Departmental Achievements

Faculty Highlights

Laura Cook, MD

Community Engagement

• Presentation on Common Eye Problems as We Get Older at The Center at Belvedere, March 21, 2025.

Michael Cusick, MD, MHSA

Research Presentations

• Optimizing Prompt Engineering Strategies for Diabetic Retinopathy Screening with ChatGPT-4Omni
  • Poster presented at the 16th Annual Congress on Controversies in Ophthalmology. Seville, Spain. April 4, 2025.
• Emergency Medicine Resident Education Program: Approach to the Eye Patient and Common Ophthalmic Emergencies
  • Poster presented at AUPO Educating the Educators Meeting, January 29, 2025.
• Value-Based Care at UVA Health: Evolving from MIPS to MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs)
  • Poster presented at University of Virginia Health Leadership Institute Meeting. Charlottesville, Virginia. October 23, 2024.

Awards and Recognition

• Completed UVA Health Leadership Institute, October 2024.

Community Engagement

• Conducting diabetic retinopathy screenings from primary care offices across Virginia.

Arjun Dirghangi, MD, MHS

Community Engagement

• Presentation on Glaucoma and Cataract at The Center at Belvedere, March 19, 2025.

Albert S. Jun, MD, PhD

Awards and Recognition

• Keynote Address, 2024 Annual Congress of the German Ophthalmological Society – “What I Have Learned about Fuchs Dystrophy in 25 Years of Studying the Disease”.

Evan J. Kaufman, OD, FAAO

Awards and Recognition

• Trail Blazer Excellence – “UVA Health Center and Dr. Evan Kaufman” (Ovitz, 2024).
• Cooper Vision Specialty Lens Award – UVA Health Diamond Level Client (2024).
• Cooper Vision Specialty Lens Award – Top Account, #1 Volume in the Nation (2024).
• 2024 Virginia Residency Ground Rounds – Virginia Optometric Association.

Publications

• Eiampikul M, Kaufman EJ. Hyperopic Keratoconus, or is This Something Else? Int J Kerat Ect Cor Dis. 2024.
• Kosteva K, Kaufman EJ, Kinch A. The Role of Hypertension Retinopathy Graduation in the Management of Systemic Cardiovascular Disease. J Fam Med Prim Care. 2024;13(2):787–791.

Leslie A. Olsakovsky, MD

Awards and Recognition

• Completed the 50th Annual Charlottesville Ten Miler.

Hetal J. Ray, MD

Publications

• Emergency Department Non-Mydriatic Fundus Photography Expedites Care For Patients Referred For “Papilledema”. Lin MY, Ray HJ, Pendley AM, et al. Ophthalmology. 2025. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2025.01.024.

Nancy F. Vilar, MD, PhD

Research Presentations

• Co-presented Artery of Percheron Infarct with Multiple Cranial Nerve Palsies and Horner Syndrome at the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS) Annual Meeting, March 15–20, 2025.

Shao-bin Wang, PhD

Research Presentations

• Targeting Neuronal Gasdermin E to Treat Traumatic Optic Neuropathy. Presented virtually at the 2nd Vision Injury Research Forum on December 13, 2024.

Awards and Recognition

• The roles of S1P3 in RPE degeneration and geographic atrophy. Boehringer Ingelheim Grant – $238,138.

Resident Highlights

Eleanor M. Burton, MD – PGY-3 Resident

Research Presentations

• Co-presented Emergency Medicine Resident Education Program: Approach to the Eye Patient and Common Ophthalmic Emergencies at AUPO, January 29, 2025.

Awards and Recognition

• Completed the 50th Annual Charlottesville Ten Miler, placing 2nd in her age group.

Mariana Dodd, MD – PGY-1 Resident

Publications

• Co-authored Emergency Department Non-Mydriatic Fundus Photography Expedites Care For Patients Referred For “Papilledema” with Dr. Hetal Ray, published in Ophthalmology (2025).

Taylor P. Gemperline, MD – PGY-4 Resident

Research Presentations

• Co-presented Emergency Medicine Resident Education Program: Approach to the Eye Patient and Common Ophthalmic Emergencies at AUPO, January 29, 2025.

William A. Sanfelippo, MD – PGY-2 Resident

Research Presentations

• Co-presented Artery of Percheron Infarct with Multiple Cranial Nerve Palsies and Horner Syndrome at the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS) Annual Meeting, March 15–20, 2025.

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