About Us

Paul S. Bernstein, MD, PhD is a tenured Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in the Retina Division at the Moran Eye Center, University of Utah School of Medicine. Dr. Bernstein graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University, where he also received his MD and PhD in pharmacology. After interning at New England Deaconess Hospital, he completed an Ophthalmology residency and a fellowship in retinal cell biology at the Jules Stein Eye Institute of UCLA School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery and research at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. During his residency in Ophthalmology at Jules Stein, he was a recipient of the Jules Stein Resident Research Award. Long interested in macular pigments, Dr. Bernstein has pioneered a method for measuring carotenoid pigment levels. Along with his colleagues, he holds several patents on the non-invasive resonance Raman imaging method for quantifying pigments in the living human macula, and has authored numerous papers on that topic. In addition, Dr. Bernstein's interests include the ocular effects of oxidative stress, and the relationships between dietary carotenoid intake, optical density of the macula and the risk of age-related macular degeneration. Dr. Bernstein is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, and is extensively published.
 
View / Listen to an interview with Paul Bernstein, MD, PhD on the Role of Lutein & zeaxanthin in Macular Health

Jeffrey Blumberg received Bachelor of Science degrees in Pharmacy and Psychology from Washington State University and a PhD in Pharmacology from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He also received postdoctoral training in cyclic nucleotide metabolism at the Tennessee Neuropsychiatric Institute and the University of Calgary. Dr. Blumberg is a Professor in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and also serves as the Director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.  His research has focused on the biochemical basis for the role of antioxidant nutrients and their dietary requirements in promoting health and preventing disease during the aging process via changes in status of oxidative stress and inflammation. He has published more than 300 scientific articles and serves on the editorial boards of several scientific journals. Dr. Blumberg also participates in activities relevant to the incorporation of sound nutrition science into public health policy and has served as a member of the Surgeon General's Workshop on Health Promotion and Aging, Sports Medicine Committee of the U.S. Olympic Committee, WHO/FAO Consultation on Preparation and Use of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines, Food Advisory Committee of the FDA, and other committees.

Alon Harris, PhD is the Lois Letzter-Endowed Professor of Ophthalmology and a Professor of Cellular & Integrative Physiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. Dr. Harris received his doctorate degree at Indiana University, Bloomington, and did postgraduate work in physiology and biophysics at that institution. He is the co-founder of the Glaucoma Research and Diagnostic Center, where he heads a multi-disciplinary team that conducts state-of-the-art studies focusing on the role of IOP and ischemia in glaucoma progression, glaucoma prevalence and incidence. He is also Director, Clinical Research, at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute. Professor Harris has spearheaded studies on ocular blood flow for over 20 years, and is one of the principal investigators in The Thessaloniki Eye Study – one of the largest population-based studies in ophthalmology. He has authored more than 250 journal articles, and is the recipient of numerous awards including the Edmund Benjamin Spaeth Oration Award for Outstanding Clinical Research and the William and Mary Greve International Research Scholar Award from the Research to Prevent Blindness organization. Dr. Harris co-chaired the World Glaucoma Congress Consensus on Ocular Blood Flow, is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Glaucoma Society, and serves on the editorial board of several journals.

Dr. Koch is a Professor and The Allen, Mosbacher, and Law Chair in Ophthalmology at the Cullen Eye Institute, Baylor College of Medicine. He is the Editor of the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, Past President of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, and Past President of the International Intra-Ocular Implant Club. He has authored over 100 articles and book chapters on the topics of cataract and refractive surgery. He has given several named lectureships, including the Binkhorst Lecture at the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting, the Lans Lecture at the International Society of Refractive Surgery Annual Meeting, the Ronald G. Michels Memorial Lecture at Johns Hopkins University, the Jules Stein Lecture at UCLA, and the First Gold Medal Lecture, at the Australian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery in Queensland, Australia. Dr. Koch was named as one of the top 10 refractive surgeons in the United States in a recent survey conducted by Ophthalmology Times. He is also named as one of the Nation's leading medical specialists in America's Top Doctors.

