Retina Fellowships

Fellowship Overview

Fellowships offered

  • Vitreoretinal Surgery: Two-year fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery. AUPO compliant, participates in the SF match. 
  • Medical Retina: One-year fellowship in medical retina with subspecialty exposure to uveitis, ocular oncology, and inherited eye diseases. AUPO compliant, participates in the SF match.
  • Mina Chung fellowship: One-year fellowship in inherited eye diseases named in honor of former fellow Dr. Mina Chung. This fellowship is offered outside of the match. Please direct inquiries to Dr. Elaine Binkley (elaine-binkley@uiowa.edu).

Salaries, Benefits, Rotations, and Call Schedule

Pay Grade Levels Stipends 2024-2025
PGY-5 $78,800
PGY-6 $81,100
PGY-7 $84,800

Benefits/Leave/conferences

Medical, dental, life, and malpractice insurance are available for fellows through the University of Iowa (please see https://gme.medicine.uiowa.edu/benefits/paid-time-and-leave-information for more information).

University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics provides house staff with 15 work days and six weekend days of paid time off each year. House staff members arrange for paid time off with their Program Director or his/her designee. Special requests for absences as a result of family problems, deaths, board examinations must also be reviewed and approved by the Program Director.

Retina fellows are also granted five days of conference time to attend academic conferences of their choosing. The retina service will cover expenses for each fellow to attend one academic conference per year.

Time away from training for leaves that are necessary due to illness will be made up at the discretion of the Program Director in accord with the needs of the house staff member to complete essential components of his/her training program.

Female house staff members are entitled to up to six weeks of paid disability (maternity) leave for each pregnancy. If additional leave, either before or after delivery, is required for medical reasons associated with the pregnancy, this time will also be treated as paid disability leave up to a maximum of an additional four weeks beyond the initial six weeks of maternity leave.

Non-birth parent house staff members, including domestic partners as defined by UI policy, have available five working days of paid time off for parental leave related to each recent birth or adoption of their child.

Rotations

Rotations schedule

*Junior fellows and medical retina fellows rotate ~1-2 days a week in injection clinic on site where they perform scheduled and add on clinic injection procedures. Senior fellow B has research time on Friday afternoons. All rotations are at the UIHC main hospitals and clinics, there is no satellite or VA coverage required.

Call

Call coverage begins January 1 each year and is divided evenly between the two vitreoretinal surgery fellows in each class. There is no call coverage for the first six months or the last six months of the fellowship. Fellows supervise and work closely with the ophthalmology residents while on call. Call is retina only (i.e. no primary open globe or non-retina consult coverage required). Medical retina fellows do not cover call.

Conferences

  • ConferenceRetina imaging conference is held every Monday from 6:45 am-7:45 am and attended by all retina fellows and faculty to share interesting cases from the week
  • Daily “work rounds” are held post clinic by each faculty member with the fellows rotating in their clinic to review the cases from the day. On Tuesdays this is hosted by Dr. Ed Stone with a special emphasis on inherited eye diseases
  • Department of Ophthalmology morning rounds is held Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 8:00-8:45 am. First year fellows are invited to attend prior to clinic, second year fellows attend when the operating room schedule permits
  • Retina surgical rounds are held once a month in the second half of the year over dinner (provided)
  • Journal clubs are held quarterly, often at a faculty member’s home
  • Department of Ophthalmology Clinical Conferences (national speaker invited for each subspecialty) ~one Friday Q2 months

Research

  • Fellows are expected to participate in at least one research project per year and are supported to present their work at one national conference per year of their choosing
  • Fellows are expected to present at the annual resident and fellow research day
  • Innumerable opportunities to collaborate with the retina faculty on general vitreoretinal surgery topics or subspecialty topics of the fellow’s choosing at both the clinical and translational level
  • Access to all University of the University of Iowa Health Sciences Library resources and software (i.e. Endnote, Adobe Photoshop etc.). Dedicated ophthalmology library on site

Medical Retina Training

  • Standardized echography trainingFellows have broad-based exposure to general medical retina pathology and procedures (injections, lasers, diabetes, age-related macular degeneration) as well as complex disease with subspecialty exposure to inherited retinal diseases, uveitis, and ocular oncology
  • Unique, world-class training in inherited eye diseases with a dedicated day each week with Dr. Ed Stone
  • Access to high-quality imaging modalities including conventional and swept-source optical coherence tomography, optical coherence tomography angiography, standard and wide-field fluorescein angiography, indocyanine angiography, Clarus, Optos, Topcon and RetCam photography, and dedicated ocular ultrasound and ERG services
  • Opportunity to tailor schedule depending upon the fellow’s interest in broad-based medical retina or sub-specialty interest
  • Medical retinas fellows are integrated into the clinics with first-year surgical retinal fellows but do not have call responsibilities

Surgical Training

  • Surgical fellows perform an average of 475 cases as primary surgeon during their training. Fellows are granted increasing autonomy as they advance through their training
  • Diverse group of faculty training backgrounds and subspeciality surgical interests (seven surgical faculty)
  • Wet labFellows see their patient’s pre-op, are invited to participate in all surgeries, and follow their patients post operatively
  • 23, 25, and 27-guage surgical instrumentation available
  • Alcon Constellation and DORC EVA platforms are utilized with the Resight viewing system
  • Balance of primary scleral buckle and vitrectomy surgery
  • All aspects of both “bread and butter” and complex cases (PVR, trauma, pediatric vitreoretinal surgery, traction retinal detachment) are covered with the exception of ROP surgery
  • Exposure to surgical procedures for uveitis
  • Exposure to surgical procedures for inherited eye disease (subretinal surgery, gene therapy)
  • Exposure to ocular oncology procedures (plaque brachytherapy, tumor biopsy, vitrectomy for primary vitreoretinal lymphoma)
  • Secondary IOLs with multiple techniques including scleral sutured lenses, Yamane fixation, and anterior chamber lenses
  • Intra-operative OCT
  • All surgeries are performed on-site in either the ambulatory surgery center located within the hospital main operating room suite. All cases are staffed by dedicated “eye team” surgical nurses
  • There is an Eyesi surgical simulator equipped with the retina training modules available in the new onsite wetlab

Resources

  • All fellows have their own workspace in the dedicated retina fellow office
  • Access to all University of Iowa and Departmental resources including software (EndNote, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat) and references (dedicated ophthalmology library, online access to all University of Iowa resources through PubMed)
  • Ability to serve as author on EyeRounds website entries in collaboration with the ophthalmology residents

How to Apply

Thank you for your interest in our Fellowship Program. Applications for the 2025 Fellowship cycle will be processed through SF Match. Applicant registration opens Friday, June 28, 2024 and our application deadline is Sunday, September 1, 2024. Only Central Application Service (CAS) will be accepted.

Required Application Materials:

Additional letters of recommendation are welcome, but not required. Orientation for new fellows begins July 1. Fellows must be licensed in Iowa by June 30 and available to begin on July 1. Ability to obtain an H1B visa is required.

Our fellowship interviews are in person and will be held on Monday, September 30, Saturday, October 5, and Friday, November 8 for the 2025 match cycle.

Please reach out to Kristina Huffman if you have any questions.

Kristina Huffman, Retina Fellowships Coordinator
Department of Ophthalmology
University of Iowa Health Care
Iowa City, IA 52242
1-319-356-3185
kristina-huffman@uiowa.edu

Our People

Sam Abbassi, Daniel Feiler, and Christy Harvey
Dr. Ian Han with nursing staff and retina fellows
Dr. Ian Han with Vitreoretinal Fellow, Douglas Jin, MD (23F)
Retina fellow alum, Razek Georges Coussa, MD (20F, 22F) with Drs. Culver Boldt and Ian Han
Drs. Timothy Boyce (21F), Mahsaw Mansoor (24R), Ian Han, Elaine Binkley (17F, 18F), and Christopher Fortenbach (21R, 23F)

Our people are the heart of our program. From the reception desk to the exam room, from laboratory to diagnostic suite, from the auditorium to the library, from administration office to faculty office you will find our people eager to help you become the best ophthalmologist you can be.

