Jimmy received his undergraduate degrees in computer science and music from Emory University and his medical degree from Oregon Health & Science University. During medical school, he completed a research year in ophthalmic informatics funded by the Research to Prevent Blindness Medical Student Fellowship. He then completed his internship in internal medicine at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. Jimmy’s current research interests focus on the use of technology, including artificial intelligence, and informatics to improve the delivery of equitable and accessible healthcare for all patients. He is also passionate about community service, particularly in underserved populations.

Interests include: hiking, swimming, tennis, snorkeling, playing the violin/piano, and chess

Michael received his bachelor's degree from Carnegie Mellon University. He obtained a Master's in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He received his Medical Degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his internship in internal medicine at UC Irvine. His research interests in ophthalmology have spanned patient recovery following ophthalmic surgery, application of optical coherence tomography to the study of the biomechanics of the optic nerve head, the epidemiology of trachoma prevalence and progression and field trials of a novel method for trachoma surveillance in Chamwino, Tanzania.

Interests include: travel, hiking, skiing, chess and tennis.

Rebecca received her bachelor’s degree in Public Health from The University of California Berkeley. She then received her medical degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and completed her intern year in Internal Medicine at the University of California San Diego. Her research interests are varied and have included: the effects of anti-inflammatory eye drops on corneal epithelium, models of patient experiences during surgery, as well as imaging and treatment of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

Rebecca’s interests include board games, dessert making, and hiking.

Alex graduated with honors from Brown University with a degree in Biomedical Engineering. He then went on to earn both an MD and a PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering from Yale University. Afterward, he completed an internship in Internal Medicine at NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island. His PhD research focused on developing and investigating the mechanisms behind a novel tumor-targeted drug delivery system. He also combined computational modeling with laboratory experiments to elucidate why certain microRNAs are oncogenic in some cancers but tumor-suppressive in others.  For his work, he was awarded a prestigious NIH/NCI F30 National Research Service Award Fellowship, and his research culminated in multiple publications in leading academic journals. Within ophthalmology, he has performed research investigating mechanisms governing intraocular VEGF production and transport using mathematical models.



Interests include: astronomy, physics, space exploration, aviation, hiking/backpacking, spending time with his dog, and yoyo. He published an academic paper in which he conceived of and analyzed the physics behind the “Star Tug”, a hypothetical far-future technology that can be used to move entire stars. 

Alison graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in biology and attended medical school at UC San Diego School of Medicine. She completed her internship at UHS Medical Education Consortium in Temecula, California. While in medical school, Alison was awarded the NIH Medical Student Training in Aging Research grant to study retinal ischemic perivascular lesions as a biomarker for underlying cardiovascular diseases. Her current research interests include social determinants of health in ophthalmology, innovations in ophthalmic medical education, and bioinformatics. Alison is passionate about developing accessible educational tools and previously served as a glaucoma section writer for The Lens, an ophthalmology research newsletter for medical trainees.

In her free time, Alison enjoys cycling, weightlifting, fostering animals, traveling, and cooking.

Skenda received her bachelor's degree in public health from Brown University before continuing on to receive her medical degree from the Warren Alpert Medical School through the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME). She completed her internship in a transitional year program at HCA Florida Kendall Hospital in Miami.

During her undergraduate years, she fostered a love for global health through studying abroad and engaging in international research. In medical school, Skenda focused on service and advocacy through involvement in the local free clinic and various student groups such as the Student National Medical Association and Brown Human Rights Asylum Clinic. As the inaugural resident of the Global Ophthalmology and Advanced Leadership (GOAL) program, she hopes to combine her interests in global health and medical education to serve under-resourced communities in the United States and abroad.

In her free time, Skenda enjoys exploring mindful movement, particularly yoga, as well as hiking, traveling, and going to the beach.

Justin completed medical school at the Duke University School of Medicine, and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Miami. He completed a Transitional Year internship at UHS SoCal MEC. Justin's research interests include ophthalmic imaging, quality improvement and data standardization, and the retinal manifestation of neurodegenerative disease, for which he was awarded a VRSF Grant.

His interests included classical piano, and table tennis. In his spare time, he serves as producer for the retina podcast 'Straight From The Cutter's Mouth', and on the IT committee for the Vit-Buckle Society.

Elaine graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a focus on Immunology and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. She completed her medical degree at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University along with a Scholarly Concentration in Aging. She completed her transitional year internship at the UHS Southern California Medical Education Consortium in Temecula, California where she was awarded Resident of the Year. 

