Yannek Leiderman, MD, PhD
Professor of Ophthalmology
Background
Yannek I. Leiderman, MD, PhD, is a surgeon, vitreoretinal specialist, and translational researcher at The Duke University School of Medicine. He is a professor of ophthalmology with emphases in ophthalmic surgical education and the application of artificial intelligence methodologies to microsurgery.
Previously he was the Morton F. Goldberg Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Illinois Chicago and on faculty at The Illinois Eye & Ear Infirmary. He served as Director of Surgical Data Science at the Artificial Intelligence in Ophthalmology Center, and Director of the Fellowship in Vitreoretinal Surgery.
Yannek directs the Microsurgical Innovation and Novel Concepts Laboratory, a cross-disciplinary laboratory group developing tools and technology for intraoperative surgical guidance, assessment, and training in ophthalmic microsurgery. Lab team members have deep expertise in surgical guidance, image processing, surgical navigation, surgical simulation, and artificial intelligence. Translational investigations are directed toward two principal areas: 1) Development of technology and techniques for the integration of surgical instrumentation, visualization, and imaging; 2) the design and implementation of high-fidelity ophthalmic surgical model systems to support training in advanced surgical techniques, adoption of novel surgical devices and technologies, and experimental techniques in microsurgery. A primary research direction of the group is to decode microsurgery, i.e., to begin to measure and understand the learning processes in microsurgery, and to deepen our understanding of the attainment of expert performance. Work in clinical applications and commercialization utilizes artificial intelligence methodologies coupled with surgical instrument tracking to create an enhanced microsurgical environment for ophthalmic surgery. We have received research funding from the National Eye Institute, foundational grants, and a variety of partners in industry.
Dr. Leiderman’s primary clinical interests include the surgical treatment of complex retinal detachment, diabetic eye disease, proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), macular surgery, and pathology requiring tactics of anterior and posterior segment surgery. Clinical research is primarily directed toward the effectiveness of ophthalmic surgical interventions in diseases of the retina and vitreous. He has served as the institutional principal investigator for multi-center clinical trials assessing ophthalmic surgical techniques and devices, including first-in-human cell therapy and gene therapy trials. He has a robust surgical referral vitreoretinal practice, serving as a resource for colleagues in the community to assist with complex surgical cases, particularly in the areas of complex diabetic surgery, reoperations in PVR and retinal detachment, challenging macular surgery, and intraocular lens (IOL) surgery including sutureless- and sutured IOL contemporary fixation techniques. He has received the award for Outstanding Service to Patients several times from the University of Illinois Hospital, is recognized as a ‘Top Doctor’ by Castle Connolly and Chicago Magazine, and has been named by Ophthalmic Surgery News to the ‘OSN Retina 150’, an international compilation of the leading innovators in medical and surgical retina.
Yannek enjoys his role in training clinical fellows and is committed to surgical education. He serves as Co-Director of the American Society of Retina Specialists Committee on Surgical Metrics in Fellowship Training. He is a co-founder of the Surgical Laboratory Course for Vitreoretinal Fellows in partnership with Alcon, a first-in-class experiential, hands-on laboratory course for vitreoretinal surgical training. He has been an invited lecturer and instructor at the Advanced Vitreoretinal Techniques and Technology (AVTT) Symposium, Harvard/Mass Eye and Ear Vitrectomy Course, and Duke Fellows’ Advanced Vitreous Surgery (fAVS) course. He was director of the fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary prior to joining the faculty at Duke.
Dr. Leiderman is the founder and director of the Center for Advanced Microsurgical Education, Research, and Assessment (CAMERA), a state-of-the-art surgical concept lab. CAMERA creates high-fidelity ophthalmic surgical model systems to support training in advanced surgical techniques. Team members partner in development of goal-driven surgical training environments, offering a combination of synthetic surgical models, ex vivo eyes, and surgery in live animals to provide comprehensive training and preparation for adoption of new techniques and technologies in patients. The center has partnered primarily with colleagues in industry conducting and planning surgical clinical trials. Joint ventures include the development and implementation of comprehensive training protocols in vitrectomy-based subretinal injection of gene therapy vectors, and suprachoroidal drug delivery.
Yannek completed a clinical fellowship in Vitreoretinal Surgery at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School, where he also completed his residency training in ophthalmology, preceded by a transitional internship at Georgetown University. Prior to his graduate medical education he completed an M.D./Ph.D. combined degree program, earning his medical degree with distinction from the George Washington University School of Medicine, and receiving a prestigious Intramural Research Training Award to complete his doctoral work in bioengineering at The National Institutes of Health.