Nickisa M. Hodgson, MD, MAS

Associate Professor

 

Orbital Disease Disparities, Thyroid Eye Disease, and Artificial Intelligence Applications

In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Hodgson is an active clinical researcher and dedicated medical educator. Dr. Hodgson has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in prominent journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA Ophthalmology, Orbit, and Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Her clinical research focus includes disparities in orbital disease, thyroid eye disease, ophthalmic medical education, and artificial intelligence.

Dr. Hodgson has a passion for medical education and frequently lectures on oculoplastic surgery. She is the recipient of resident medical education teaching awards.

 

To Learn More:

UCSF Profile
UCSF Health Profile
 

Research Areas:

Deep Learning / AI, Oculoplastics, Orbital disease, Thyroid eye disease, Ophthalmic medical education
 
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Madeline Yung, MD

Assistant Professor

 

Curriculum innovation in medical education

Dr. Yung's research primarily focuses on medical education. She has developed and validated numerous curricular innovations, such as a direct ophthalmoscopy rotation for neurology residents. Her nationwide needs assessment on direct ophthalmoscopy training in neurology residencies has been published in BMC Education, and her innovative optometry rotation curriculum for neurology residents has been adopted by outside instutions. In addition, she has created and validated numerous self-guided ophthalmic exam modules to allow independent learning by medical students on clinical clerkships. She has a received UCSF Innovations Funding as well as the Hellman Fellowship for her work in this domain.

In addition, Dr. Yung conducts research in her clinical subspecialty of cataract and refractive surgery. She is interested in determining the optimal refractive nomograms for topography-guided ablations in regular and irregular corneas, as well as the impact of patient education materials on informed consent for cataract surgery.

 

To Learn More:

https://profiles.ucsf.edu/madeline.yung
 

Research Areas:

Cataract, Cornea, Medical Education
 
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O’Rese J. Knight, MD

Associate Professor

 

Enhancing Glaucoma Management and Expanding Ophthalmology Workforce Diversity

Dr. O’Rese J. Knight is an ophthalmologist who specializes in glaucoma and cataract surgery. He serves as the medical director of the John Muir/UCSF Health Berkeley Outpatient Center eye clinic and was recently named the director of the UCSF Glaucoma Fellowship. Dr. Knight leads a multi-disciplinary team in developing a novel approach to 24-hr IOP monitoring. He has previously lead trials evaluating the clinical utility of a contact lens-based IOP monitor. Dr. Knight’s team is currently developing a novel technology  using self-sensing cantilevers capable of automated, accurate assessment of the corneal biomechanical response to intraday IOP fluctuation. This technology has the power to capture nocturnal IOP spikes and provide rapid assessment of response to treatment.  Beyond, clinic and research Dr. Knight is a passionate clinical educator and mentor. He has worked with NIH-funded Rabb-Venable (RV) Excellence in Ophthalmology Program for many years to recruit URiM trainees to academic careers in ophthalmology. Ophthalmology has one of the least diverse workforces in the house of medicine and this lack of diversity has been directly linked to disparities eye health utilization and worse eye care outcomes. The RV program has been a significant driver of diversity in the ophthalmology workforce since its inception in 2000.  

 

To Learn More:

 

Research Areas:

Cataract, Glaucoma, Workforce Diversity
 
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Luciano C. Greig, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

 

Retinal Development and Regeneration

The Greig lab investigates genetic regulation of cell identity acquisition in the retina to inform development of stem cell therapies for currently irreversible causes of vision loss. The retina is a complex brain structure comprised of over 50 neuron types that are tasked with detecting light and processing this raw input to begin extracting visual information. We are interested in understanding how gene regulatory networks direct neural progenitors to generate these diverse classes and subtypes of retinal neurons, and how these neurons assemble into functional neural circuits. Our second goal is to formulate therapeutic strategies to repair retinal pathology by applying these basic developmental biology insights. In particular, we aim to reprogram Müller glia into replacement retinal ganglion cells or photoreceptors. As an additional area of interest, we focus on technology development, with a particular emphasis on genetic analysis and manipulation in mice. Currently, we are developing new methods for 1) mosaic analysis to facilitate phenotypic analysis of gene function at the cellular level and for 2) tracking cells during identity reprogramming experiments to detect instances of cell fusion, material transfer, or aberrant promoter activity.

 

To Learn More:

 

Research Areas:

Diabetic Retinopathy, Macular Degeneration, Myopia, Retina or Retinal Diseases, Stem Cell Research, Visual System Development, Retina Regeneration
 
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Simon Fung, MD MA(Oxon) FRCOphth

Associate Professor

 

Pediatric anterior segment and cornea transplantation

Dr. Simon Fung specializes in cataracts and corneal diseases in children and adults. His research focuses on complex corneal diseases, advanced diagnostics, and innovative treatments.

 

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Research Areas:

Cataract, Cornea, Pediatric, Anterior segment
 
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Tiffany A Chen, M.D.

Assistant Professor

 

Treatment of Pediatric Eye Disorders and Surgical Education

Dr. Tiffany A Chen is a specialist in pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus. She provides clinical care for all pediatric eye disorders including amblyopia, strabismus, and cataracts; additionally, she leads the pediatric inpatient service. Her research interests include improving the diagnosis and management of eye diseases in children, utilizing telemedicine in clinical care, and enhancing resident surgical education.

 

To Learn More:

https://profiles.ucsf.edu/tiffany.chen

 

Research Areas:

Amblyopia Strabismus or Eye Movement Disorders, Pediatric, Telemedicine, Surgical Education
 
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Marc Levin, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor

 

Translational neuro-ophthalmologist

Dr. Marc Levin received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from UCSF. His graduate research in Biophysics focused on aquaporin (AQP) water channel and cystic fibrosis transmembrane channel (CFTR) physiology, especially in the cornea. Dr. Levin completed his residency in Ophthalmology plus a fellowship in Neuro-ophthalmology, both at the Scheie Eye Institute at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He was then elected the prestigious Society of Heed Fellows at the end of his training. He then returned to UCSF as an Assistant Professor and clinician-scientist in the Department of Ophthalmology. His primary research was in understanding roles for pathogenic autoantibodies against AQP4 in rodent models of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) optic neuritis. He also discovered and developed small-molecule CFTR activators as potential ocular surface therapies, and has been involved in advancing them to human trials. From 2016 to 2023, he practiced clinical neuro-ophthalmology, at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. He serves on multiple editorial boards in his field, and most recently as site and national principal investigator on multiple clinical studies of idebenone for the treatment of Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy. In 2023, he returned to the UCSF Department of Ophthalmology as an Associate Professor. Through renewed collaborations, he looks forward to developing new research directions, with the goal of making meaningful scientific contributions to improve his patients’ visual outcomes.

 

To Learn More:

https://profiles.ucsf.edu/marc.levin

 

Research Areas:

Amblyopia Strabismus or Eye Movement Disorders, Neuro-Ophthalmology, Visual System Function in Adults
 
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