Yannek I. Leiderman, MD, PhD, is a surgeon, vitreoretinal specialist, and translational researcher at The Illinois Eye & Ear Infirmary and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is Co-Director of the Fellowship in Vitreoretinal Surgery and Director of the Ophthalmic Imaging Service at UIC. His 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. He directs the Microsurgical Innovation and Novel Concepts Laboratory, a cross-disciplinary laboratory group developing tools and technology for intraoperative surgical guidance in ophthalmic microsurgery. Lab team members have deep expertise in bioengineering, surgical guidance, computer science, haptics, surgical navigation, surgical simulation, and virtual, mixed, and augmented-reality technologies. The lab group is utilizing artificial intelligence methodologies coupled with surgical instrument tracking to create an enhanced microsurgical environment for ophthalmic surgery. He also serves as Technical Director of the UIC Ophthalmic Research in Bioengineering, Innovation, and Technology (ORBIT) Lab, an interdisciplinary team specializing in the development of ophthalmic devices. He has received research funding from the National Eye Institute as well as from a variety of partners in industry. Dr. Leiderman’s 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 a number of multi-center clinical trials assessing ophthalmic surgical techniques and devices, including first-in-human cell therapy and gene therapy trials. Dr. Leiderman 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 the founder and Course Director of the Surgical Laboratory Course for Vitreoretinal Fellows in partnership with Alcon.

Yannek joined UIC following 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.

Dr. Ashkan Abbey graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University and received his medical degree, with honors, at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. He completed his transitional residency at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, California, and his ophthalmology residency at the top-rated eye hospital in the country, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida. He then completed his fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, recognized as one of the premier retina training programs in the country. Dr. Abbey joined Texas Retina Associates in 2015. He became Director of Clinical Research for Texas Retina Associates - Dallas in 2020.

Dr. Abbey specializes in the management of all diseases of the retina and vitreous. His clinical expertise includes the diagnosis and treatment of macular degeneration, retinal detachment, diabetic retinopathy, macular holes, retinopathy of prematurity, and other pediatric retinal diseases. He has been active in research during his medical career and has published numerous peer-reviewed scientific papers, book chapters, and national meeting abstracts on various ophthalmologic topics.

Dr. Abbey is board-certified in ophthalmology. He is an active fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and an active member of the American Society of Retina Specialists, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He also serves as a manuscript referee for the standard scientific journal of his field, RETINA: the Journal of Retina and Vitreous Diseases, and OSLI Retina.

Dr. Nika Bagheri is an associate at California Retinal Consultants in Santa Barbara, California. Co-editor of the best-selling Wills Eye Manual, she has published in leading journals including the American Journal of Ophthalmology, JAMA Ophthalmology, and Retina. She also is an investigator in several clinical trials for retinal diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration.

Mark Barakat received his undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Duke University and his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed residency training as chief resident at Hahnemann University, followed by retina fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. He is a retinal surgeon at Retinal Consultants of Arizona, Director of the Retinal Research Institute, and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.

Christina Y. Weng, MD, MBA is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and the Vitreoretinal Diseases & Surgery Fellowship Program Director at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She has a faculty appointment at the Level 1 trauma center, Ben Taub General Hospital.

Dr. Weng graduated cum laude from Northwestern University and then went on to medical school at the University of Michigan where she was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Medical Society. While in Ann Arbor, she pursued an MBA degree from the University of Michigan-Ross School of Business and graduated with high distinction. Dr. Weng completed her ophthalmology residency at the Wilmer Eye Institute-Johns Hopkins University and surgical retina fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute-University of Miami.

Dr. Weng is involved with multiple clinical trials; these include the DRCR Retina Network diabetic retinopathy trials and the AGTC Phase 1/2 subretinal gene therapy study for achromatopsia. She also leads numerous research studies in her areas of interest: clinical/surgical outcomes, medical economics, healthcare quality metrics, and telemedicine.