Pioneering Dry Eye Research Together

Eugene de Juan, Jr., MD, FASRS, is a leading ophthalmological innovator and researcher, accomplished vitreoretinal surgeon and influential thought leader in ophthalmic therapeutics, drug delivery devices, and surgical technological advances. Fascinated by his ophthalmologist father’s many gadgets and his grandfather’s workshop, Dr. de Juan discovered his passion for fixing things at an early age. He went on to complete his ophthalmology and vitreoretinal training at world-class institutions including the Johns Hopkins University’s Wilmer Eye Institute and Duke University, and later channeled his medical expertise into his passion for innovation.

Dr. de Juan’s name is always at the top of the list of pivotal innovators in retina and ophthalmology. He is the inventor or co-inventor of nearly 100 products, and holds nearly 450 US patents and patents pending. In 2005, Dr. de Juan established ForSight Labs, a serial ophthalmic company incubator that has helped develop more than a dozen companies. Among his many discoveries are the transconjunctival approach to 25-gauge vitrectomy, a discovery that revolutionized retinal surgery; punctal plug-based and forniceal-based ophthalmic therapeutics; and slow-release conjunctival and intra-vitreal implants.

Dr. Perez is a professor of ophthalmology and the Higgins Clark Chair in Ophthalmology at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He aims to develop new therapies for patients with cornea and ocular surface disorders.  Perez has an ambitious cornea research agenda that includes addressing ocular graft versus host disease and the rejection of corneal transplants in some patients. Another field of interest is ocular regeneration, using genetic and cellular therapies to restore damaged corneas. These are new frontiers in the field, with the ultimate goal of reversing blindness in these challenging cases.

Dr. Perez earned his medical degree at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine and was an ophthalmology resident and did his clinical fellowships in cornea/external diseases and uveitis at Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School. He was a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, followed by a postdoctoral research fellowship in immunology at the Brigham & Women’s department of pathology with Dr. Abul Abbas and an ocular immunology research fellowshiop at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School with Dr. Wayne Streilein.  Dr. Perez was also the professor of ophthalmology at Duke University where he was the Stephen and Frances Foster Distinguished Endowed Chair in Ocular Immunology and lead to the development of the Foster Center for Ocular Immunology at Duke Eye Center.

He is an established clinician-scientist investigator in the field of ocular immunology, transplantation and ocular surface diseases.  He has been supported by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health for the last 16 years to develop a translational program in Ocular Immunity and Transplantation.  He complements this with his work in the clinic, evaluating and treating patients with ocular inflammatory diseases and conditions of the anterior segment. In addition to ocular surface, he also manages patients with uveitis.  

Ali Djalilian, MD, is Professor of Ophthalmology, Cornea Service and Director of the Stem Cell Therapy and Corneal Tissue Engineering Laboratory at Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. He is a recognized authority on immunologic issues in corneal/limbal stem cell transplantation and the surgical management of severe ocular surface disease. He has developed innovations in surgical techniques that substantially improve surgical efficiency and patient outcomes. 

Dr. Djalilian bridges his clinical experience with his basic science and translational research projects, which have been funded in part by the National Eye Institute/NIH and Research to Prevent Blindness

He received his BA from Carleton College and his MD from the University of Minnesota, where he also completed his residency and a fellowship in cornea research. Dr. Djalilian completed additional fellowships: in cornea and ocular surface disorders at Cincinnati Eye Institute and ocular immunology and uveitis at the National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland. He is board certified in ophthalmology and publishes frequently in peer-reviewed journals. 

Everardo Hernandez-Quintela, M.D., M.Sc. is an accomplished cataract and cornea surgeon at the Wilmer Eye Institute’s locations in Baltimore and Lutherville, Maryland. He specializes in both refractive surgery (LASIK and PRK) and corneal transplant. Dr. Hernández-Quintela is the medical director for Wilmer’s Patient Access Center for the Eye (PACE). 

Prior to joining Johns Hopkins Medicine, Dr. Hernandez Quintela was a professor of ophthalmology at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México where he led the course on research methodology in ophthalmology and the advanced course on cornea and refractive surgery. He is the founder of the international chapter of the Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) in Mexico, known as Colegio Nacional de Investigación en Ciencias Visuales (MARVO). He held a clinical academic position as head of cornea and refractive surgery services, and head of research at the Asociación para Evitar la Ceguera en México Hospital in Mexico City, which is one of the largest eye hospitals in Latin America.

Dr. Hernández-Quintela began his career at Universidad La Salle and Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City. He performed his residency training at the Asociación para Evitar la Ceguera en México Hospital, in Mexico City, and completed his fellowships at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Harvard Medical School in the United States with professor Dimitri Azar, and at the Hôtel Dieu Hospital, at Université Paris in France with Professor J.M. Legeais and Prof. Yves Pouliquen.Dr. Hernández-Quintela holds a Master in Science from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, School of Medicine.

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Professor Ula Jurkunas is a clinician-scientist who performs corneal and refractive surgery at Mass Eye and Ear and conducts basic science research on Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy and stem cell transplantation at Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear. In addition to being one of the highest volume refractive and transplant surgeons at Mass Eye and Ear, she teaches residents and fellows about corneal, cataract, and refractive surgery as well as the clinical management and diagnosis of corneal and refractive conditions. Dr. Jurkunas is the Associate Director of the Cornea Service at Mass Eye and Ear and Co-Director of the Harvard Ophthalmology Cornea Center of Excellence.

