13th Annual Vit-Buckle Society Meeting

Maggie Cashion

Maggie Cashion, Regional Research Manager at The Retina Group of Washington an Affiliate of Prism Vision Group
Maggie manages RGW’s Clinical Research Team across two offices, assisting our Investigating Physicians by coordinating all aspects of our clinical trials. Maggie facilitates identification, recruitment, and enrollment of patients in trials according to ICH GCP guidelines. Maggie is the main regulatory point of contact and orchestrates administrative tasks ranging from study start up to maintaining essential study documentation and supervising, training, and mentoring our research coordinators in the clinical setting. She serves as both masked and unmasked coordinator in a variety of retinal disease trials, assisting the respective investigator per study protocol, maintaining the clinical findings, lab data, and essential study documentation. Prior to this position, Maggie was a Certified Ophthalmic Scribe, performing Fluorescein Angiography, ERG testing, and assisting our RGW physicians in the clinic. Maggie earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences as well as minors in Medicine & Society and Leadership & Social Change at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Jed Cheney, CPA

Mr. Cheney is a Principal with the health care transaction services group at CliftonLarsonAllen. Jed has over 12 years of experience and provides services to private equity and privately‐held health care providers.

Jim Driscoll, III, CPA

Mr. Driscoll has 15 years of financial healthcare experience, ranging from data analytics to accounting/finance. He has worked for a health insurance company, a hospital, and now, a physician practice. Mr. Driscoll is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Professional Coder. He is married and has two children: an 12 year-old daughter and an 9 year-old son.

David Eichenbaum, MD

Partner and Director of Research
Retina Vitreous Associates of Florida
St. Petersburg, FL
Dr. Eichenbaum is a board certified ophthalmologist, fellowship-trained in diseases and surgery of the vitreous and retina. He is a partner and Director of Research at Retina Vitreous Associates of Florida, a multi-MD sub-specialty vitreoretinal private practice, and has been in practice since 2007. He completed the Medical Honors Program at the University of South Florida, earning his undergraduate and medical degree in Tampa. He completed his Ophthalmology residency at the University of South Florida, where he served as Chief Resident, and completed his two-year Surgical Retina fellowship at Tufts New England Eye Center and Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston.
Dr. Eichenbaum has served as Principal Investigator in over 45 Phase 1 though Phase 4 clinical trials, has published in numerous professional journals, published multiple textbook chapters, and has presented his work at the American Society of Retinal Specialists, American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the Association of Research and Vision in Ophthalmology meeting. He moderates at the Vit-Buckle Society and teaches nationally through both CME and commercial formats, lecturing on clinical science as well as common retinal diseases such as macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease, and retinal vascular occlusions. Dr. Eichenbaum serves on numerous Clinical and Scientific Advisory Boards, and serves on National Executive Steering Committees for both commercial and pipeline products.
Dr. Eichenbaum is a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, member of the Retina Society, sits on the Board of the Florida Society of Ophthalmology and serves as Education Program Co-Chair for the Florida Society’s annual Masters meeting. He has previously served as Vice President of Education for the Florida Society and as Past President of the Tampa Bay Ophthalmic Society. In 2015, he received Michael R. Redmond, MD Outstanding Young Ophthalmologist Award from the Florida Society of Ophthalmology and received the American Society of Retina Specialists Honor Award in 2020.
Dr. Eichenbaum is appointed as a Collaborative Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine and teaches at a monthly retina conference for the Ophthalmology department with his partners. He received the David D. Donaldson Clinical Faculty Teaching Award from the Department of Ophthalmology in 2015.

Shawn Harkey, MHA

Shawn serves in a dual role capacity as Vice President of Operations for Retina Consultants of America and as the COO and Practice Administrator for Retina Consultants of Texas with a long history in healthcare. He has navigated physician practice management, strategic planning and has extensive consulting experience having spent time at Ernst & Young.
Over the past 5 years at Retina Consultants of Texas, he made an impact by continuously finding efficiencies and identifying opportunities for system growth and market positions while showcasing skill in fiscal and operational management. He has served on pharmaceutical advisory boards including Genentech & Regeneron and has presented at multiple national conferences including ASRS and at the NextGen User Group Meeting. Shawn has strength in the retina field having published in several major retina and ophthalmology publications including co-authoring in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

Vivienne Hau, MD, PhD

Vivienne Hau, MD, PhD is a Clinical Assistant Professor with the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine and practices as a medical and surgical vitreoretinal specialist with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group in Riverside, CA. She is also the Area Vice-Chair of Clinical Research and started the clinical trial research program where she is now the Primary Investigator of several clinical trials in age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Dr. Hau also regularly peer-reviews articles for the Journal RETINA and the Journal of Vitreoretinal Diseases. Dr. Hau completed vitreoretinal surgical fellowship at Texas Retina Associates, one of the largest and most-respected practices in the country. Residency training was at the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah, where she received numerous research accolades including presenting at the Association of University of Professors of Ophthalmology meeting and earning several travel grants to present at national and international ophthalmology conferences. Dr. Hau was named Resident Speaker of the Year twice and co-founded a homeless ophthalmology clinic. During medical school at the University of Arizona, Dr. Hau won various leadership and research awards including the American Medical Association Foundation Leadership Award. She graduated from the University of Arizona Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude with honors, and received the Robert L. Nugent Award as one of the top graduates of the entire university. Dr. Hau earned a PhD in Pharmacology/Toxicology investigating effects of inflammatory conditions on drug delivery, an essential component of today's latest pharmacologic treatments for retina diseases. Dr. Hau has co-authored 20 peer-reviewed research publications in journals as the New England Journal of Medicine and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on drug delivery and the genetics of retina diseases. Dr. Hau is a member of the American Society of Retina Specialists and American Academy of Ophthalmology and has held various leadership positions in the past. She co-founded the ASRS Fellows-in-Training Section, served on the ASRS Board as Co-Chair of the Early Career Section and is on the planning committee for the ASRS Business of Retina Meeting. As a running guide for the blind, Dr. Hau has helped the visually impaired complete nearly a dozen marathons (and counting). A devotion to caring for the visually impaired as a clinician, surgeon, researcher and as a friend/volunteer is inherent in Dr. Hau's personal interests. Dr. Hau is also fluent in Vietnamese and semi-fluent in Spanish.

Tina Hodges, MHA, CPC

Ms. Hodges is a dynamic “End to End” Revenue Cycle Executive with expertise in optimizing the operational and financial performance of healthcare organizations to improve net revenue, compliance, and operational performance while keeping the patient experience front and center. She has nearly twenty years of leadership and process improvement experience driving measurable results across large healthcare and academic medical facilities, including physician practices. Ms. Hodges is highly skilled in strategic and effective communication that bridges silos and constructs collaboration across multi-functional teams leading to workflow efficiencies and sustainable process improvement. She is experienced and extremely knowledgeable across multiple facets of healthcare revenue cycle including payer, provider, and revenue cycle technology.

Alan Kimura, MD

Since becoming President & Managing Partner for Colorado Retina 3 years ago, an enterprise-wide cultural change of continuous improvement has taken root. Lean culture and process efficiencies are a key pillar buttressing this growth. Knowledge from other disciplines is interwoven with Lean to leverage our data, creating our practice’s unique value-proposition.

Michael Lai, MD, PhD

Dr. Lai has been practicing with the Retina Group of Washington (RGW) since 2007. He is a member of the Board of Directors at RGW, where he heads the Finance Committee. He is also the Director of Clinical Research and Co-Director of the retina fellowship program at RGW. Dr. Lai has been an active member of ASRS, and currently serves as a Co-Director for the Fellowship Directors' Education and Training Committee.

Nikolas London, MD

Nikolas London, MD graduated from the Retina fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital, and joined Retina Consultants San Diego in 2012 with Paul Tornambe, MD and Lon Poliner, MD. Dr. London now serves as the President, Director of Research, and Managing Partner of RCSD, as well as the founder and President of the Ophthalmology Society of San Diego, and the Chief of Ophthalmology at Scripps Memorial Hospital. Over the past 9 years, Dr. London and his partners have built the clinical trials division from 1-2 concurrent trials to now over 20, including medical and surgical trials at various phases. They have also grown their team from one clinical trial coordinator to a team of ten. Their goal is excellence in clinical trials, and they are excited to continue to be involved.

Matthew Owens, JD

Mr. Owens is a partner in the Corporate/M&A practice at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, a law firm based in Washington, DC. Matt regularly works with practices and physicians, almost exclusively in the eyecare space, helping them as they navigate potential transactions with private equity. Matt has closed over 25 sale transactions for eyecare practices and is currently in the middle of several others.

Richard Pesavento, MD

Dr. Pesavento was born and raised in California.
Education:
Medical School University of California Irvine
Residency Rhode Island Hospital/ Brown University
Retina Fellowship Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Dr. Pesavento worked in Boston with Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston for 9 years. He moved back to California and was a founding member of Retina Consultants of Southern California in 2000.
Dr. Pesavento lives in Redlands, California. He has worked as an expert witness for approximately 30 years, consulting on over 100 cases, both plaintiff and defense.

Gretchen Poffenberger, MBA

Gretchen Poffenberger, MBA is Chief Financial Officer for VitreoRetinal Surgery, PLLC (VRS) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Gretchen has a Health Care MBA from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota as well as bachelors’ degrees in Economics and Accounting. Gretchen joined VRS in 2009 following 8 years in public accounting serving medical clients and 10 years in finance for private medical practices. Gretchen serves on the ASRS Practice Administrators Section Governing Council.

Jawad Qureshi, MD, MBA

Dr. Qureshi completed his BS, MD, and MBA at Duke University. Subsequently, he travelled to Baltimore where he completed residency at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He then returned to Duke Eye Center where he completed retina fellowship.
Since 2008, Dr. Qureshi has been in private practice. He started his own practice in January of 2011, which currently consists of four offices, a surgery center, and three surgeons with plans to hire two more surgeons in the near future. Dr. Qureshi has developed the practice, and every office in the practice, around the desire to carry out clinical trials and research at our practice.

Tushar Ranchod, MD

Dr. Ranchod grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and completed his undergraduate studies at Stanford University and medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Ranchod received his ophthalmology residency training at the University of Pennsylvania's Scheie Eye Institute with a subsequent fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery and disease at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. Dr. Ranchod is a partner at Bay Area Retina Associates.
Dr. Ranchod has published more than 20 research papers and book chapters on topics including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal laser procedures, vitreoretinal physiology, familial exudative vitreoretinopathy, and current techniques in retinal surgery. He has a particular interest in low-cost portable diagnostic imaging.
Dr. Ranchod has given talks at both national and international meetings and was a recipient of the prestigious Ronald G. Michels Fellowship award. He is an assistant editor for RETINA, the leading scientific journal in the field of vitreoretinal surgery and disease.

Michael Romano, MHSA

Michael (Mike) Romano serves the Physician Operations practice. He has 28 years of experience advising leading community healthcare systems, large public hospitals and their related physician groups. He is responsible for helping clients to achieve excellence in physician operations, profoundly improve their patient’s experience, and enhance their strategic position in the markets they serve.
Mike demonstrates competence on a wide variety of consulting engagements including strategic planning, master facility planning, reimbursement and revenue cycle, operational improvement, financial turnaround, mergers and acquisitions, physician operations, hospital physician venture development, and healthcare reform responses. He has strong financial and analytical skills, especially adept at helping organizations anticipate future trends, optimize operational efficiency, and allocate scarce resources.
Highlights of his relevant experience include:
• Led development of enterprise-wide master facility plan for a major Midwestern healthcare system.
• Directed planning operational improvement activities for a large Texas-based health system.
• Championed the business plan development for Louisiana State University after Katrina destroyed “Big Charity”- its flagship academic hospital.
• Acted as principal investigator on numerous planning projects in a wide variety of healthcare settings including community hospitals, rural health clinics, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, behavioral health, and large physician group practices.
Areas of Expertise:
• Physician Strategy and Operations
• Community and Public Health Planning and Innovation
• Financial Turnaround
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Master Facility Planning
• Hospital – Physician Venture Development
• Reimbursement and Revenue Cycle Improvement

Alan Ruby, MD

Medical School University of Michigan
Ophthalmology Residency Northwestern University
Vitreoretinal Fellowship Washington University
Dr. Ruby received his undergraduate and medical degree with high honors from the University of Michigan. In his residency he served as Chief Resident of the Department of Ophthalmology at Northwestern University. He was a Heed Fellow during his retinal fellowship training at Washington University. Dr. Ruby is Professor of Ophthalmology at Oakland University, William Beaumont School of Medicine, Rochester, Michigan.
Dr. Ruby has a special interest in diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration. He is actively involved in a wide array of both basic science and clinical vitreoretinal research studies, and currently serves as principal investigator for multiple NEI studies. Dr. Ruby has served as CFO and currently serves as co-president of ARC.
Dr. Ruby is actively involved in fellow and resident education. He is a member of the American Society of Retina Specialists, Retinal Society, Michigan Ophthalmological Society, American Academy of Ophthalmology, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, American Medical Association, Michigan State Medical Society, and Oakland County Medical Society, and is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

