Medical Director Symposium

Beverly Forsyth, MD, has a dual appointment at theIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as Associate Professor in theDepartment of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Department ofMedical Education. She has an BA from Cornell University, College of Arts andSciences, and received her medical degree from the University of VermontCollege of Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine residency atMontefiore Medical Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Shecompleted her Infectious Diseases Fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine atMount Sinai. At Mount Sinai, she is a clinician-educator and she combines aclinical HIV practice with teaching and participation in scholarly work inmedical education.

Anthony Aldave, MD, is a Professor of Ophthalmology and Chief of the Cornea and Uveitis Division at the Stein Eye Institute. As a member of the EBAA Medical Advisory Board, Dr. Aldave and colleagues reported an increase in donor-transmitted fungal infections following corneal transplantation in 2013. He has maintained an interest in this topic since, recently publishing an invited editorial on the role of antifungal prophylaxis after receipt of a positive donor rim fungal culture and completing a study investigating the incidence, treatments and outcomes of donor-transmitted fungal infection following DMEK.

Shahzad Mian, MD, is professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Michigan Medical School and holds the Terry J. Bergstrom Collegiate Professorship for Resident Education. He has been irector of the residency training program since 2004, and serves as the Vice Chair for Clinical Sciences and Learning. His practice is focused in cornea and refractive surgery and research interests include corneal transplantation techniques, ocular graft versus host disease, and eye banking. He received the senior achievement award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2015 and the Straatsma award for resident education in 2017. He serves on the Board of the Cornea Society, Residency Review Committee for Ophthalmology, the Accreditation Board for the Eye Bank Association of America, as the Senior Medical Director of Eversight Michigan, and is the past-president of the Program Director’s Council of the Association of University Professor in Ophthalmology.

Brian Philippy, BS, BCHe, CEBT is a consummate eye banker who started in Minnesota in 1997 and transferred to the Tidewater region of Virginia in 2005, where he serves in Quality, Technical, and Distribution roles. In addition to numerous consulting gigs, Brian also served as a Director of Operations for Vision Share (as well as other roles) between 2007 and 2015 (concurrent with Virginia director roles). Throughout these different appointments, Brian's personal passion is in the arena of distribution - finding homes for every transplantable graft and intentionally filling challenging research requests.

Michelle K. Rhee, MD, is the Medical Director of The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration in New York City.  She is an associate clinical professor of ophthalmology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.  She is the president of the Eye and Contact Lens Association, formerly known as CLAO.  Dr. Rhee completed subspecialty training in diseases of the cornea and refractive surgery at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary following a residency in ophthalmology at the Eye and Ear Institute of Pittsburgh.  She earned her medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine where she was part of the Humanities and Medicine Program which offered early acceptance to a selected group of undergraduates.  Dr. Rhee graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University.  Before pursuing a career in medicine, she studied piano, cello, and music composition at the Juilliard School in New York City.

Divya Srikumaran, MD, is an associate professor of ophthalmology in the Division of Cornea and External Disease at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute. She received her M.D. degree from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, after which she completed her ophthalmology residency and cornea fellowship training at the Wilmer Eye Institute. Dr. Srikumaran’s research interest includes the assessment of corneal transplant outcomes and risk factors for receiving keratoplasty through big data sources including administrative claims data. She received the Hoskins Center IRIS Registry Research Fund Award through the American Academy of Ophthalmology as well as the EBAA Pilot Research grant to study real-world endothelial keratoplasty outcomes. Dr. Srikumaran is leading a team to integrate Wilmer’s Clinical data into the IRIS registry and the SOURCE EHR repository.  She is also a renowned educator and currently serves as Vice Chair of Education and was previously residency program director. As Vice Chair of Education, she has an interest in medical education and studying best practices to support doctors in training. Blending her passion for both education and expertise in corneal surgery, Dr. Srikumaran has also studied barriers to adoption of advanced keratoplasty procedures in the US and abroad. Dr. Srikumaran is a participant in the EBAA Physician Leadership Program and serves on the Scientific Programs Committee.  

Susan Hurlbert, CEBT is a Project Manager with Eversight and has over 18 years of experience in eye banking. She oversees inspection readiness, the adverse event investigation and reporting process and clinical policy development. Prior to her present role in Quality Improvement and Compliance, she performed ocular tissue recovery, evaluation, processing, and donor eligibility. She has served on a variety of EBAA committees and currently sits on the Medical Review Subcommittee, Quality Assurance Committee, and Accreditation Board.

Winston Chamberlain, MD, PhD, is the Chief of the Cornea and Refractive Surgery Division at the Casey Eye Institute, at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, OR, where he also directs the cornea fellowship. He is one of the Medical Directors for Lions VisionGift and is engaged in clinical and eye-bank research related to corneal transplantation. Dr. Chamberlain currently serves on the EBAA Medical Advisory Board and Accreditation Board.

Sean Edelstein, MD, is an Associate Professor at Saint Louis University Department of Ophthalmology. Dr. Edelstein attended Medical School at University of Cape Town, South Africa, and completed his ophthalmology residency and fellowship in cornea, external disease and refractive surgery at Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Edelstein is the Associate Medical Director at Mid-America Transplant and is an active member in the EBAA, where he currently serves on the Accreditation Board and the Medical Advisory Board.

Jennifer Li, MD, is a Professor of Ophthalmology at the UC Davis Eye Center where she is the Director of the Cornea and External Disease Service and the Fellowship Director. Dr. Li received her medical degree and completed her residency at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and subsequently completed a fellowship in Cornea, External Disease and Refractive Surgery at UC Davis. She is also the Co-Medical Director of Sierra Donor Services in Sacramento, California. Dr. Li is the immediate past Chair of the EBAA Board of Directors and has served on various EBAA committees including EBAA Accreditation Board, the Scientific Programs Committee and as Chair of the Medical Advisory Board. Dr. Li received the R. Townley Paton Award in 2021 for her contributions to the EBAA, sight restoration and corneal transplantation.

David B. Warner, MD, is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology with the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). He has served as the Medical Director of the Arkansas Lions Eye Bank & Laboratory, located at UAMS, for nine years. He completed a Corneal, External Disease and Refractive Surgery fellowship at the University of Florida after his residency in Ophthalmology at UAMS.

Roheena Kamyar, MD, is a Clinical Assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh specializing in Cornea and External Diseases. She currently also serves on the advisory board at the Center for Organ Recovery and Education and is the Assistant Medical Director at the eye bank.

Joshua H. Hou, MD, is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences at the University of Minnesota. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Duke University, where he graduated summa cum laude. He then received his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. After that, he completed both his ophthalmology residency and cornea and external disease fellowship at the University of Illinois Eye & Ear Infirmary. Since 2015, Dr. Hou has served as Medical Director of the Lions Gift of Sight. In addition to a busy clinical practice, Dr. Hou also maintains a research laboratory at the University of Minnesota and is currently supported by the Minnesota Lions Vision Foundation. His main research interests include limbal stem cell deficiency and corneal tissue processing. Dr. Hou has been an active member of the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) since completing his cornea fellowship in 2014. He is a past participant of the EBAA Physician Leadership Program, and he currently serves as a member of the Medical Advisory Board and Scientific Programs Committee. He is also a regular physician lecturer for the EBAA Slit Lamp Microscopy Seminar.