She has collaborated with many research mentors in ophthalmology and vision science over the years, which has resulted in numerous research awards, publications, and presentations at regional and national meetings. Her past research projects centered around graduate medical education in ophthalmology, clinical surveys, driving safety, preoperative medical testing and consultations, and biometric formulae.

She has been an active participant in community outreach through free clinics in Rhode Island as well as advocacy work at the local and national level. She has mentored many current and aspiring medical students and continues to engage in medical education through curricular innovation. She is committed to providing compassionate, thoughtful care to patients and their families.

In her free time, she enjoys entertaining and cooking for her friends and family, meeting new people, hiking, watching basketball, and being a tour guide.

Jennifer graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She completed a postgraduate research and clinical training program at Yale University where she pursued developmental cognitive neuroscience research and then attended medical school at the University of California San Diego. During medical school, she received an NIH UL1 grant for research in ophthalmology and performed basic science research in corneal cell cultures as well as clinical projects in refractive surgery, glaucoma, pediatric ophthalmology and underserved medicine.

In her free time, she enjoys long distance running, hiking, tennis, and taking care of her house plants and two Tonkinese cats.

Alireza graduated summa cum laude, ranking first among 328 students in the class of 2019 at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, where he also earned his Master of Public Health. He completed his undergraduate studies in Electrical Engineering at Sharif University of Technology and was a distinguished member of Iran's International Physics Olympiad team, earning a silver medal at the 42nd International Physics Olympiad in 2011.

Following medical school, Alireza pursued a postdoctoral research fellowship under the mentorship of Robert N. Weinreb, MD with an emphasis on enhancing the diagnostic assessment and monitoring of glaucoma. Leveraging his background in physics and mathematics, his research focused on developing novel mathematical methods and AI strategies to precisely characterize the structural and functional changes associated with glaucoma. Alireza has authored over 60 original articles in the leading vision science and ophthalmology journals, with more than 10 as the first author. His work has garnered numerous research awards, grants, and international presentations. He is also actively involved in the peer review process for several high-impact journals in the field and he mentors students across the disciplines of medicine, physics, and computer science.

In his free time, Alireza is actively engaged in sports, including swimming, soccer, and ping pong. He has served as a lifeguard for nearly seven years and enjoys meeting new people and exploring new activities, with his most recent adventure being skydiving.

Tonya graduated magna cum laude as a Regents Scholar from the University of California Los Angeles with a degree in Physiological Science.  She earned her medical degree at the University of California San Diego, then completed her internship at UHS Medical Education Consortium in Temecula, California.

Tonya’s research interests have included the psychosocial impact of thyroid eye disease, functional sequelae of dysmorphic orbital architecture, and cost utility of ophthalmic procedures. She has served as a study coordinator for clinical trials at UCSD and has presented her research at regional and national meetings, for which she was awarded the Mark R. Levine Grant. With previous experience as a UCLA Writing Center instructor and Editor-in-Chief of UCSD’s art and literary magazine The Human Condition, Tonya is also deeply interested in the humanistic aspect of medicine and medical education.

Her interests include ceramics, painting, running, and audiobooks/podcasts.

Kyle was awarded a Presidential Scholarship to Boston College and graduated with a BS in Physics. He earned an MD and PhD in Bioengineering from UCSD. In medical school, Kyle founded an ophthalmology free clinic to extend eye care to under-resourced populations in downtown San Diego. Funded by a NIH/NEI F30 National Research Service Award, Kyle conducted his PhD research in the lab of Martin Friedlander, MD, PhD investigating microRNA mediated mechanisms of extracellular vesicles from endothelial progenitor cells as a novel treatment for ischemic/neurodegenerative retinal diseases.

Kyle continues to do research with various mentors as a UCSD resident. With Eric Nudleman, MD, PhD, he published multiple studies creating artificial intelligence tools to automate/standardize the quantification of retinal vascular tortuosity and applied these tools to characterize tortuosity in mouse models of ischemic retinopathy. Kyle obtained a Vitreoretinal Surgery Foundation Research Grant with Shyamanga Borooah, MBBS, PhD
to investigate the role of smoking tobacco and cannabinoids on extracellular vesicles from retinal pigment epithelium. Funded by a Bright Idea grant, Kyle continues to collaborate with Alex Huang, MD, PhD on proof-of-principle projects fabricating a brain-cooling device to target and modulate neural pathways responsible for regulating aqueous production. Kyle has published numerous articles in competitive peer-reviewed journals. He is committed to pursuing a career as a physician-scientist, delivering cutting-edge ophthalmic care while managing lab research at the nexus of bioengineering and basic science to make advancements in translational medicine.

He spends his free time travelling and spending time with his wife and newborn son.