Ankoor Shah, MD

Ankoor R. Shah, MD, graduated summa cum laude with a dual degree in healthcare management and biology from the Wharton School and the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, respectively. He earned his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he focused his research efforts on age-related macular degeneration and earned the opportunity to complete the prestigious Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship. He performed his residency in ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania Scheie Eye Institute, where he was awarded the Medical Student Teaching Award for his dedication and excellence in teaching. He went on to complete an adult and pediatric surgical vitreoretinal fellowship at the renowned William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. Over his career, Dr. Shah has received numerous prestigious honors, most notably the Rose Award and Behrens Memorial Prize in Ophthalmology.
Dr. Shah has authored over 70 combined peer-reviewed scientific papers, book chapters, and presentations at national meetings. His research focus has been on age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and venous occlusive diseases with surgical interests in retinal detachments, macular holes, and scleral fixation of intraocular lens implants. He has an interest in retinal coding and has been an invited presenter and panelist on such topics at ASRS and the ASRS Business of Retina meetings. He is currently one of the RUC Advisors for the AAO and is a former CPT Advisor for the ASRS. He remains active as a member of the Health Policy Committee for the AAO and the Practice Management Committee of the ASRS.

Matthew Slade

Matthew Slade serves as Chief Financial Officer at Vitreoretinal Consultants of New York.  Vitreoretinal Consultants of NY is one of the largest retina practices in the state with 6 state-of-the-art locations staffed by 13 doctors.

Prior to joining Vitreoretinal Consultants of NY Matt spent 15 years performing mergers & acquisitions consulting services at KPMG LLP and BDO USA, LLP within their Transaction Advisory Services practices.  Prior to his work in M&A services, Matt assessed his clients' internal controls for compliance with Sarbanes Oxley 404 requirements.

Matt earned a Bachelor of Business of Administration, Finance and Accounting at Hofstra University.

Michael Wiley, BA, CVA, CHBC

Michael J. Wiley worked as a Certified Healthcare Business Consultant and a Certified Valuation Analyst for over 25yrs before becoming the Chief Executive Officer for Vitreoretinal Consultants of New York (VRC). VRC is the largest retina practice in New York with 6 state-of-the-art locations staffed by 13 (soon to be 14) doctors.

During Michael's career he has lectured on various practice management and valuation topics at the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Yale School of Medicine. He has served as a contributing editor for Medical Economics magazine and as a board member of the National Society of Certified Healthcare Business Consultants. He is past President of the Professional Management Consultant Association. His publications include; Examine the Pros and Cons of a Buy-out Offer, A tool to help doctors review each other, Valuing a practice when adding a partner and Are you ready for steep reimbursement cuts.

Charles Wykoff, MD, PhD

Charles C. Wykoff MD PhD is Director of Research, Retina Consultants of Houston; Chairman of Research and Clinical Trials, Retina Consultants of America, & Deputy Chair for Ophthalmology, Blanton Eye Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital. He received his BS from MIT, PhD from Oxford University while on a Marshall Scholarship, and MD from Harvard Medical School. He completed vitreoretinal fellowship at BPEI where he served as Chief Resident and received a Heed Fellowship and the Ronald G. Michels Award.
He serves on the ASRS Board of Directors as Chair of the Practice Management Committee, is President of the Vit-Buckle Society, and was a founding member of the Ophthalmology Retina Editorial Board. He has been awarded the ASRS Senior Honor and Young Investigator Awards as well as the AAO Secretariat and Achievement Awards.
Dr Wykoff is passionate about translational research and clinical trial design, has published over 160 peer-reviewed manuscripts and serves on multiple global steering committees and scientific advisory boards for endeavors spanning the innovative process from early to late stage development. His research interests pertain to angiogenesis and exudative retinal diseases with an emphasis on optimizing outcomes for patients with age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.