At Iowa, you will be exposed to some of the best clinicians, researchers and teachers in our profession. We provide high-powered opportunities for you to learn career-long lessons from these dedicated professionals.

Retina team dinner

Our Faculty

All faculty members in the department are full-time members of the Department of Ophthalmology. The care of patients by the Vitreoretinal fellows and residents is completely under the supervision of these staff members. No diagnosis is made or a surgical procedure planned or performed without their knowledge and direct supervision.

Elaine Binkley MD

Fellowship Director
Associate Professor

Elaine Binkley, MD, portrait

Clinical Interests:

  • Posterior segment tumors
  • Complex retinal detachments
  • Medical and surgical retina

Research interests:

  • Prognostication in posterior uveal melanoma
  • Optimization of brachytherapy treatment for posterior uveal melanoma
  • Pathophysiology and treatment of radiation retinopathy
  • Clinical and molecular pathophysiology of von Hippel-Lindau disease
  • Ocular side effects of systemic chemotherapeutic agents
  • Molecular pathophysiology of ocular disease in neurofibromatosis type 1

Training:

  • Ophthalmology residency, Havener Eye Institute
  • Fellowship, Vitreoretinal Surgery, University of Iowa
  • Fellowship, Clinical and Molecular Retina Research (Ocular Oncology) University of Iowa
  • Fellowship, Visiting scholar in Ocular Oncology, Cole Eye Institute

 

H. Culver Boldt MD

Fellowship Co-Director
Professor

H. Culver Boldt, M.D.

Clinical Interests:

  • Ocular oncology
  • Proliferative vitreoretinopathy
  • Medical and surgical retina ocular echography

Research interests:

  • Choroidal melanoma
  • Radiation retinopathy
  • Complex retinal detachment
  • Ocular trauma

Training:

  • Ophthalmology Residency, University of Iowa
  • Fellowship, Ocular echography, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
  • Fellowship, Medical retina, Wilmer Eye Institute
  • Fellowship, Vitreoretinal Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin

 

Timothy Boyce, MD

Assistant Professor

Timothy M. Boyce, MD

Clinical interests:

  • Posterior uveitis
  • Inherited eye disease
  • Medical and surgical retina

Research interests:

  • Posterior uveitis
  • Inherited eye disease
  • Autoimmune retinopathy

Training:

  • Ophthalmology Residency, Casey Eye Institute
  • Fellowship, Vitreoretinal Surgery, University of Iowa

 

Ian Han MD

Service Director
Associate Professor

Tahreem Mir, MBBS

Clinical interests:

  • Medical and surgical retina
  • Inherited eye disease

Research interests:

  • Advanced retinal imaging
  • Computational/imaging-based disease modeling
  • Inherited eye disease
  • Translational (cell/animal) models
  • Clinical trials

Training:

  • Ophthalmology Residency, Wilmer Eye Institute
  • Fellowship, Vitreoretinal Surgery, Wilmer Eye Institute; Assistant Chief of Service, Wilmer Eye Institute

 

Tahreem Mir, MBBS

Assistant Professor

Ian Han

Training:

  • Ophthalmology Residency, Yale School of Medicine
  • Fellowship, Vitreoretinal Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  • Research Fellowship, Retinal Imaging Research and Reading Center, Wilmer Eye Institute

 

Jonathan Russell, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Jonathan F. Russell, MD, PhD

Clinical interests:

  • Medical and surgical retina
  • Pediatric vitreoretinal surgery
  • Ocular trauma
  • Inherited eye disease
  • Diabetic retinopathy

Research interests:

  • Diabetic retinopathy
  • Ocular trauma
  • Inherited eye disease
  • Pediatric retina

Training:

  • Ophthalmology Residency, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
  • Fellowship,Vitreoretinal Surgery, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
  • Fellowship, Chief Resident, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute

 

Stephen (Steve) Russell, MD

Professor

Stephen R. Russell, portrait

Clinical interests:

  • Medical and surgical retina
  • Retinal vascular disease
  • Inherited eye disease

