Scientific Advisory Board

David S. Boyer, M.D.

Founder, Retina-Vitreous Associates Medical Group

Dr. Boyer is a world-renowned clinician, surgeon and educator. He is the founder of Retina-Vitreous Associates Medical Group with six locations in Southern California. He received a B.S. from the University of Illinois at Champaign, after which he completed a medical degree at the Chicago Medical School. In 1976 he finished his residency at U.S.C. County Medical Center’s Doheny Eye Institute. A year long retinal surgery fellowship at the Wills Eye Hospital, located in Philadelphia, completed his training. He is currently a leading investigator for various national clinical trials on retinal diseases and serves as an advisor for multiple research, educational and charitable institutions.

Peter Campochiaro, M.D.

Eccles Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience

Dr. Campochiaro was trained at the University of Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the University of Virginia, and Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, joining the Wilmer Faculty in 1991. He is currently the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience at the Wilmer Eye Institute. His major research interests are in gaining a greater understanding of the roles of peptide growth and trophic factors in the retina and retinal pigmented-epithelium with an ultimate goal of developing new treatments for proliferative retinopathies, choroidal neovascularization, and retinal degenerations. Dr. Campochiaro is a distinguished member of numerous societies, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Macula Society, Retina Society, International Society for Eye Research.

Julia Kornfield, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
California Institute of Technology

Dr. Kornfield, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology, is an expert in polymer physics, including the physical properties of ocular tissues (cornea, sclera, vitreous), tissue engineering and drug delivery. She has won numerous awards, including the John N. Dillon Medal of the American Physical Society, and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  She is a co-founder of Calhoun Vision and led the development of the material with the speed, clarity and sensitivity to enable clinically relevant adjustment of the light adjustable lens (LAL).  She is a co-founder of Visdex and has led the in vitro studies of efficacy, drug delivery and irradiation for therapeutic cross-linking of the cornea and sclera using eosin Y and visible light.

Barry Kuppermann, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Ophthalmology and Biomedical Engineering
Chief, Retina Service
Vice-Chair, Clinical Research, Ophthalmology, School of Medicine
University of California, Irvine

After completing his Ph.D. in neuroscience at the California Institute of Technology, Dr. Kuppermann went on to earn an M.D. at the University of Miami. He interned at LA County/USC Medical Center and did his residency in ophthalmology at USC’s Doheny Eye Institute. Dr. Kuppermann then went on to complete fellowships in Retina at both St. Joseph’s in Baltimore Maryland, and at the University of California, San Diego. Following his fellowships he came to UCI and has been on faculty since 1992. Currently he is an Associate Professor and Chief of the Retina Service at UCI.

Dr. Kuppermann is the principal investigator at UCI for several multicenter national trials evaluating new drugs and devices for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and the ocular complications of AIDS. He is the national and international lead investigator for several of these trials. His primary area of research is drug delivery to the posterior segment of the eye, with special attention to the pharmacokinetics of the posterior segment. He has also developed models for viral retinal infections as well as for retinal angiogenesis and his research on these models using time-release therapeutic agents may lead to new methods for the treatment of potentially blinding infections. In addition, Dr. Kuppermann has extensive research collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, serving as an advisor with a goal of bringing new treatments to patients for a variety of retinal diseases.

Dr Kuppermann is listed as one of the best doctors in America, and for the last several years in a row has been named as the “Best Ophthalmologist in Orange County” by Orange Coast Magazine. Dr. Kuppermann is a peer reviewer for the American Journal of Ophthalmology, Archives of Ophthalmology, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Ophthalmology, Retina, Journal of Infectious Diseases, Lancet, and the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Hugo Quiroz-Mercado, M.D.

Director of Ophthalmology Vitreo-Retina Specialist, Denver Health Medical Center
Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Colorado School of Medicine
Ophthalmologist, Hospital Médica Sur
Consultant for Clinical Research Asociación Para Evitar la Ceguera en México, I.A.P.

Dr. Hugo Quiroz-Mercado is a board-certified ophthalmologist specializing in diabetic retinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity as the Director of Ophthalmology Service at Denver Health Medical Center. With over 25 years of practice experience, Dr. Mercado has held previous appointments as the Director of the Retina Department and Chief of the Experimental Surgery Laboratory at Luis Sanchez Hospital for the Prevention of Blindness, as well as a professor of Ophthalmology at the Facultad de Medicine Universidad Autonoma de Mexico. He specializes in treating patients with severe retinopathy and helping them cope with the impending complications.

Dr. Mercado completed his medical degree at Facultad de Medicine Universidad Nacional Automa de Mexico, and completed his postgraduate residency at Luis Sanchez Hospital for the Prevention of Blindness in Mexico City. Dr. Mercado then furthered his training by completing fellowships in Vitreo-Retinal Diseases at APEC in Mexico City and Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston.