Duke Ophthalmology celebrated the graduating class of 2024 on Saturday, June 22. We are proud of their accomplishments and dedication to excellence in research, education and patient care in ophthalmology. We wish them continued success as they pursue subspecialty training or join faculty at academic institutions or private practice.
Awards:
Best Research Presentation by a Full-Time Research Fellow (Poster): Nikhil Gadiraju, "Evaluating Performance of ResNet-50 and RETFound Image Classification Algorithms on Ultra-Widefield Fundus Images." He was mentored by Lejla Vajzovic, MD, FASRS.
Best Research Presentation by a Full-Time Research Fellow (Podium): Daniel Wang, "Improving Microbial Keratitis AI Screening Tools Constrained by Limited Data Using Synthetic Generation of Slit Lamp Photos." He was mentored by Anthony Kuo, MD.
Best Research Presentation by a Clinical Fellow (Poster): Mustafa Iftikhar, MD, "Retinal Neurodegenerative Outcomes in Patients with Diabetic Macular Edema from The VISTA Study." He was mentored by Dilraj Grewal, MD, FASRS.
Best Research Presentation by a Clinical Fellow (Podium): Tali Okrent, MD, "Reducing Neuro-Inflammation in a Mouse Model of Mitochondrial Optic Neuropathy." She was mentored by Sidney Gospe, MD, PhD.
Golden Apple Teaching Award Recipients:
- PGY1: Nicholas Johnson, MD
- PGY2: Terry Lee, MD
- PGY3: Cason Robbins, MD
- PGY4: Rami Gabriel, MD
- Fellows: Bonnie Sklar, MD, James Tian, MD, and Ellie Zhou, MD
MELT Program (Medical Education Leadership Track) Award: Keke Liu, MD, PGY2
Robert Machemer Research Award: Angela Li, MD, PGY3, "Development of a Deep Learning Algorithm for Automatic Ellipsoid Zone Segmentation in Patients with Geographic Atrophy". She was mentored by Glenn Jaffe, MD and Sina Farsiu, PhD.
Edward K. Isbey, Jr. Award: Yuxi Zheng, MD, PGY4
K. Alexander Dastgheib Award: Rami Gabriel, MD, PGY4
Edward G. Buckley Resident Educator Award: Richmond Woodward, MD, PGY4
Ocular Innovation Award: Rami Gabriel, MD, PGY4
Hornaday Fellow Award: Tali Okrent, MD
Ophthalmic Technician of the Year Award: Howard Evans, COT
Golden Globe Award: Mays Dairi, MD
Excellence in Education Award: Thomas Devetski, OD
Teachers of the Year recognized by the OpTech Graduating Class of 2024:
- Technician of the year- Jennifer Justice, COMT
- Resident of the year- Yuxi Zheng, MD
- Fellow of the year- Nickolas Garson, MD
- Attending of the year – Alan Carlson, MD