Dr. Koch received his MD from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1977. He completed an internship at the Rhode Island Hospital of Providence in 1978 and completed his residency as Chief Resident at the Manhattan Eye Ear and Throat Hospital in 1981. Dr. Koch founded Koch Eye Associates in 1981 and serves as it’s Medical Director. He is also the Chief Medical Editor of Ophthalmology Management. Dr. Koch was one of the first refractive surgeons in America performing keratomileusis in 1979, keratophakia in 1980, and radial keratotomy in 1983. He has helped popularize many advances in cataract surgery, including techniques that permit surgery to be performed comfortably without anesthetic injections, and with vision recovery beginning only a few minutes after the operation is completed. He has won many awards including the Mericos H. Whittier Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award and the American Academy of Ophthalmology's Honor Award. Dr. Koch has written many textbooks on eye surgery, which are the standard reading materials for residency programs in the US and abroad. He has also written many journal articles, book chapters, and specialty editorials. Dr. Koch has been named one of the Top 100 Ophthalmologists and one of the Top 15 Cataract Surgeons in North America by Ophthalmology Times and he has been cited in each issue of the Best Doctors in America.

A summa cum laude graduate of Colgate University and SUNY Upstate Medical University Syracuse, Dr. Pflugfelder did his ophthalmology residency at Baylor College of Medicine. He performed a Cornea fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami School of Medicine, was appointed to the faculty in 1985 and promoted to Professor in 1998. In 2000, he joined the faculty of the Baylor College of Medicine's Cullen Eye Institute as a Professor and Director of the Ocular Surface Center, where he was awarded the James and Margaret Elkins Chair in 2001. He has published over 140 peer-reviewed articles and over 45 book chapters and monographs, primarily in the field of cornea diseases and surgery. Dr. Pflugfelder co-edited the textbook: "Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Disorders", published in 2004 and is on the editorial boards of the journals Cornea, American Journal of Ophthalmology, Eye & Contact Lens and The Ocular Surface. Included in the last three editions of "Best Doctors in America", he received the American Academy of Ophthalmology Senior Achievement Award in 2000 and a Research to Prevent Blindness Senior Investigator Award in 2002. Dr. Pflugfelder has served as chairman of the American Academy of Ophthalmology's Lifelong Education for Ophthalmologists Committee and the Preferred Practice Pattern Committee on Corneal and Ocular Surface diseases. His research interests include the role of inflammation in dry eye and corneal bioengineering.
 
View an interview John D. Sheppard, MD and Stephen C. Pflugfelder, MD on new developments in dry eye treatment and diagnosis

Dr. Sheppard received his Masters degree in Medical Science and his MD from Brown University on a full Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship. After an internship in pediatrics at the University of Virginia, he spent four years with the US Navy as 6th Fleet Medical Officer and Chief of Family Practice. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh Eye and Ear Institute and a three-year fellowship in corneal diseases, uveitis, third world blindness, and ocular immunology at the Proctor Research Foundation at the University of California, San Francisco. In 1989, Dr. Sheppard joined Virginia Eye Consultants and the ophthalmology, microbiology, and immunology faculty of Eastern Virginia Medical School, where he now serves as Ophthalmology Program Director and Clinical Director of the Thomas R. Lee Center for Ocular Pharmacology. Dr. Sheppard served as an Associate Examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology for 7 years and is now a Mentor examiner. He has participated as principal investigator in over 45 clinical research trials for major pharmaceutical companies and the FDA. Dr. Sheppard has been the author of over 100 peer review abstracts, journal articles, and chapters. Dr. Sheppard received the American Academy of Ophthalmology Honor Award in 1995.
 
