R.V. Paul Chan, MD, MSc, MBA, FACS, is the Department Head and the John H. Panton, MD Professor of Ophthalmology at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He is the Co-Director of the Vitreoretinal Fellowship and serves as Director of the Pediatric Retina and Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) Service. His clinical practice focuses on vitreoretinal surgery, with an expertise in pediatric retinal disease. Dr. Chan received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania, MD from the Temple University School of Medicine, MSc from Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC), and MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. After completing Ophthalmology residency at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital of WCMC, he went on to a Fellowship in Vitreoretinal Surgery at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Chan spent nine years on faculty at WCMC, as Director of the Retina Service and Vitreoretinal Fellowship, before moving to UIC.
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Dr. Chan previously served as the Vice Chair for both Clinical Affairs and Global Ophthalmology in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at UIC and is a global leader in pediatric blindness prevention and ROP. His primary research interests focus on utilizing new technology and imaging techniques to better evaluate and manage children with retinal disease. He has authored over 160 peer reviewed articles and has received grant funding by the NIH, the NSF, and a number of charitable foundations. He is a core team member of the Imaging and Informatics for ROP (i-ROP) consortium and leads the Global Education Network for ROP (GEN-ROP), which is an international collaboration of investigators with expertise in neonatology, ophthalmology, biomedical informatics, international health, and medical education. Together, they have developed tele-education and telemedicine programs, and have established clinical, teaching, and research collaborations in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Dr. Chan also serves as a consultant for programs sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Orbis International, and Helen KellerInternational (HKI).
Dr. Chan has been actively involved in academic ophthalmology and organized medicine. He serves on the Board of Trustees for HKI, the Executive Committee for the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO), and the Committee of Secretaries for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), where he is the Secretary for Global Alliances. Dr. Chan is an assistant editor for the journal, Retina, and is on the editorial board for Retina Today, Ocular Surgery News, the Journal of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology, and the Journal of VitreoRetinal Diseases. He is an active member in a number of ophthalmic societies, including the American Ophthalmological Society, the Club Jules Gonin, the Retina Society, the Macula Society, founding member of the Vit-Buckle Society, the Association of Pediatric Retina Surgeons, the American Society of Retina Specialists, and he is Past President of the Chinese American Ophthalmological Society and Past President of the American Eye Study Club. He has also served on the Global ONE Advisory Board and the Ethics Committee for the AAO.
Kathryn Colby, MD, PhD, is an internationally renowned academic corneal specialist with a longstanding interest in Fuchs dystrophy, the most common cause for corneal transplantation in the US. She is currently pioneering novel, non-transplant treatments for this condition. She has specific expertise in the management of ocular surface tumors, pediatric corneal disease, infectious keratitis, and keratoprosthesis.
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Dr. Colby received her BA from the Johns Hopkins University, her PhD in Neurobiology from Brown University, and her MD from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she graduated summa cum laude. She completed her ophthalmology residency, chief residency and cornea fellowship at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dr. Colby was a Heed Fellow in 1997-1998. Dr. Colby is a passionate educator who trained hundreds of students, residents and fellows during the two decades she spent at Harvard Medical School prior to becoming Chairman of Ophthalmology at the University of Chicago, where she spent 5 years as the Louis Block Professor and a Master Clinician in the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence. In September 2020, Dr. Colby moved to NYU as the Elisabeth J Cohen Professor and Department Chairman.
Dr. Colby is a past president of the Cornea Society and serves on numerous Boards of Directors. She completed a term as an AAO Councilor, where she represents the state of Illinois. She is recipient of multiple awards, including the Senior Achievement award and numerous Secretariat awards from the AAO, mentorship awards from the AMA and Women in Ophthalmology, and the Innovation and Research Award from the Lions Eye Institute for Transplant & Research. Dr. Colby is currently the US Chair for a multi-national, multi-center study examining the role of Rho kinase inhibition in corneal endothelial rejuvenation. Dr. Colby has published over 110 peer-reviewed articles, multiple book chapters and seven books, including the only textbook on pediatric cornea. Dr. Colby lectures around the world on corneal, clinical research, and professional development topics.
Dr. Pradeep Ramulu, MD, MHS, PhD is the Sheila K. West Professor of Ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, where he also serves as Director of the Glaucoma Division, and Glaucoma Fellowship Director. Dr. Ramulu is a leading expert on the functional consequences of vision loss and eye disease. Using tools including patient reported outcomes, observation of task performance, and real-world behavioral monitoring, he has helped define when, how, and why visual impairment results in disability. Dr. Ramulu’s work has resulted in over 200 peer-reviewed publications, 10 book chapters, and 2 books. Because of his expertise, he has helped various agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation to set vision standards for work.
