EyeIEC

Mission Statement

The Department of Ophthalmology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA strive for excellence in the areas of patient care, education, research, and community engagement. The core value of excellence is integral to these goals; we will treat all individuals with dignity, humility and respect. We strive to create a culture that supports every member of our department with opportunity for success and ensures all patients access to high quality health care.

Inspiring Excellence Executive Committee

Sophie Deng
MD, PhD
(Chair)

Anne Coleman
MD, PhD

Bartly Mondino
MD

Lynn Gordon
MD

Trashon Fearington

Alfredo Sadun
MD, PhD

Committee Members

Anthony Aldave, MD Deborah Ferrington, PhD
Monica Khitri, MD
Ken Kitayama, MD Jo_Ann Giaconi, MD Gary Holland, MD
Peter Lopez Soh Youn Suh, MD, MS

Yolanda McNair
Mitra Nejad, MD
Kouros Nouri-Mahdavi, MD
Stacy Pineles, MD
Peter Quiros, MD
Roxana Radu, MD David Peprah, MD

Edmund Tsui, MD
Victoria Tseng, MD, PhD
Irena Tsui, MD
Federico Velez, MD Bryant_Cruz Mona_Fayad, MD Vivian Shibayama, OD

IEC Initiatives

The EyeIEC endeavors will focus on 6 elements in the next 5 years: people, climate, structural element, professional development, community engagement and patient care. All 6 elements interwind with each other.

A few focuses of our IEC endeavor include the following:

Build a Pathway to Ophthalmology program to maximize recruitment of most talented individuals to ophthalmology and vision research and support their profession development. Our current efforts include enhancing residency recruitment effort to attract the medical students who strike to improve health for everyone to our residency program, fostering and preparing medical students via sponsorship and mentorship, and establishing a summer undergraduate scholarship.
Establish a structured mentoring program for junior faculty that tailors their needs.
Establish a structured professional development program fall faculty.
Create more inclusive and respectful climate.
Faculty recruitment and retention to build a faculty body and leadership to maximize the success of achieving our mission.
Continue our community engagement efforts.
Provide high quality eye care to everyone.
Continue and expand our current research on all factors that affect vision health.

Programs and Resources for Underrepresented Trainees:

A departmental sponsorship program to fund trainees and faculty to attend events and programs that will benefit their career and leadership development.
House-staff organization that foster the professional development of all individuals.
Medical student organizations
Structured mentorship program for all residents. This mentorship program aims to provide additional mentorship that that meets the trainees’ specific needs such as career coaching, scholarship champion, and buddy residents.
Resident Roundtables at DGSOM

IEC News

Dr. Sophie Deng, MD, PhD, Cornea Division Co-Chief and Vice Chair of Inspiring Excellence, shares about the recent grand rounds.

The first of the two Inspiring Excellence Grand Rounds at the Department of Ophthalmology was held on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, which brought attention to critical issues of health disparities. The Grand Rounds started with three clinical case presentations by Drs. Angela Chen, Erika Ellis, and David Peprah. Each presentation explored unique cases of patients experiencing barriers to vision care, including socioeconomic challenges, geographic limitations, and systemic inequities within healthcare delivery.
The invited guest speaker, Dr. Keith Norris presented the Grand Rounds lecture, entitled “Sciences on Health Disparities”. Dr. Norris is a distinguished Professor and Executive Vice-Chair for Community Engagement & Inclusive Excellence at the UCLA Department of Medicine, and Co-Director of the UCLA CTSI Community Engagement Research Program. Dr. Norris is an internationally renowned clinician scientist and health policy leader who has been instrumental in shaping national health policy and clinical practice guidelines for chronic kidney disease and is a leader in the efforts of reducing health disparities.
Dr. Norris’ lecture provided a deeper understanding of the broader societal and systemic factors contributing to healthcare disparities. The lecture emphasized the importance of integrating health disparities research into medical practice and public health policy to create more inclusive, accessible care systems.
The Inspiring Excellence Grand Rounds served as a platform for fostering discussion on how healthcare professionals can work collaboratively to address disparities in eye care and improve outcomes for underserved populations.

