Yvonne M. Buys, MD
Chair, 2015 COS Annual Meeting
Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, University of Toronto
Co-Director, Glaucoma Unit, University Health Network
Research interests: Glaucoma epidemiology. Health economics. Surgical innovations in glaucoma and cataract. Optic nerve imaging. Sleep issues in glaucoma. IOP variations, diurnal and positional. Ocular blood flow.
Leadership positions: Annual Meeting Chair and Board Member of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society; Planning Committee member for glaucoma subspecialty day at the American Academy of Ophthalmology; glaucoma section editor for the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology; Past-President of the Canadian Glaucoma Society; Past-President and founding member of the Toronto Area Glaucoma Society; noneconomic loss physician for the WSIB; past examiner for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada; member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the Toronto Hospital Research Institute, among many others. Published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 12 invited editorials and seven book chapters. Trained over 20 glaucoma fellows, from all continents and from countries as far away as Saudi Arabia and Australia
Special honours: Toronto Hospital Anderson Award (1998); University of Toronto Clive Mortimer Postgraduate Teaching Award (1999).
Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.
- Aerie pharmaceuticals
- Allergan
Larry Allen, MD
Financial disclosure: I do not have any affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.
Iqbal Ike K. Ahmed, MD
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Clinical Professor, University of Utah
Fellowship Director, Glaucoma & Anterior Segment Surgery (GAASS) Fellowship, University of Toronto
Research Director, Kensington Eye Institute, University of Toronto
Division Head, Ophthalmology, Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, ON
Medical Director, GoEyeCare, Mississauga, Ontario
Co-Medical Director, TLC Mississauga
Ike Ahmed is a fellowship-trained glaucoma, cataract, and anterior segment surgeon with a practice focus on the surgical management of glaucoma, 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 being 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. Patients are referred to him locally, nationally, and from around the world. He has been invited to perform surgery in 4 continents across the globe. 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, and is actively involved in research and medical education at a national and international level. He has received research grants to study glaucoma medications, glaucoma laser and surgical 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. As a result of his innovative expertise, Dr. Ahmed has been asked to consult for a variety of companies and manufacturers, especially pertaining to the development of new devices and technologies.
He founded and directs the Toronto Cataract Course and the COS Surgical Teaching Series, as well as a number of AAO and ASCRS Courses. He directed the third International Congress on Glaucoma Surgery in May 2006 in Toronto. He sits on the editorial boards of Ophthalmology, Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology, Ocular Surgery News, Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today, and Glaucoma Today, and is a reviewer for numerous journals.
Dr. Ahmed has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers, as well as numerous book chapters, and has won five film festival awards, six best papers of session, and a poster award at ASCRS, as well as an ESCRS first place video award and AAO « Best of Show » award. He has given over 750 scientific presentations thus far in his career, including 31 visiting professor’s lectures around the world.
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 (GAASS) fellowship at the University of Toronto, and Director of Research at the Kensington Eye Institute, University of Toronto. He has trained glaucoma specialists who are now practicing in Canada and around the world, as well as residents and medical students. 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, Toronto, Ontario, 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
- Abbott Medical Optics (AMO): C, S, R
- Accelerated Vision: C
- ACE Vision Group: C
- AdeTherapeutics: C
- Aerie Pharmaceuticals: C
- Alcon: C,S,R
- Allergan: C,S,R
- Aquesys: C, R
- Bausch and Lomb: C
- Carl Zeiss Meditec: C,S,R
- Clarity Medical Systems: C, S
- Envisia Therapeutics: C
- ForSight Labs: C
- Glaukos: C, R
- InnFocus: C
- Iridex: C
- Ivantis: C, R
- LayerBio: C
- New World Medical: R
- Omega Ophthalmics: C
- Oculus: C
- Ono Pharma: C
- PolyActiva: C
- Sanoculis: C
- Science Based Health: C
- Stroma: C
- Transcend Medical: C, R
- TrueVision: C
Ralph Burhmann, MD
Jean Deschênes, MD
Dr. Jean Deschênes is professor of ophthalmology at McGill University. His main clinical and research interest are treating immune related problems of the eye involving uveitis, cornea and the anterior segment.
He was the first in the Department of Ophthalmology to become a Chercheur Boursier for the Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec for funds to support his work in ocular immunology. Thus, Dr. Deschênes set up a practice centre for seeing patients in ocular immunology dealing with uveitis, external disease and cornea.
In teaching, a new section of ophthalmology, concerning ocular immunology and uveitis, was set up, a facility that was unique in Quebec and Canada, and which became well known. With all of the developments in ocular immunology occurring at McGill, there were many publications and invitations for Dr. Deschênes to write chapters in prominent textbooks. From the research point of view, his and the research unit’s major contribution has been in the understanding of the normal immunology of the eye and the changes occurring in ocular inflammation.
In addition, over the years, innovative treatments were developed in the ocular immunology and AIDS clinics. Beyond the research done and treatments developed at the research ophthalmology immunology unit, it was not long after its creation that the unit began to produce additional ocular immunologists, with fellows and research trainees doing rotations under the direction of Dr. Deschênes. Many of the residents and fellows who worked with Dr. Deschênes are now well established in university centres in Canada, South America and the United States.
Ocular immunology has become an important part of the program for teaching clinical care and research. Its international reputation is growing and McGill is known as a centre where treatment of immune diseases of the eye is first rate with excellent research being done.
In addition to his work at McGill and its hospitals, Dr. Deschênes has also found time to be active in many professional associations including, among others, the Canadian Ophthalmological Society, the Association des médecins ophtalmologistes du Québec as president and the International Uveitis Study Group. He has also been an Associate Dean in the Faculty of Medicine and acted as the Residency Training Program Director.
The university’s reputation as a leading centre in immune disease treatment and research can largely be attributed to Dr. Deschênes’ work. He is a first rate teacher and role model for colleagues and students, combining clinical ophthalmology and research. A prodigious worker, it is fortunate that he is physically strong, a quality that he goes to great lengths to maintain, including having a gymnasium installed in the basement of his house. Despite being incredibly busy and in demand, he always finds time to talk to colleagues and residents. He is indeed a leader in his field and has brought luster to the McGill Department. That he can perform all of the duties of a clinician, as well as those of an internationally known researcher, is indeed remarkable.
Financial disclosure: I do not have any affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.
Murray Erasmus, MD
Bryce Ford, MD
Dr. Ford is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary. He graduated from medical school at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and performed his residency in ophthalmology at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He subsequently completed a Glaucoma fellowship with Dr. Bruce Shields at Yale University. He practices in a glaucoma-oriented academic private practice with Dr. Andy Crichton and Dr. Gord Douglas in Calgary, Alberta, and is actively involved in resident and medical student education.
Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.
- Allergan
- Alcon
Jane A. Gardiner, MD
Pediatric ophthalmologist at British Columbia Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.
Dr. Gardiner graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s and went on to do a residency in ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She subsequently did a fellowship in Oculoplastics at UBC and Moorfields Eye Hospital and a fellowship in Pediatric Ophthalmology at the Hospital for Sick Children. She returned to British Columbia Children’s Hospital in 2000, where she is currently on staff.
Dr Gardiner is a clinical professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. She is actively involved with the Faculty of Medicine. She is currently the Undergraduate Director for Ophthalmology at UBC and teaches medical students, residents and fellows regularly.
She is also involved nationally. She is a Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Examiner in Ophthalmology and the President of the Canadian Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.
Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.
Vertex
Simon Holland, MD
Mary Lou Jackson, MD
Dr. Mary Lou Jackson is an ophthalmologist and current Director of Vision Rehabilitation at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in the Harvard Department of Ophthalmology. She is the past Chair of the American Academy of Ophthalmology Vision Rehabilitation Committee. Current research interests include Charles Bonnet Syndrome and outcomes of Comprehensive Vision Rehabilitation. She will be starting in the University of British Columbia, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Vision Rehabilitation Department in Vancouver, British Columbia in June 2015.
Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.
- Readers Digest
- Novartis
- Ocata
- CNIB
G. Robert La Roche, MD
Professor of Ophthalmology
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Dalhousie University
Chief of Service, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus
IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
After an MD and a residency at Laval University, two fellowships led Dr. La Roche to start a career in Halifax in the early 1980s as a pediatric ophthalmologist in the department of Ophthalmology at Dalhousie University in Halifax. There, he benefitted from a dynamic environment and he could develop in Halifax a comprehensive academic tertiary care centre for the Canadian Maritime children and adults with strabismus. Part of a small collegial Canadian group in his subspecialty initially, Dr. La Roche has continued to be influential in public health policies devoted to children vision as well as participating at many levels of related administrative structures across the country and abroad. This has included being a founding member of the Canadian Association of Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, board member of both the International Strabismological Association and the American Association of Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, as well as long-term director of the Canadian Orthoptic Council and its American counterpart. He was also COS representative on the Joint Commission of Allied Professionals in Ophthalmology. As a sort of culmination of his many years of dedication to the development and recognition of the Orthoptic profession at home and abroad, Dr LaRoche saw the evolution of the local Orthoptic training course in Halifax evolve into the only University-based graduate and Masters study program in that field. With its graduates from everywhere in Canada, the US and around the globe, that program has a deep penetration in the field.
Dr. La Roche was program director in Ophthalmology for more then a decade and now continues as fellowship director in Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus at Dalhousie. He also continues to be involved in teaching and clinical research with regular peer review publications, mentoring of graduate students, guest lectureships, chapters and various other communications as a significant part of his CV.
Involvement with the Royal College includes participation in advisory and public policy committees as well as its council. Beside having been a life-long member of the COS, Dr. La Roche has now been involved for a few years in the efforts to enhance the profile of the communication value of the scientific Posters at the annual meeting.