Research interests:

  • Inherited eye disease
  • Retinal detachment
  • Age-related macular degeneration

Training:

  • Ophthalmology Residency, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
  • Fellowship, Retinal vascular disease, University of Iowa (Dr. Sohan Hayreh)
  • Fellowship, Vitreoretinal surgery, University of Iowa

 

Elliott Sohn MD

Professor

Elliott Sohn, MD

Clinical interests:

  • Medical and surgical retina
  • Inherited eye disease
  • Complex macular hole and retinal detachment repair 

Research interests:

  • Inherited eye disease
  • Age-related macular degeneration
  • Diabetic neuroretinal degeneration
  • Pentosan maculopathy
  • Complex macular holes and retinal detachment repair

Training:

  • Ophthalmology Residency, University of Washington
  • Fellowship, Medical retina, Moorfield’s Eye Hospital
  • Fellowship, Vitreoretinal surgery, University of Southern California / Doheny Eye Institute

 

Edwin Stone, MD, PhD

Professor
Director of Institute for Vision Research

Edwin M. Stone, M.D., Ph.D.

Clinical interests:

  • Inherited eye disease

Research interests:

  • Inherited eye disease

Training:

  • Ophthalmology Residency, University of Iowa
  • Fellowship, Vitreoretinal surgery, University of Iowa

RESEARCH FACULTY

Michael Abramoff MD, PhD

Professor

Michael D. Abramoff, portrait

Clinical interests:

  • Diabetic retinopathy
  • Medical retina (staffs Iowa City VA medical retina clinic)

Research interests:

  • Artificial intelligence in ophthalmology
  • Ophthalmic imaging
  • Diabetic retinopathy

Training:

  • Ophthalmology Residency, University of Utrecht (Netherlands)
  • Ophthalmology Fellowship, Medical retina, Vije Universiteit Hospital (Netherlands)
  • Ophthalmology Fellowship, University of Iowa (research)

 

Todd Scheetz, PhD

Professor

Todd Scheetz

Research interests:

  • Bioinformatics
  • Inherited eye disease

Training:

  • PhD, Genetics, University of Iowa

 

Budd Tucker, PhD

Professor

Budd Tucker

Research interests:

  • Inherited eye disease
  • Stem cell biology

Training:

  • PhD, Neuroscience, Memorial University Newfoundland
  • Post-doctoral fellowship, Harvard Medical School

 

Robert Mullins, PhD

Professor

Robert Mullins

Research interests:

  • Age-related macular degeneration
  • Inherited eye disease

Training:

  • PhD, Cell and molecular biology, St. Louis University
  • Post-doctoral Fellowship, University of Iowa

 

Our Current Fellows

Surgical Retina

Kyle Green, MD

Photo coming soon

Education

  • Ophthalmology Residency, University of Rochester, Flaum Eye Institute, Rochester, NY
  • Internship, Kaweah Health Medical Center, Visalia, CA
  • MD, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles
  • BS, Harvard University

Projected completion date: June 2025


Taariq Mohammed, MD

Taariq Mohammed, portrait

Education

  • Ophthalmology Residency, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD
  • Internship, University of Maryland – Mercy Hospital, Baltimore, MD
  • MD, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY
  • BS, Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Projected completion date: June 2025
 

Nicole Somani, MD

No Photo

Education

  • Ophthalmology Residency,  Baylor College of Medicine, Cullen Eye Institute, Houston
  • MD, UTHealth Houston McGovern Medical School, Houston

Projected completion date: June 2026
 

Richard Yi, MD

Richard Yi, portrait

Education

  • Ophthalmology Residency, Prisma Health/University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia, Columbia, SC
  • MD, Medical College Of Georgia At Augusta University, Augusta, GA

Projected completion date: June 2026

Ocular Oncology

Farzad Jamshidi, MD, PhD

Farzad Jamshidi, portrait

Education

  • Vitreoretinal Surgery Fellowship, University of Iowa Health Care, Iowa City, IA
  • Residency, Dean McGee Eye Institute, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK
  • Internship, Internal Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA
  • MD, PhD, University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, Vancouver, British Columbia

Projected Completion Date: December 2024

Retina Fellow Alumni

Retina Fellowship Alumni

(sorted by date of fellowship)

  • William B. Snyder, Dallas—Retina (1964-1966)
  • Thomas C. Burton, Waukesha, Wis.—Retina (1968-1969)
  • Thomas J. Harrison, Santa Fe, N.M.—Retina (1972-1973)
  • Thomas S. Stevens, Waunakee, Wis.—Retina (1973-1974)
  • James G. Diamond, New Orleans—Retina (1974-1975)
  • William F. Rachal, Metairie, La.—Retina (1975-1976)
  • Thomas A. Weingeist, Iowa City, Iowa—Retina (1976-1976)
  • Louis A. Lobes, Pittsburgh—Retina (1976-1977)
  • Jerald A. Bovino, Aspen, Colo.—Retina (1978-1978)
  • Rodolfo N. Perez, Jr., Boulder, Colo.—Retina (1978-1978)
  • Victor Zion, Aventura, Fla.—Retina (1977-1978)
  • Charles W. Mohler, Jackson, Wyo.—Retina (1980-1980)
  • Richard S. Munsen, Jr., Seattle—Retina (1979-1980)
  • Norman D. Radtke, Louisville, Ky.—Retina (1978-1980)
  • Manfred A. Von Fricken, Fairfax, Va.—Retina (1979-1980)
  • Peter R. Pavan, Tampa, Fla.—Retina (1979-1981)
  • James C. Folk, Iowa City, Iowa—Retina (1980-1982)
  • Prem S. Virdi, Rock Island, Ill.—Retina (1979-1982)
  • Vernon M. Hermsen, Corpus Christi, Texas—Retina and Echography (1981-1982)
  • Michael J. Howcroft, Davenport, Iowa—Retina and Echography (1981-1982)
  • Edward J. Goldman, Owings Mills, Md.—Retina (1982-1983)
  • Stanley G. Shortt, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada—Retina (1982-1983)
  • Christopher F. Blodi, West Des Moines, Iowa—Retina (1983-1984)
  • Thomas K. Krummenacher, St. Louis—Retina (1983-1984)
  • Richard F. Dreyer, Portland, Ore.—Retina (1984-1985)
  • Kevin D. Brady, Golden, Colo.—Retina (1985-1986)
  • Samuel G. Farmer, Salem, Ore.—Retina (1984-1986)
  • Patrick J. Caskey, Santa Rosa, Calif.—Retina (1985-1987)
  • Patrick Coonan, Bainbridge Island, Wash.—Retina (1986-1987)
  • Stephen R. Russell, Iowa City, Iowa—Retina (1986-1988)
  • Steven R. Bennett, Edina, Minn.—Retina (1989-1989)
  • Alan E. Kimura, Denver—Retina (1987-1989)
  • Scott R. Sneed, Novi, Mich.—Retina (1987-1989)
  • Andrew S. Kimmel, Bethlehem, Pa.—Retina (1988-1990)
  • Kim S. Mallick, Seattle—Retina (1988-1990)
  • Michael B. Rivers, Fairfax, Va.—Retina (1989-1991)
  • Warren M. Sobol, Cleveland, Ohio—Retina (1989-1991)
  • Todd W. Heilskov, West Des Moines, Iowa—Retina (1990-1992)
  • Jonathan M. Hershey, Milwaukee—Retina (1990-1992)
  • Edwin M. Stone, Iowa City, Iowa—Retina (1990-1992)
  • Richard M. Feist, Birmingham, Ala.—Retina (1991-1993)
  • Chittaranjan V. Reddy, Peoria, Ill.—Retina (1991-1993)
  • Sunil Gupta, Pensacola, Fla.—Retina (1992-1994)
  • Jonathan D. Walker, Fort Wayne, Ind.—Retina (1992-1994)
  • David M. Brown, Houston—Retina (1993-1995)
  • Cecelia A. Dellone, Pittsburgh—Retina (1995-1995)
  • Archibald J. McGeorge, Auckland, New Zealand—Retina (1993-1995)
  • Deborah G. Keenum, Billings, Mont.—Retina (1994-1996)
  • Ali R. Tabassian, Richmond, Va.—Retina (1994-1996)
  • Donald W. Park, Seattle—Retina (1995-1997)
  • Timothy D. Polk, Aberdeen, Md.—Retina (1995-1997)
  • Jeremiah Brown, Jr., Schertz, Texas—Retina (1996-1998)
  • Peter L. Sonkin, Nashville, Tenn.—Retina (1996-1998)
  • Alan J. Franklin, Mobile, Ala.—Retina (1997-1999)
  • Raj K. Maturi, Indianapolis—Retina (1997-1999)
  • Mina M. Chung, Rochester, N.Y.—Retina (1998-2000)
  • Amin Kherani, Calgary, Alberta, Canada—Retina (1998-2000)
  • Andrew J. Lotery, Southampton, England—Retina and Molecular Ophthalmology (1998-2000)
  • Nancy J. Christmas, Denver—Retina (1999-2001)
  • Kean T. Oh, Traverse City, Mich.—Retina (1999-2001)
  • Helen Ruifang Sui, Beijing—Retina and Molecular Ophthalmology (1999-2001)
  • Sharam Danesh, Phoenix—Retina (2000-2002)
  • Calvin A. Grant, Palos Heights, Ill.—Retina (2000-2002)
  • Denise L. Kayser, Santa Rosa, Calif.—Retina (2001-2003)
  • Karin R. Sletten-Farjo, Brighton, Mich.—Retina (2001-2003)
  • Esther M. Bowie, Hummelstown, Pa—Retina (2002-2004)
  • Matthew H. Wood, Lincoln, Neb.—Retina (2002-2004)
  • Jason B. Sanders, Greensboro, NC—Retina (2003-2005)
  • David S. Zumbro, Anchorage, Alaska—Retina (2003-2005)
  • Judy C. Liu, Traverse City, Mich.—Retina (2004-2006)
  • Chetankumar B. Patel, Frederick, Md.—Retina (2004-2006)
  • Jeffrey J. Fuller, Tuscaloosa, Ala.—Retina (2005-2007)
  • James G. Howard, Murray, Utah—Retina (2005-2007)
  • Vinit B. Mahajan, Palo Alto, CA—Retina (2006-2008)
  • Michael D. Radosevich, Delmar, N.Y.—Retina (2006-2008)
  • Jordan M. Graff, Phoenix—Retina (2007-2009)
  • Narendra (Nick) M. Patel, Greensboro, NC—Retina (2007-2009)
  • Kori Anne E. Elkins, Virginia Beach, Va—Retina (2008-2010)
  • Rizwan Somani, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada—Retina (2008-2010)
  • Christine N. Kay, Gainesville, Fla.—Retina (2009-2011)
  • Ryan M. Tarantola, Pensacola, Fla.—Retina (2009-2011)
  • Andrew S. Davis, Dupont, Wash.—Retina (2010-2012)
  • A. Brock Roller, Round Rock, Texas—Retina (2010-2012)
  • Matthew A. Cunningham, Lake Mary, Fla.—Retina (2011-2013)
  • Paul S. Tlucek, Portland, Ore.—Retina (2011-2013)
  • Katrina Mears, Fort Myers, Fla.—Retina (2012-2014)
  • Elizabeth Tegins, Hopewell, NJ—Retina (2012-2014)
  • David R. P. Almeida, Erie, Pa.—Retina (2013-2015)
  • Eric K. Chin, Redlands, Calif.—Retina (2013-2015)
  • Andrew R. Carey, Baltimore—Retina (2015-2016)
  • Yasser Elshatory, Plano, TX—Retina (2014-2016)
  • Christopher N. Roybal, Albuquerque, N.M.—Retina (2014-2016)
  • Elaine M. Binkley, Iowa City, Iowa—Retina (2015-2017)
  • Jessica S. Watson, Bangor, Maine—Retina (2015-2017)
  • James Peairs, San Diego, CA—Retina (2016-2018)
  • Sunny Lee, Los Angeles, CA—Retina (2016-2018)
  • Sam Abbassi, Los Angeles, CA—Retina  (2017-2019)
  • Daniel L. Feiler, Kansas City, Kan.—Retina (2017-2019)
  • Elaine M. Binkley, Iowa City, Iowa—Retina Clinical and Molecular Research (2017-2018)
  • Alec Amram, Las Vegas—Retina (2018-2020)
  • Benjamin King, Memphis, Tenn.—Retina (2018-2020)
  • Timothy M. Boyce, Iowa City, Iowa—Retina (2019-2021)
  • Aaron M. Ricca, Lexington, Ky—Retina (2019-2021)
  • R. Chris Bowen, Chicago, Ill. —Retina (2020-2022)
  • Razek Georges Coussa, Oklahoma City, Ok—Retina (2020-2022) 
  • Christopher Fortenbach, MD, PhD, Seattle, WA—Retina (2021-2023) 
  • H. Douglas Jin, MD, Everett, WA—Retina (2021-2023)
  • Rupak Bhuyan, MD, Lancaster, PA—Retina (2022-2024)
  • Farzad Jamshidi, MD, PhD, Iowa City, Iowa; Pittsburgh, PA—Retina (2022-2024)

