One of the great pleasures of my life is caring for people, especially those with serious eye challenges. Growing up, from my earliest experiences, I was fascinated with medicine, including its power to transform, improve and sometimes save life. As a child, I watched my father and uncle, both ophthalmologists, give all of themselves to deliver outstanding surgical and clinical care to patients. I also saw how delivering this level of “total” care enhanced the lives of my father and uncle, through giving them an unshakable sense of worth and self-respect. Not only these doctors influenced me: both my grandfathers were gifted doctors and both my grandmothers were gifted nurses, as is my mother. In sum, I have been inspired, surrounded by, and influenced by outstanding medical practitioners all my life. It is what defines and distinguishes me as a surgeon and doctor.
Today, I am a board-certified Ophthalmologist with subspecialties in Vitreoretinal surgery and Ocular Oncology.
As a native Californian, I earned Phi Beta Kappa at the University of California in Los Angeles and also attended University of California at Irvine. For medical school, I graduated from what is widely considered one of the top five medical schools in the nation, University of California at San Francisco (UCSF).
I went on to complete my residency at the prestigious Washington University in St. Louis for Ophthalmology. I later completed an Ocular Oncology fellowship at UCSF with the globally renowned Dr. Joan O’Brien, today Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Next, I completed a comprehensive fellowship in retinal disease and surgery at Loma Linda University, one of only two sites on the West Coast of the United States with the facilities to treat intraocular tumors using proton beam radiation.
In addition to my top-tier academic qualifications, I am published in numerous peer-reviewed scientific journals for research involving ocular oncology and retinal disease. I’m also a regularly invited speaker for academic conferences and lectures throughout Southern California.
I have held a teaching appointment as Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Loma Linda University where I have treated intraocular tumors with proton beam radiotherapy. In addition to intraocular melanoma and retinoblastoma, I have expertise in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, retinopathy of prematurity, and complex retinal detachments.
Finally, in addition to my passion for medicine is my passion for life and for my family: husband Chris, son Maximillian, 13, daughter Sophia, 9 and of course Bernie, our 2-year old Labradoodle who was too shy to appear in the picture.
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