Yassine Daoud, MD - The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Akrit Sodhi, M.D, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute and holds the Branna and Irving Sisenwein Professorship in Ophthalmology. Dr. Sodhi specializes in the medical and surgical management of complex vitreoretinal diseases.Dr. Sodhi was trained at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of California at Davis, and the National Institutes of Health. After obtaining his M.D. and Ph.D., he interned at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore and completed his Ophthalmology Residency training at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins in 2008. He then pursued a fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery at Wilmer where he also served as the Assistant Chief of Service (Chief Resident). Dr. Sodhi joined the faculty of the Retina Division at Wilmer in 2010. His research interests, currently sponsored by grants from the National Eye Institute, include the examination of the role of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) and HIF-regulated genes in ocular diseases, including diabetic eye disease, age-related macular degeneration, sickle cell retinopathy, retinal vein occlusions, and uveal melanoma. Dr. Sodhi's lab has identified novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of these vision-threatening diseases.

Ashley Behrens, M.D., is the Edward St. John Professor in Ophthalmology and chief of the comprehensive ophthalmology division at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine. He specializes in the medical and surgical management of cataracts and corneal diseases, including corneal transplantation techniques for Fuchs’ dystrophy and keratoconus, as well as LASIK, PRK and refractive lens exchange. Dr. Behrens received his medical degree from the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas, and completed his ophthalmology residency and fellowship training at the Francisco Risquez Hospital. He completed additional fellowships at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany, where he obtained his German Doctorate with Magna Cum Laude Distinction, and then at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Behrens joined the Wilmer faculty in 2003, and served as executive medical director at the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital (KKESH), Wilmer’s affiliate hospital in Saudi Arabia, from July 2010 through August 2014.

Dr. Susan Bressler is the Julia G. Levy, Ph.D. Professor of Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute. She is an ophthalmologist and has subspecialty training in medical retinal disorders, vitreoretinal disease, and retinal surgery. Her main research interest has been collaborative efforts in clinical trials - serving as principal investigator of an image reading center that has served as a central unit for many clinical trials and epidemiologic investigations, as Vice Chair of the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network and as principal investigator of a participating clinical center in several major clinical trials. Most studies have specific emphasis on the treatment of both non-neovascular and neovascular age-related macular degeneration and all aspects of diabetic retinopathy. Dr. Bressler has a large national and international referral practice. In addition, she has published 223 peer reviewed articles and 55 book chapters. Editorial Board positions have included American Journal of Ophthalmology, Survey of Ophthalmology, Retina, EyeNet Magazine, Health After 50: The Johns Hopkins Medical Letter and the Wilmer Retina Update.