View an interview John D. Sheppard, MD and Stephen C. Pflugfelder, MD on new developments in dry eye treatment and diagnosis

Kenneth Daniels, OD, FAAO is an Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor in the Centers for International Studies. He is a National Eye Institute Clinical Investigator: CLEK (Collaborative Evaluation of Keratoconus) at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (Salus University) and was the Director of Cornea and Contact Lens Research. He enjoys a thriving private practice at Hopewell- Lambertville Eye Associates in New Jersey. Dr. Daniels is a series editor for an ophthalmic text and contributing editor to several professional journals. In 2007, he was recognized as one of the future leaders in the area of Contact Lens and Cornea by the Review of Optometry publication. He is a nationally and internationally known lecturer and scientific presenter in the areas of contact lens, refractive surgery, cataract, dry eye, and ocular disease management and treatment and was presented the 2008 Scientifi c Achievement Award by his colleagues of the New Jersey Society of Optometric Physicians. Dr. Daniels is the author of “Contact Lens: Basic Bookshelf for Eyecare Practitioners” (Slack, Inc.) and has authored several book chapters including Contact Lens Correction for Presbyopia; Contact Lens Care for Post Refractive Surgery; CLIDE: Contact Lens Induced Dry Eye, all for Slack, Inc. and Contact Lens Related Complications: Atlas of Ophthalmology (Thieme 2009).

Dr. Karpecki graduated from Indiana University and completed a fellowship in Cornea and Refractive Surgery at Hunkeler Eye Centers in affiliation with the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in 1994. He currently works at the Koffler Vision Group in Cornea services and Ocular Disease Research. He has lectured in over 400 symposia covering four continents and was invited to both the Delphi International Society at Wilmer-John’s Hopkins that includes the top 25 dry eye experts in the world, and the National Eye Institute’s dry eye committee – a task force established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to better understand and treat dry eye disease in women. Dr. Karpecki is the current Chair of the Refractive Surgery Advisory Board to the AOA, Chair of the ASCRS Task Force on the Integrated Eyecare Delivery System and serves on the AOA Congress Education Committee. A noted educator and author, Dr. Karpecki presently serves on eight professional journal editorial boards.

View a video of Paul Karpecki talking about ScienceBased Health and HydroEye

Jim Owen, OD, FAAO, MBA is a graduate of the Illinois College of Optometry and has a Masters in Business Administration from San Diego State University. He has a private practice in Encinitas California and is the Optometric Director for Alvarado Eye Associates. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, and a member of the American Optometric Association (serving on its Refractive Surgery Committee), California Optometric Association and the San Diego Optometric Society. He is the Immediate Past President of the Optometric Council for Refractive Therapy and is a member of the Clinical Director Advisory Committee for TLC Laser Eye Centers. Dr. Owen serves on the editorial board for Optometry Times. He participates in clinical research for refractive surgery, dry eye and keratoconus and frequently lectures at local and national optometric meetings on refractive surgery, and anterior segment disease.

Peter G. Shaw-McMinn, OD is an assistant professor of Clinical Studies at the Southern California College of Optometry. He is the senior partner of Sun City Vision Center, a group practice including five optometrists. Dr. Shaw-McMinn is a consulting editor to several publications and co-author of the books Eyecare Business: Marketing and Strategy, Diagnosis and Management of Computer-Related Vision Problems, and Eyecare Practice Tool Kit. Dr. Shaw-McMinn has served as chairman of the AOA Practice Management Committee, the Association of Practice Management Educators, and serves on many advisory boards. He was the appointed Benedict professor in Practice Management for the University Of Houston College Of Optometry for 2001-2002. Dr. Shaw-McMinn lectures internationally.

Kirk Smick, O.D., F.A.A.O. is Chief of Primary Care Services at the Clayton Eye Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The Clayton Eye Center is a full service eye care facility with eleven ophthalmology and optometric providers. Dr. Smick is a past president of the Georgia Optometric Association, the Georgia State Board of Examiners in Optometry and the Southern Council of Optometrists. He is a frequent lecturer both in the US and abroad, and currently serves as Chairman, Continuing Education Committee for the American Optometric Association. Dr. Smick graduated from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon.