expert in the field of macular degeneration, Dr. Miller has published more than 130 peer-reviewed papers, 50 book chapters and review articles, is co-editor of the third edition of Albert and Jakobiec's Principles and Practice of Ophthalmology, and is a named inventor on nine U.S. patents and five Canadian patents. She has received numerous awards, including the Rosenthal Award and Donald J. Gass Medal of the Macula Society, the Retina Research Award from the Club Jules Gonin, the Alcon Research Institute Award, the ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmic Translational Research Award, the Founder's Award from the American Society of Retinal Specialists, the Harvard Medical School 2010 Joseph B. Martin Dean's Leadership Award for the Advancement of Women Faculty, the Suzanne Veronneau-Troutman Award from Women in Ophthalmology, the Paul Henkind Memorial Award from the Macula Society, and the Senior Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Miller will deliver the 2012 Edward Jackson Lecture for the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Dr. Miller and her husband John live in Winchester, MA. John, a construction attorney, specializes in domestic and international engineering procurement and public-private partnerships in global infrastructure. Their son John, the eldest of three children, is currently an ophthalmology resident at Harvard Medical School. Their son Douglas is a 2010 graduate of Harvard College, where he was co-captain of his college basketball team; he now works in construction management for Schernecker Property Services. Daughter Mary graduated from Harvard College in 2011, and is working as a paralegal for the law firm Harkins Cunningham LLP in Philadelphia.
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David J. Wilson, MD, is Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, Director of the Casey Eye Institute, and Thiele-Petti Chair in Ophthalmology in the School of Medicine @ Oregon Health & Science University. He assumed the chairmanship of ophthalmology in 2005. Before becoming chair, he served as director of the Department of Ophthalmology residency program and the retina fellowship program. He is director of the Christensen Eye Pathology Laboratory at Casey Eye Institute. As department chair, Dr. Wilson provides the institutional leadership and the clinical and academic experience necessary to continue building a program of national prominence.
Dr. Wilson is a member of the Verhoeff Society, the Macula Society, and the American Ophthalmological Society. In 2007, he began serving on the American Board of Ophthalmology.
Dr. Wilson received his bachelor's degree in chemistry at Stanford University (Phi Beta Kappa) and his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine (Alpha Omega Alpha). He completed his residency in ophthalmology at OHSU, a research and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Ophthalmic Consultants in Boston.
Dr. Wilson's primary areas of interest include eye pathology, clinicopathologic correlation of ocular disease, macular degeneration and surgery, and ocular oncology. As chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Wilson limits his practice to ocular oncology.
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