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Dr. Ramulu graduated with Honors from Stanford University, and then joined the MD/PhD program at Johns Hopkins University, completing his PhD work on retinal biology with Jeremy Nathans. He subsequently completed his Ophthalmology residency at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute and a Glaucoma Fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.
After his fellowship, he returned to Wilmer’s Glaucoma Division, where he began his program to study the functional consequences of visual impairment. His ongoing work is focused on the possible protective role of physical activity against eye disease, developing methods to assess/prevent falls in older adults, particularly those with visual impairment, and the use of ocular imaging to identify persons at risk for cognitive impairment.
Dr. Ramulu holds or has held leadership positions in several national and international ophthalmic societies, including Program Chair for the American Glaucoma Society, Director of the Education Committee for the World Glaucoma Association, Chair of the AAO Public Health Committee, Program Chair for the Glaucoma Research Society and standing member on the National Eye Institute Advisory Council. He has mentored numerous medical students, MPH students, residents and fellows clinically and in research projects. He twice won the resident teaching award and, in a model that has now become the standard for Wilmer, reorganized resident teaching by placing lectures on-line and using in-class time for interactive sessions using game-based learning and small-group interactive case review. Dr. Ramulu has received continuous NIH funding since 2007 and has received the Secretariat, Achievement, and Senior Achievement Awards from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Pisart Award for Vision Science. He was also named to Newsweek’s list of “America’s Best Eye Doctors” in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Stacy Pineles, MD, MS currently holds the Jerome and Joan Snyder Chair in Ophthalmology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is an internationally renowned academic pediatric and neuro-ophthalmology specialist with a longstanding interest in clinical trials of strabismus surgical techniques and outcomes, as well as pediatric neuro-ophthalmic conditions. She is currently the Chair-Elect of the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG), which is a collaborative network dedicated to facilitating multicenter clinical research in strabismus, amblyopia and other eye disorders that affect children. The network, which was formed in 1997, is funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI). There are currently over 100 participating sites (offices) with over 300 pediatric ophthalmologists and pediatric optometrists in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom participating in the network.
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Dr. Pineles received her BS from the Duke University School of Engineering, and her MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She completed her ophthalmology residency and pediatric ophthalmology fellowship at the Stein Eye Institute, at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Pineles was a Society of Heed Fellow in 2008-2009. She then completed a second fellowship in neuro-ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She was awarded a Master’s Degree in Clinical Investigation from the UCLA Department of Biomathematics in 2013. Upon return to the Stein Eye Institute after her fellowship training in 2010, Dr. Pineles took on the role of Associate Residency Program Director and then assumed the role of Residency Program Director in 2017. During her tenure as a leader in the UCLA residency program, she has mentored over 100 ophthalmologists in training. She has served in numerous national leadership roles in ophthalmology education, including the AUPO Program Directors Council, the AAO’s Committee for Residency Education, the ACGME Residency Review Committee, and the AUPO Surgical Curriculum for Ophthalmology Residents program.
Dr. Pineles is currently the president-elect of the AUPO Program Directors Council and the Chair of the AAO’s Ophthalmic Technology Assessment Committee, the AAPOS Research Committee, and the NANOS Abstract Committee. She also serves on numerous other national committees related to pediatric ophthalmology and neuro-ophthalmology. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the AAPOS Young Investigator Award, AAO Secretariat Award and the AAPOS Honor Award. Dr. Pineles has published over 140 peer-reviewed articles, 12 book chapters, and has delivered numerous international lectures.
Marco A. Zarbin, MD, PhD, graduated from Dartmouth College and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed resident and fellowship training (vitreoretinal surgery and medical retina) at the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute and was an Assistant Chief of Service at Wilmer. Dr. Zarbin is Chair of the Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School and Chief of Ophthalmology at University Hospital in Newark, NJ. He is a Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience and is the Alfonse A. Cinotti, MD/Lions Eye Research Chair. Dr. Zarbin is co-Director of the Ocular Cell Transplantation Laboratory. He has published 229 peer-reviewed papers and editorials, 123 book chapters, 29 reviews and editorials, one book on age-related macular degeneration, one book on stem cell therapy for degenerative retinal disease, and two books on the management of diabetic retinopathy.
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Dr. Zarbin is a Vice Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Foundation Fighting Blindness and is a member of the editorial board of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology Retina, and the Journal of Vitreoretinal Diseases. He is also a member of the American Ophthalmological Society, Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis, the Retina Society, the Macula Society, the Club Jules Gonin, and the ASRS. Dr. Zarbin is listed among the “Best Doctors” by Castle Connolly. Dr. Zarbin is an ARVO Fellow, Gold Level and is a recipient of the Heed Award and the ARVO Distinguished Service Award.