Outside work, Dr. La Roche enjoys a well prepared meal – preferably of his own hands, a good wine, well played music, a good rough paddle and … an incredible family of high achievers including two lovely busy grand children.
Financial disclosure: I do not have any affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.
Kim Le, MD
Dr. Le is a senior resident at McGill University and the President of the Canadian Ophthalmological Residents’ Society (CORS), a committee of the COS. She has served on the COS annual meeting planning committee for 2 years, creating programs for Young Ophthalmologists and furthering post-graduate medical education research.
Her ophthalmology training began as an Eye Foundation of Canada Scholar during her medical studies at the University of Toronto. Prior to medical school, Dr. Le obtained a Master in Public Health, specializing in Management at Yale University. Passionate about Global Health, she has volunteered with Orbis in Vietnam, Unite for Sight in India, the World Health Organization in China, and EcoViva in El Salvador.
Financial disclosure: I do not have any affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.
Lindsay Ong-Tone, MD
Dr. Ong-Tone is a Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Saskatchewan. He went to medical school at the University of Glasgow and did his residency training at the Tennent Institute, Gartnavel General Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland and also at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Royal College of Ophthalmologists and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Dr. Ong-Tone has been practicing Comprehensive Ophthalmology in Regina, Saskatchewan since 1988. He enjoys clinical research and has been leading an annual survey on the practice patterns of the members of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society in cataract surgery since 2009.
Dr. Ong-Tone has recently been nominated and admitted as a member of the prestigious International Intra-Ocular Implant Club which was founded in 1966 by Sir Harold Ridley and Mr. Peter Choyce.
Dr. Ong-Tone was born in the island of Mauritius which was previously a French colony before coming under British rule for one and a half centuries. He is fluently bilingual in English and French.
Financial disclosure: I do not have any affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.
Rusty Ritenour, MD
Guillermo Rocha, MD
Dr. Rocha is originally from Mexico City, Mexico. He obtained his Medical Degree at the Universidad Anahuac in Mexico City, followed by a research fellowship in Microvascular Surgery (Mexico City and Houston, TX). He trained in Ophthalmology at McGill University in Montreal and has completed subspecialty training in Ocular Immunology and Inflammation (McGill University), and Cornea and External Diseases (University of South Florida, Tampa).
He is currently President of the Canadian Cornea, External Diseases and Refractive Surgery Society, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba, and past Head of the Department of Surgery at the Brandon Regional Health Centre (2004-2009). He is past Associate Editor and Cornea Section Editor for the international journal Techniques in Ophthalmology and co-Editor of three books, « Bringing you the Future in Ophthalmology », « Advances in Refractive and Corneal Surgery » and « Surgical Correction of Astigmatism ». In the Canadian Ophthalmological Society, he is a past Board Member and past Chair of the Council on Continuing Professional Development.
In 1995, he was awarded the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation & Medical Research Council of Canada Resident Research Award for his work on the causative factors of ocular inflammation. Dr. Rocha received two Best Paper of Session awards at the 2001 American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Meeting in San Diego, CA, and was the recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba iCare Award for 2014.
Dr. Rocha currently resides in Brandon, Manitoba. He is Medical Director of the Ocular Microsurgery & Laser Centre, active Medical Staff in the Brandon Regional Health Centre, Minnedosa District Hospital and Misericordia Health Centre, and Attending Surgeon at Image Plus Laser Eye Centre in Winnipeg.
Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.
- Allergan
- AMO
- Alcon
- Croma
Amadeo R. Rodriguez, MD
Dr Rodriguez is an Ophthalmologist with subspecialty fellowship training in Neuro-Ophthalmology. He earned his MD from the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba in Argentina, and completed his residency in Ophthalmology in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He completed a clinical fellowship in Neuro-Ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and joined McMaster University in December 2008 where he holds an appointment as Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Neurology. Dr Rodriguez teaches Ophthalmology, Neurosurgery and Neurology residents as well as medical students. He is a member of the Ophthalmology Residency Education Committee.
Financial disclosure: I do not have any affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.
Lesya Shuba, MD
Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization.
- Allergan
- Alcon
Martin ten Hove, MD
Jim Whelan, MD
Valerie A. White, MD
I am an anatomic pathologist with subspecialty interest in Ophthalmic Pathology and have practiced for nearly 27 years in the Dept of Pathology at Vancouver General Hospital, participating in resident teaching in Pathology and Ophthalmology. I am a professor at the University of British Columbia with dual appointments in the Dept of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Last year I was appointed Section Editor for General Pathology for the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology and will be organizing the Canadian Ophthalmic Pathology Society meeting at this year’s COS meeting in Victoria. In the last two years one of my major activities has been participating in the rewriting of the Lacrimal Gland chapter for the 8th edition of the AJCC staging system of the TNM classification for malignancies. My long-term research interests include ophthalmic malignancies and the correlation of eye and brain pathology in cerebral malaria.
Financial disclosure: I do not have any affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial orga