Announcing the Ophthalmology Times® Research Scholar Honoree Top 5 Finalists for 2020

In a virtual celebration Thursday evening, the 4th annual Ophthalmology Times® Research Scholar Honoree Program recognized the work of future ophthalmologists. The program is dedicated to the education of fellows and residents and offers a unique opportunity to share notable retina research with peers and mentors.

Serving as program chair was Rishi P. Singh, MD, a staff surgeon at the Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic, and associate professor of ophthalmology at the Lerner College of Medicine in Cleveland OH.

Also joining Singh as this year's judges were:

Thomas A. Albini, MD, professor of clinical ophthalmology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and serves as director of the vitreoretinal surgery fellowship;

Mark S. Blumenkranz, MD, MMS, the HJ Smead Professor Emeritus in the Department of Ophthalmology at Stanford University, where he is the founder and co-director of the Ophthalmic Innovation Program;

Seenu M. Hariprasad, MD, interim chair and professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Chicago, and the department’s first Shui-Chin Lee Professor; and

Jonathan L. Prenner, MD, chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where he serves as a clinical professor.

Blumenkranz also served as a keynote speaker prior to the announcement of the awards.

As background, Ophthalmology Times® requests ophthalmic institutions to nomi­nate fellows and residents involved in unique/notable research in retinal disease. Qualifying fellows and residents were asked to submit an abstract, a short summary, and a presentation to include what the research contributes to the retinal community. All submissions were reviewed by the panel of judges, and the top research submissions were invited to present at the live virtual event.

And the 2020 Top 5 Finalists are:

First-place winner: Charles G. Miller, MD, PhD, Fellow, Scheie Eye Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Presentation: “The Proteome of proliferative vitreoretinopathy: New insight into the central role of extracellular matrix”

Second-place finalist: Jamie Odden, MD, MPH, Resident, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA; Presentation: “Intravitreal injections and endophthalmitis: Does lidocaine gel change the risk of the infection?”

Third-place finalist: Samir N. Patel, MD, Vitreoretinal Fellow, Wills Eye Hospital, Mid Atlantic Retina, Philadelphia, PA; Presentation: “The impact of systemic immuno-suppression on endophthalmitis after intravitreal anti-VEGF injections”

Fourth-place finalist: Tina Felfeli, MD, Resident, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario; Presentation: “Significance of early outer retinal findings on en face and cross-sectional optical coherence tomography imaging of eyes with macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment”

Fifth-place finalist: Anna Stulova, MD, Fellow, Ophthalmology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Presentation: “Early visual functions deficiency and OCT-A changes at the preclinical stage of diabetic retinopathy: a prospective study”

Congratulations to all the finalists!

This medical education program is supported through an unrestricted grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.