Faculty

CHAIR

Emmett Cunningham, Jr, MD, PhD

Dr. Cunningham is currently director of the uveitis service at California Pacific Medical Center; adjunct clinical professor of ophthalmology at Stanford University School of Medicine; research associate at the Francis I. Proctor Foundation, UCSF School of Medicine; partner at West Coast Retina Medical Group; and partner at Clarus Ventures, LLC.

Dr. Cunningham is an internationally recognized authority in the field of infectious and inflammatory eye disease, having written over 300 publications. Dr. Cunningham was clinical professor and director of the uveitis service at NYU from 2002 to 2005 and director of both the uveitis service and the Kimura Ocular Immunology Laboratory at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) from 1995 to 2001.

Dr. Cunningham received an MD and MPH in epidemiology and statistics from Johns Hopkins University, and a PhD in neuroscience from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) for work at the Salk Institute. He completed a residency in ophthalmology and fellowship training in corneal disease, external disease and uveitis at UCSF and the Francis I. Proctor Foundation, a medical retina and uveitis fellowship at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, and a fellowship in public health ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

Dr. Cunningham founded and is the chair of the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (www.ophthalmologysummit.com), a well-attended symposium held in conjunction with the annual meetings of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, and the American Society of Retinal Surgeons. The Ophthalmology Innovation Summit brings together leading companies, clinicians, academics and investors in the ophthalmology space. Dr. Cunningham is on the board of the Alta Foundation, Restoration Robotics, Annexon Biosciences, ViewPoint Therapeutics, SFJ V, and GrayBug Vision. He served previously on the Boards of SARcode Biosciences (acquired by Shire) and Neomend (acquired by Bard). He is a board observer for Avillion and Lumos and is on the Scientific Advisory Board of Aerie Pharmaceuticals and Achillion Pharmaceuticals.

Financial disclosure: I do not have any affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

CO-CHAIR

Chloe Gottlieb, MD

Dr. Gottlieb is a physician at the Ottawa Hospital specializing in the care of adults and children with inflammatory ocular diseases (uveitis) and retinal disorders. She is assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Ottawa Eye Institute, and a clinical researcher with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI). Dr. Gottlieb graduated from the University of Waterloo in 2000 with a bachelor of science degree and completed medical school at McMaster University in 2003. She completed a residency in ophthalmology at Dalhousie University (2003-2008) and went on to do sub-specialty training in a 2-year fellowship in ocular immunology and medical retina at the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health in Washington, DC. At the Ottawa Hospital and University of Ottawa, Dr. Gottlieb is involved in clinical and surgical teaching of medical students and residents. She has been a speaker at local, national, and international conferences in her area of expertise. She is active in research protocols at the OHRI.

Ike Ahmed, MD

Ike Ahmed is a fellowship-trained glaucoma, cataract, and anterior segment surgeon with a practice focus on the surgical management of glaucoma and complex cataract and intraocular lens complications. He is board certified in ophthalmology in Canada and the USA and is an active member of numerous national and international societies.

Dr. Ahmed has become world renowned for his skills and groundbreaking work in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of highly complex eye diseases, including glaucoma and surgical complications. He is recognized as one of the most experienced complex eye surgeons in the world and has trained numerous surgeons in innovative surgical techniques. Furthermore, he has been at the leading edge of novel treatments for glaucoma, cataract, and lens implant surgery. He has been invited to perform surgery in four continents.

In 2010, Dr. Ahmed was selected as one of Canada's "Top 40 under 40" - a prestigious national award recognizing significant achievements at a young age. In 2014, Dr. Ahmed was selected to receive the prestigious Binkhorst medal at ASCRS, which has been awarded to the world's most prominent ophthalmologists whose careers have made significant contributions to the science and practice of ophthalmology.

Dr. Ahmed has a keen interest in the development of advanced microsurgical devices and techniques in glaucoma surgery and complicated cataract extraction. He has received research grants to study glauscoma medications, glaucoma laser and surgucial devices/techniques, angle closure glaucoma, anterior segment and retinal/optic nerve imaging in glaucoma, cataract surgical techniques and devices, and intraocular lens designs. Dr. Ahmed has designed innovative glaucoma diamond scalpels for surgery, microsurgical instrumentation, and devices, implants, and techniques for the management of the dislocated cataract, iris reconstruction, and glaucoma implant devices. He has done pioneering work in innovative glaucoma surgery, developing and coining the term "micro-invasive glaucoma surgery" (MIGS) as a new genre of surgical approaches and devices. He also performed the first laser cataract surgery in Canada.

Dr. Ahmed founded and directs the Toronto Cataract Course and the COS Surgical Teaching Series, as well as a number of AAO and ASCRS courses. He is currently an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, and a clinical professor at the University of Utah. He is the director of the Glaucoma and Advanced Anterior Segment Surgery fellowship at the University of Toronto, and director of research at the Kensinton Eye Institute, University of Toronto. Dr. Ahmed has a large tertiary glaucoma/cataract practice at Credit Valley EyeCare and Osler EyeCare in the Greater Toronto Area, and primarily performs surgery at the Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ontario, the Kensington Eye Institute, University of Toronto, and TLC Mississauga.

Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization. C = consultant/consulting fees, S = speakers' honorarium, R = research grant/support.

Marie-Josee Aubin, MD, MPH, MSc (PHO)

Dr. Aubin is a uveitis specialist at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, in Montréal. She has a double appointment as an associate professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology and of Social and Preventive Medicine at the Université de Montréal.

Dr. Aubin earned her medical degree at McGill University. She completed an ophthalmology residency at the Université de Montréal, followed by a fellowship in uveitis at La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, France. She holds a master's in public health from the Université de Montréal, where she was awarded the Prix Armand-Frappier, and a master's in public health ophthalmology from the International Center for Eye Health in London, UK.

Her research and teaching interests include access to eye care services, international blindness prevention, screening strategies in ophthalmology, and the study of infectious and inflammatory eye diseases. She is engaged in public health international activities.

Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

1. Abbvie

Thuy Doan, MD, PhD

Dr. Doan is currently a clinical instructor and the director of the Ralph and Sophie Heintz Laboratory at the F.I. Proctor Foundation/University of California, San Francisco. She obtained her PhD at the University of Washington and her MD at Stanford University. She then completed her ophthalmology residency and a fellowship in uveitis at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on the identification of infectious and autoimmune causes of uveitis using genomic technologies.

Financial disclosure: I do not have any affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

Eric Fortin, MD

Dr. Fortin is a graduate of the Université Laval medical program and ophthalmology residency program. He completed fellowship training in uveitis and ocular immunology at the National Eye Institute (1996-1998) in Bethesda, Maryland. He is presently assistant professor of ophthalmology with the Université de Montréal and focuses his practice on pediatric and adult uveitis at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. He is chief of the uveitis section for the department of ophthalmology at Université de Montréal and was the first president (2003-2006) and founding member of the Canadian Uveitis Society. He has represented Canada in many international organisations including the IOIS and has has been involved in organizing national and international symposia on uveitis. He is dedicated to teaching with residents and fellows and has received awards from the faculty of medicine of the Université de Montréal for his involvement. His current research interests focus on pediatric uveitis, infectious causes of uveitis and immunosuppression.

Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

1. Abbvie
2. Allergan
3. Alcon/Novartis

Debra Goldstein, MD

Dr. Goldstein received her medical degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where she subsequently completed an ophthalmology residency. She then pursued a fellowship in uveitis and ocular immunology at McGill followed by a second fellowship in uveitis at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Goldstein has published over 100 papers in peer reviewed journals and has lectured widely all over the world. She has done extensive investigator initiated and multicentre research. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and honours including the Senior Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the AAO Secretariat Award for special contributions to the academy, as well as an AOA clinical teaching award. She was twice awarded the Golden Apple Award for Best Teacher in Ophthalmology when she was a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Goldstein is currently a professor of Ophthalmology and the director of the Uveitis Service at the Department of Ophthalmology at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine.

Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

Phil Hooper, MD

Dr. Hooper is engaged in full time academic practice in retina and uveitis at the Ivey Institute, Western University, London Ontario. He currently serves as editor of the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology and co-chaired the Ontario Retina Quality based Procedures panel.

Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

1. Novartis
2. Abbvie

Douglas A. Jabs, MD, MBA

Dr. Jabs is professor of ophthalmology and medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is an internationally recognized clinician scientist and is the chair of Multicenter Uveitis Treatment Trial, Standardization of Uveitis Nomenclature, and Studies of the Ocular Complications of AIDS Research Groups.

Financial disclosure: I do not have any affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

Amin Kherani, MD

Dr. Kherani is an ophthalmologist, vitreoretinal specialist, and associate clinical professor at the University of Calgary. He has been a strong program advocate locally, helping to shape academic growth within the residency program as the inaugural director. He also co-directs the retinal fellowship program in Calgary.

He has been instrumental in the growth and development of the conjoint uveitis-rheumatology program, a unique collaboration of specialists to help a complex group of patients. He is a cofounder of both the Calgary Retina Consultants and Southern Alberta Eye Centre, a state-of-the-art integrated diagnostic, clinical and outpatient surgery facility.

In addition to his busy practice, Dr. Kherani is very active as a surgical educator and lecturer and maintains a substantial academic and research program, making significant contributions to the medical literature. He volunteers as president of the University Eye Foundation, a local charity that supports ophthalmology program development. Recently, he was appointed as president of the Canadian Retina Society.

Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

Phoebe Lin, MD, PhD

Dr. Lin is an assistant professor of ophthalmology, a vitreoretinal surgeon, and an uveitis specialist at the Casey Eye Institute in Oregon Health & Science University. She completed a biochemistry degree from Washington University, MD/PhD degrees from the University of Illinois, and ophthalmology residency at the University of California San Francisco. She then went to Duke University for a 2-year fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery followed by a 1-year uveitis fellowship at the Casey Eye Institute. She is the author of 39 peer-reviewed articles, five chapters, and 28 abstracts on the topics of immunology, ocular inflammation, and retinal diseases. At Casey Eye Institute, she runs a basic science lab investigating novel mechanisms and therapeutics of animal models of uveitis with the support of NEI K08 and RPB CDA funding. She also teaches residents, retina and uveitis fellows, and medical students.

Financial disclosure: I have/had a affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

1. Abbvie

Elisabetta Miserocchi, MD

Dr. Miserocchi is a consultant ophthalmologist of the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Service, based at University Hospital San Raffaele Milan, Italy in the department headed by Professor Francesco Bandello. After graduating with a medical degree from the University of Milan in 1996, Dr. Miserocchi completed a 4-year residency in the Department of Ophthalmology at the San Raffaele Hospital, including a 2-year research fellowship at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, part of Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, USA with Dr. Stephen Foster.

Her main areas of interest and activity are diagnosis and treatment of uveitis, pediatric uveitis associated with rheumatic diseases, ocular cicatricial pemphigoid, and herpetic ocular disease. Dr. Miserocchi is also currently participating in many international multicentre clinical trials on systemic immunosuppressive agents for non-infectious uveitis.

Dr. Miserocchi is a member of the International Uveitis Study Group and the American Uveitis Society. She is widely published in peer-reviewed journals and has presented her work at a number of national and international congresses. In 2012, she delivered the SOI-SOE Lecture at the Società Oftalmologica Italiana annual meeting in Rome on new treatments in non-infectious uveitis. Dr. Miserocchi has conducted research and applied new therapies to further the diagnosis and treatment of non-infectious uveitis.

Financial disclosure: I have/had a affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

Ramana (Bob) Moorthy, MD

Dr. Moorthy is a diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is currently serving as president and CEO of Associated Vitreoretinal and Uveitis Consultants.

In addition to his practice duties, Dr. Moorthy has been a clinical associate professor of ophthalmology at the Indiana University School of Medicine since 1995. He is the director of the Uveitis Service at Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is also actively involved in research and education, and has published 100 papers, presentations, lectures, book chapters, and other publications. His current research interests are in sustained intraocular drug delivery, the role of bone marrow derived CD34 cells in diabetic retinopathy, drug-induced uveitis, and consumer laser safety.

After graduating summa cum laude with a BS degree in electrical engineering from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Dr. Moorthy received a medical degree with highest distinction from the Indiana University School of Medicine. He completed an internship in general surgery and a residency in ophthalmology at the Indiana University School of Medicine, where he was the chief teaching resident. He also completed fellowships at the Doheny Eye Institute (uveitis 1992-1993) and at Northwestern University (retina 1993-1995).

Financial disclosure: I do not have any affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

David Sarraf, MD

Dr. Sarraf is clinical professor of ophthalmology at the Stein Eye Institute at UCLA and member of the Retinal Disorders and Ophthalmic Genetics Division. He has published approximately 150 research papers, case reports, reviews, and book chapters and is co-author for the second edition of the Retina Atlas.

Dr. Sarraf's focus of research is the dry and wet forms of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), specifically, the evaluation of pigment epithelial detachment and retinal pigment epithelial tears. He was nominated to the American Ophthalmological Society because of his research work on the subject of PED and AMD.

Dr. Sarraf is a leader in advanced retinal imaging and has published extensively in the area of spectral domain OCT analysis of AMD and other novel and established macular disorders. He was one of the first researchers to describe ischemia of the deep retinal capillary plexus using advanced SD OCT imaging and is a world expert on the clinical application of OCT angiography.

Dr. Sarraf is assistant editor of the journal Retina and associate editor for Retinal Cases and Brief Reports; he is an editorial board member of OSLI Retina. He has served on the BCSC section of the AAO that has completed the most recent edition of the retina volume and has been awarded Achievement and Secretariat awards by the AAO.

Dr. Sarraf is also co-director of the Pacific Retina Club and the International Retinal Imaging Symposium and is a member of the ASRS, Retina Society and Gass Club and has served as an executive board member in the Macula Society. He also serves as an advisory board member of DRCR Network and Optovue.

Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

1. Regeneron
2. Genentech
3. Allergan
4. Optovue

Nasrin Tehrani, MD

Dr. Tehrani is a pediatric ophthalmologist. She comes to Sick Kids following completion of training in medicine, ophthalmology, and pediatric ophthalmology in the UK. She has completed subspecialty fellowship training in uveitis and pediatric ophthalmology in Birmingham, UK, and a pediatric ophthalmology fellowship in Toronto. During her residency, Dr. Tehrani completed an MSc in health care planning and management. She brings with her the richness of experience of practising pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus on three continents.

Her clinical work includes treating children of all ages with the most medically and surgically challenging conditions. Her areas of special expertise include diseases of the anterior segment, specifically pediatric cataracts and glaucoma. In addition, she has had training in the diagnosis and management of inflammatory eye diseases (uveitis) and volunteers her time as a speaker in all the above subspecialty areas in international ophthalmology conferences to help the medical education of pediatricians and ophthalmologists in Canada and abroad. In her duties at the University of Toronto, Dr. Tehrani is responsible for the education of all medical students in pediatric ophthalmology and also teaches pediatric ophthalmology to all Canadian ophthalmology residents in the TORIC course.

Since arriving at Sick Kids, Dr. Tehrani has headed the retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening and treatment service. Her work has resulted in significant improvements in vision outcomes for this population of infants. Dr. Tehrani's commitment to improving ophthalmic care and access to screening for premature infants at risk of ROP in Ontario has resulted in the development of the only telemedicine program for ROP screening in Canada. In 2010, this program was recognized in the Health Achievement celebrations by Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long-term Care.

Dr. Tehrani has introduced several new treatments and surgical innovations in the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, including introducing foldable intraocular lenses, intracameral antibiotics for cataract surgery, and the use of anti-VEGF medications for treatment of ROP.

Dr. Tehrani is married and has two children. She devotes her spare time to providing ophthalmic care to homeless youth and families in Toronto.

Mirjam van Velthoven, MD, PhD

Dr. van Velthoven started her career in ophthalmology in 2002 working as a PhD student at the University Hospital in Amsterdam (Netherlands). In 2006 she received her PhD degree for work entitled "En-face Optical Coherence Tomography of the Retina," which included publications in Retina, the American Journal of Ophthalmology, and Progress in Retina and Eye Research. In 2008, she received the F.C. Donders Award for her thesis. She finished her ophthalmology residency at the same hospital in 2011, after which she served a 1-year fellowship in uveitis and medical retina at the Rotterdam Eye Hospital (Netherlands). She was invited to stay on as a consultant, and since September 2012 has been working as a consultant for the Uveitis and Medical Retina Service at the Rotterdam Eye Hospital. She is actively involved in clinical research related to optical coherence tomography imaging and uveitis.

Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.

1. Abbvie
2. Novartis
3. Bayer
4. Abbvie
5. Allergan