After obtaining her medical degree from University of Louisville, Dr. Jurkunas completed her ophthalmology residency at Boston University. She then completed subspecialty training in cornea, external diseases and refractive surgery at Mass Eye and Ear, serving as Chief Cornea Fellow for one year.  She heads a fully-staffed laboratory focused on Fuchs dystrophy research, a disease that accounts for over 10,000 corneal transplants (roughly one-third of all corneal transplantations) each year in the United States. Her laboratory is funded by numerous grants, including ones from National Eye Institute and National Institutes of Health.

In addition, Dr. Jurkunas conducts research in collaboration with the Center for Human Cell Therapy Boston into the development of cultivated epithelial stem cell constructs for patients suffering from limbal stem cell deficiency. To aid in the translational development of stem cell therapy in corneal disorders, she was awarded the Production Assistance for Cellular Therapies (PACT) grant from National Heart/Lung and Blood Program of the National Institutes of Health. Her work has led to numerous peer-reviewed publications, review articles, and presentations nationally and internationally.

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Professor Shahzad Mian serves as Chair and professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Michigan Medical School and has served the department as vice chair for clinical sciences and learning since 2019. Dr. Mian earned his medical degree in 1996 from the Emory University School of Medicine. He then completed a residency at the Wills Eye Hospital of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. From 2000-02, he was a fellow in cornea and refractive surgery at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He joined the U-M faculty in 2002 as a clinical lecturer in ophthalmology and visual sciences, and he was promoted to associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences in 2010.

His research focuses on the role of lasers in corneal transplantation, keratoplasty techniques, and clinical studies in refractive surgery. He has been director of the residency training program since 2004 and previously served as fellowship director in the department. In 2003, he received the Bergstrom Teaching Award presented by ophthalmology residents.

Dr. Mian received the 2007 Anthony Adamis Award for Outstanding Research from the U-M Kellogg Eye Center, the 2007 Leadership Development Program from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the 2009 Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He has served on the board of directors and as a medical director of the Midwest Eye-Banks and currently serves as cornea editor for the Ophthalmic News and Education Network, board member of the Cornea Society, member of the Program Director’s Council and councilor for the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

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Natalie Afshari, MD is accomplished as a clinician, surgeon, and a research scientist. Dr. Afshari’s achievement in cornea and refractive surgery and overall patient care has been recognized by her peers in several of the “best doctors” lists, including “The Best Doctors in America” in each listing for the past decade.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has honored Dr. Afshari by awarding her and her collaborators extensive grant support to study Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy, a genetic disorder leading to corneal transplantation.

Dr. Afshari has published extensively in both medical journals and textbooks. She is the co-editor of a two-volume cornea book titled Principles and Practice of Cornea. While her textbook chapters focus on clinical skills, her journal articles report her innovations and findings in research. Her research has won multiple honors, including the prestigious Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) award and the Heed Foundation Ophthalmic Award.

Dr. Myung is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the Byers Eye Institute at Stanford and, by courtesy, of Chemical Engineering. He is a board-certified ophthalmologist and attending physician specializing in cataract and corneal surgery and external diseases of the eye, and the Director of the Ophthalmic Innovation Program, a project-based fellowship in the development and regulatory science of new eye care technologies.

Dr. Myung leads an NIH-funded translational research laboratory focused on two areas of clinical need: (1) ophthalmic regenerative medicine through tissue engineering and drug delivery, and (2) global health through mobile technologies and telemedicine. His research group takes an interdisciplinary approach toward fostering regeneration of ocular tissues, by using chemistry to not only build biomimetic cellular architectures but also to target and release bioactive molecules to promote healing. Current projects are directed toward the use of bio-orthogonal and supramolecular crosslinking chemistries for the localized delivery of growth factors and/or stem cells to wound sites, the synthesis of bioactive wound dressings and vehicles, the creation of biopolymeric tissue scaffolds, and 3D bioprintable inks for tissue engineering.

Dr. Myung is also Director of the Stanford Teleophthalmology Autonomous Testing and Universal Screening (STATUS) Program, which is pushing the boundaries of telemedicine and AI to improve eye care worldwide. He and his collaborators investigate the role of mobile technologies and AI in enabling diagnostics and patient care outside of traditional health care settings. Their goal is to challenge current paradigms of eye care delivery through new digital health technologies and telemedicine to increase access to care in resource-limited settings both in the US and abroad. In collaboration with his retina, primary care, and endocrinologist colleagues at Stanford, he has organized and leads a Bay Area-wide Remote Diabetic Eye Care Program.

Ben is an experienced technology executive with a nearly 30-year track record of taking microtechnology-based products from bench-top to volume production in high-reliability industries including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

His specialties include MEMS, product development, operations, general management, and engineering leadership.

He served as V.P. of Operations at Chirp Microsystems designing, developing and manufacturing a line of extremely low power, ultrasonic 3D-sensing solutions for consumer electronics, smart homes, and industrial automation.

He was a founding employee and Senior VP of Operations at Proteus Digital Health, involved in all aspects of the company’s evolution: product concept, development, manufacturing, facilities, FDA filings, investor diligence, and partner interactions.

He also served as Director of Microtechnology at DiCon Fiberoptics where he invented a family of MEMS products responsible for roughly $1B in cumulative revenue and that is still in production.

Ben was President and CEO at Berkeley MicroInstruments, where he directed process development and production of micromachined sensors and the integration of BMI products on next-generation tools.

He holds a PhD in BioEngineering from UC Berkeley and earned his BS in Electrical Engineering from MIT.