Ophthalmology near Bronx, NY

Biography: Aliaa Abdelhakim, MD, PhD is Assistant Professor in Ophthalmology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Assistant Attending in NewYork Presbyterian Hospital.Dr. Abdelhakim is a board-certified ophthalmologist and retina specialist at the Harkness Eye Institute. She also completed her fellowship in Medical Genetics and Genomics at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York. Dr. Abdelhakim specializes in conditions of the retina, as well as patients with genetic conditions affecting the eyes.Dr. Abdelhakim completed her medical school training at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, followed by an ophthalmology residency and vitreoretinal surgical fellowship at the Columbia University Harkness Eye Institute, the latter under the mentorship of Tongalp Tezel, MD. Prior to her medical training, she completed a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Structural and Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School/ Children's Hospital Boston.Dr. Abdelhakim has won numerous awards as a clinician and researcher, including Alpha Omega Alpha and the Heed Ophthalmic Fellowship. She was recently named the inaugural Burch-Chang Scholar, recognizing her as one of the rising research talents in ophthalmology.

Biography: Stephen H. Tsang, M.D, Ph.D. is an acclaimed clinical geneticist in the care of individuals with retinal degenerations. He has been culturing stem cells since 1992 and created the first mouse model for a recessive form of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) by applying genome engineering to stem cell technology in 1995. He successfully treated preclinical models ofPde6a, Pde6b, Mfrp, Rho, Cngb1 and autosomal recessive bestrophin retinopathies. He has expertise in designing and testing genome engineering strategies in pre-clinical models, developing patient-specific knock-in models, generating of patient cell lines and providing care to patients with a precision medicine approach. He is also leading efforts in FDA trials for gene therapies, including PDE6A, RAB geranylgeranyl transferase, RPGR, CNGB3, CNGA3 and ABCA4 retinopathies. He wrote 3 books: "Precision Medicine, CRISPR, and Genome Engineering: Movingfrom Association to Biology andTherapeutics" and "Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in Ophthalmology", SpringerPress, NY; and "CRISPR Genome Surgery in Stem Cells and Disease Tissues", Elsevier Inc.He is an elected member of several honorary societies including the American Society forClinicalInvestigation, Alcon Research Institute and American Ophthalmological Society. He is consistently named to various NIH study sections (DPVS standing member 2014-8 and PED2 2022-6) and other review committees; Alcon Research Institute Grant Review Committee (2022-27), Scientific Advisory Panel- Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB, 2019-29), Chair of American Ophthalmological Society Thesis Review Committee (2022-2023). Many of his publications are in widely-read general interest journals such asScience,NEJM,Lancet,Cell Stem Cell,Nature Genetics, andJournal of Clinical Investigation, which attests to the broad impact that his work has had. Dr. Tsang received a resident teaching award in 2008 and was the Columbia Ophthalmology Basic Science Course Director (2006-2018). Dr. Tsang graduated from Johns Hopkins University, where he began his medical genetics training under the tutelage of Professor Victor A. McKusick. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the NIH-National Institute of General Medical Sciences Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at Columbia University. Dr. Tsang then completed his residency at Jules Stein Eye Institute/UCLA, followed by studies with Professors Alan C. Bird and Graham E. Holder on improving the care of individuals with macular degenerations.

Biography: Srilaxmi Bearelly, MD, MHS is a retina specialist with expertise in the evaluation and treatment of age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal vascular occlusions, choroidal neovascularization and macular disorders. Her experience in the treatment of retinal diseases started with a seven-year tenure on the Vitreoretinal Service at Duke University Eye Center in North Carolina (2003 to 2010). Since then, she joined Columbia's faculty in 2010. She has treated thousands of patients, and helped patients and their families through their treatments. She has also volunteered her medical expertise in underserviced areas, such as El Salvador and rural United States. Dr. Bearelly received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, received her M.D. from Northwestern University Medical School, and a Masters of Health Sciences from Duke University School of Medicine. Following her ophthalmology training at Northwestern University, she completed her fellowship training in diseases of the retina and vitreous at Duke University Eye Center. She has written 70 articles, chapters and abstracts, and frequently presents at scientific and professional conferences both nationally and abroad. Currently, Dr. Bearelly is a collaborator on a Columbia University clinical study of retinal changes in preeclamspia (a disease of pregnancy). She is recognized as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor in Ophthalmology, and with Castle Connolly's Exceptional Women in Medicine award. She received several research awards, including an NIH/NEI K12 and K23 Mentored Research Career Award, and a Young Investigator Award by Retinal Degenerations Symposium at the International Congress of Eye Research Meeting in China. Dr. Bearelly has been certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and is a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. She is an active member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), and the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS).