Rafaella received her Medical Degree from Federal University of Paraná in Curitiba, Brazil, and completed a General Surgery internship at UCSF East Bay in Oakland, California. Her research interests include Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography vessel density in glaucoma patients and glaucoma suspects, and new methods to diagnose, treat and predict progression of glaucoma. During her Glaucoma Research Fellowship, Rafaella helped design and coordinate clinical trials at the UC San Diego Hamilton Glaucoma Center, and her efforts have resulted in authorship on 28 peer reviewed publications. Besides having presented at major ophthalmology meetings, she also has been invited to serve as a reviewer for peer reviewed manuscripts in leading ophthalmology and vision science journals. Rafaella is passionate about her research and dedicated to excellence.

In her free time, she enjoys traveling, exploring different cuisines, hiking, going to the beach and caring for her house plants.

Helena received her undergraduate degree in Environmental Engineering from Yale University and attended medical school at UC San Diego School of Medicine. During medical school, she performed research examining the role of electronic medical records in the delivery of care to ophthalmology patients as well as novel uses of anterior segment optical coherence tomography. Helena then completed her preliminary medicine internship at UC San Diego.

Her continued research interests include examining ways to optimize delivery of care to ophthalmology patients from a systems perspective.

Outside interests include open-water ocean swimming, triathlon, paddle boarding, and cooking.

Andrew received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and attended medical school at New York University. During his time in New York, he also pursued a master’s degree in biomedical informatics, with a focus on the application of image-based learning. He then completed his preliminary medicine internship at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. His current research interest includes the use of computer learning on forecasting ophthalmic disease progression and subsequently, prevention and/or treatment. 

He is particularly invested in providing care to underserved populations through community outreach, patient education, and volunteerism. 

Interests include basketball, kite-surfing, cooking, photography, and calligraphy.

George received his undergraduate degree from UC Santa Barbara and his medical degree from UC San Diego. He completed his internship in Internal Medicine at UC San Diego. His previous research has included investigation of the effects of mydriatic agents on retinal vasculature using optical coherence tomography angiography, for which he received a research fellowship through the Clinical and Translational Research Institute TL1 Grant. He is passionate about building long-lasting solutions to address challenges in access to eye care for underserved populations and has worked on projects aimed at integrating telemedicine into the UC San Diego Student-Run Free Clinic to improve diabetic retinopathy screening.

In his free time, he likes to work on his car and truck, cook, play sports, and lift weights.

Jimmy received his undergraduate degrees in computer science and music from Emory University and his medical degree from Oregon Health & Science University. During medical school, he completed a research year in ophthalmic informatics funded by the Research to Prevent Blindness Medical Student Fellowship. He then completed his internship in internal medicine at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. Jimmy’s current research interests focus on the use of technology, including artificial intelligence, and informatics to improve the delivery of equitable and accessible healthcare for all patients. He is also passionate about community service, particularly in underserved populations.

Interests include: hiking, swimming, tennis, snorkeling, playing the violin/piano, and chess

Michael received his bachelor's degree from Carnegie Mellon University. He obtained a Master's in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He received his Medical Degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his internship in internal medicine at UC Irvine. His research interests in ophthalmology have spanned patient recovery following ophthalmic surgery, application of optical coherence tomography to the study of the biomechanics of the optic nerve head, the epidemiology of trachoma prevalence and progression and field trials of a novel method for trachoma surveillance in Chamwino, Tanzania.

Interests include: travel, hiking, skiing, chess and tennis.

Rebecca received her bachelor’s degree in Public Health from The University of California Berkeley. She then received her medical degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and completed her intern year in Internal Medicine at the University of California San Diego. Her research interests are varied and have included: the effects of anti-inflammatory eye drops on corneal epithelium, models of patient experiences during surgery, as well as imaging and treatment of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

Rebecca’s interests include board games, dessert making, and hiking.

Alex graduated with honors from Brown University with a degree in Biomedical Engineering. He then went on to earn both an MD and a PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering from Yale University. Afterward, he completed an internship in Internal Medicine at NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island. His PhD research focused on developing and investigating the mechanisms behind a novel tumor-targeted drug delivery system. He also combined computational modeling with laboratory experiments to elucidate why certain microRNAs are oncogenic in some cancers but tumor-suppressive in others.  For his work, he was awarded a prestigious NIH/NCI F30 National Research Service Award Fellowship, and his research culminated in multiple publications in leading academic journals. Within ophthalmology, he has performed research investigating mechanisms governing intraocular VEGF production and transport using mathematical models.



Interests include: astronomy, physics, space exploration, aviation, hiking/backpacking, spending time with his dog, and yoyo. He published an academic paper in which he conceived of and analyzed the physics behind the “Star Tug”, a hypothetical far-future technology that can be used to move entire stars. 

Alison graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in biology and attended medical school at UC San Diego School of Medicine. She completed her internship at UHS Medical Education Consortium in Temecula, California. While in medical school, Alison was awarded the NIH Medical Student Training in Aging Research grant to study retinal ischemic perivascular lesions as a biomarker for underlying cardiovascular diseases. Her current research interests include social determinants of health in ophthalmology, innovations in ophthalmic medical education, and bioinformatics. Alison is passionate about developing accessible educational tools and previously served as a glaucoma section writer for The Lens, an ophthalmology research newsletter for medical trainees.

In her free time, Alison enjoys cycling, weightlifting, fostering animals, traveling, and cooking.

Skenda received her bachelor's degree in public health from Brown University before continuing on to receive her medical degree from the Warren Alpert Medical School through the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME). She completed her internship in a transitional year program at HCA Florida Kendall Hospital in Miami.

During her undergraduate years, she fostered a love for global health through studying abroad and engaging in international research. In medical school, Skenda focused on service and advocacy through involvement in the local free clinic and various student groups such as the Student National Medical Association and Brown Human Rights Asylum Clinic. As the inaugural resident of the Global Ophthalmology and Advanced Leadership (GOAL) program, she hopes to combine her interests in global health and medical education to serve under-resourced communities in the United States and abroad.

In her free time, Skenda enjoys exploring mindful movement, particularly yoga, as well as hiking, traveling, and going to the beach.

Justin completed medical school at the Duke University School of Medicine, and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Miami. He completed a Transitional Year internship at UHS SoCal MEC. Justin's research interests include ophthalmic imaging, quality improvement and data standardization, and the retinal manifestation of neurodegenerative disease, for which he was awarded a VRSF Grant.

His interests included classical piano, and table tennis. In his spare time, he serves as producer for the retina podcast 'Straight From The Cutter's Mouth', and on the IT committee for the Vit-Buckle Society.

Elaine graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a focus on Immunology and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. She completed her medical degree at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University along with a Scholarly Concentration in Aging. She completed her transitional year internship at the UHS Southern California Medical Education Consortium in Temecula, California where she was awarded Resident of the Year. 

She has collaborated with many research mentors in ophthalmology and vision science over the years, which has resulted in numerous research awards, publications, and presentations at regional and national meetings. Her past research projects centered around graduate medical education in ophthalmology, clinical surveys, driving safety, preoperative medical testing and consultations, and biometric formulae.

She has been an active participant in community outreach through free clinics in Rhode Island as well as advocacy work at the local and national level. She has mentored many current and aspiring medical students and continues to engage in medical education through curricular innovation. She is committed to providing compassionate, thoughtful care to patients and their families.

In her free time, she enjoys entertaining and cooking for her friends and family, meeting new people, hiking, watching basketball, and being a tour guide.