Inherited Retinal Disease

  • Beau Fenner, MD, PhD, Singapore—Inherited Retinal Disease (2022-2023)

Medical Retina

  • Michael A. Grassi, Chicago—Medical Retina and Molecular Ophthalmology (2003-2006)
  • Lucas J. A. Wendel, Iowa City, Iowa—Medical Retina (2010-2011)
  • Benjamin Bakall, Scottsdale, Ariz.—Medical Retina and Retinal Research (2011-2013)
  • Lorna W. Grant, Utica, N.Y.—Medical Retina (2013-2014)
  • Rachel M. Huckfeldt, Boston—Medical Retina (2014-2015)
  • Andrew R. Carey, Baltimore, MD—Medical Retina (2015-2016)
  • Christine Clavell, Surgical Retina Fellowship, West Virginia University—Medical Retina (2016-2017)
  • Christy M. Harvey, Elgin, IL (2017-2018)
  • Laith M. Kadasi, Bend, Oreg. —Medical Retina(2018-2019)
  • Razek Georges Coussa, Oklahoma City, OK—Medical Retina (2019-2020)
  • Chirantan Mukhopadhyay, Chicago, Ill.—Medical Retina (2021-2022)

Molecular Ophthalmology & Retina Research

  • Andrew J. Lotery, Southampton, England—Retina and Molecular Ophthalmology (1998-2000)
  • Helen Ruifang Sui, Beijing—Retina and Molecular Ophthalmology (1999-2001)
  • Michael A. Grassi, Chicago—Medical Retina and Molecular Ophthalmology (2003-2006)
  • Benjamin Bakall, Scottsdale, Ariz.—Medical Retina and Retinal Research (2011-2013)

Contact Us

Vitreoretinal Fellowship Director

Elaine Binkley, MD

Department of Ophthalmology
University of Iowa Health Care
200 Hawkins Drive
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1091

Administrative Support: Kristina Huffman, kristina-huffman@uiowa.edu
Phone: 1-319-356-3185

Vitreoretinal Fellowship Coordinator

Kristina Huffman

Department of Ophthalmology
University of Iowa Health Care
200 Hawkins Drive
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1091

E-mail: kristina-huffman@uiowa.edu
Phone: 1-319-356-3185

Ophthalmology Fellowship Director

Alina Dumitrescu, MD, FACS
University of Iowa Health Care
Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
200 Hawkins Drive
Iowa City, IA 52242-1091

Email: alina-dumitrescu@uiowa.edu 

Ophthalmology Fellowship Coordinator

Vikki Bell
University of Iowa Health Care
Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
200 Hawkins Drive
Iowa City, IA 52242-1091

Email: vikki-bell@uiowa.edu 
Phone: 319-356-0382