Five Years of New Milestones

The early results of the Inspiring Excellence Committee’s work have produced a five-year plan of programs that will increase the Institute’s engagement in its inspiring excellence commitment. Three priorities are:
Creating a more inclusive climate and an increasingly the body of residents and faculty to serve our community.
Modifying existing mentorship programs to better tailor the needs of all trainees, junior faculty, and improving the existing process to provide everyone in the Institute with opportunity for growth.

An Emphasis on Access to Care

The Institute’s efforts also extend into the role of Stein Eye services in the community.

“Our agenda is expanding on issues that UCLA health care has taken on for years: working to improve medical care for the segments of the population that are less healthy and have much higher percentages of chronic illness and conditions that are purely a function of lack of access,” says Dr. Deng.

Such plans for providing care to every community are crucial to increasing the number of doctors who originally came from these communities, and who often return for their medical practices.

“The data show that doctors tend to return to and treat patients in the communities where they came from,” says Dr. Deng. “So, it is vital to build even more aggressive programs to train ophthalmologists from all communities, which will have a significant impact on increasing access to eye care.”

A Stronger Sense of Community

“We are constantly reevaluating, reflecting, and reimagining how we can build a stronger sense of community based on our principles,” says Dr. Gordon. “We can’t just rest on our past success— we need to keep looking forward and say: what can we do now to be even better?”

Dr. Keith Norris (center) with department faculty and trainees.

“We are constantly reevaluating, reflecting, and reimagining how we can build a stronger sense of community based on our principles. We can’t just rest on our past success— we need to keep looking forward and say: what can we do now to be even better?”
LYNN K. GORDON, MD, PHD

Medical Students Gain Real-World Experience Providing Community Eye Care

Catherine T. Cascavita

The Early Authentic Clinical Experience (EACE) Program at the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) engages first-year DGSOM medical students in an immersive, real-life clinical and community experience. From October 2021 through July 2022, the EACE Program participated in a joint effort with the UCLA Mobile Eye Clinic (UMEC). Directed by Anne L. Coleman, MD, PhD, Bradley R. Straatsma, MD, Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology and Chair and Executive Medical Director of the Department of Ophthalmology, UMEC provides free eye care services to under-resourced and vulnerable populations throughout Los Angeles.

EACE student and participant Catherine T. Cascavita, medical student year 1, says of her experience, “Over the past year, I have had the privilege of rotating with UMEC, which has allowed me to see the transformative impact the mobile eye clinic has around LA county, often providing patients with their first-ever eye exam and glasses. I have enjoyed working alongside and learning from UMEC’s dedicated staff who have shown and taught me the end-to-end process of community outreach.”

The EACE and UMEC collaboration provides students with robust opportunities to participate in community outreach, including vision-screening events for adults, preschool exams at local schools, and largescale health fairs. The students also receive a firsthand introduction into eye care services provided to medically underserved groups in Los Angeles County, additionally providing experience in assessing social determinants of health as they are related to eye diseases that cause visual impairment and blindness.

Providing Free Eye Care for All Communities

Stein Eye faculty and staff participate in a free vision-screening event at Dodger Stadium.

In addition to being a mobile eye clinic, UMEC serves as a training ground for first-year David Geffen School of Medicine students to have an immersive and real-life clinical and community experience. This learning opportunity helps medical students become more informed and empathetic health care providers.

From July 1–November 17, 2021, UMEC screened and/or examined 1,734 children and adults, and made 96 trips to bring access to eye care for under-resourced and medically underserved populations throughout Los Angeles County.

The Stein Eye Institute Center for Community Outreach and Policy’s UCLA Mobile Eye Clinic (UMEC) program, directed by Anne L. Coleman, MD, PhD, Bradley R. Straatsma, MD, Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology and Chair and Executive Medical Director of the Department of Ophthalmology, screened and/or examined 1,734 children and adults from July 1–November 17, 2021, and made 96 trips to bring access to eye care for under-resourced and medically underserved populations throughout Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation
In the first half of fiscal year 2021–22, UMEC collaborated with influential organizations, including the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation where they attended four events and provided free vision care services for 106 patrons. UMEC is participating in Los Angeles Dodgers events in spring and summer 2022, performing eye health screenings for a third year.

Health Fairs
In the first half of the fiscal year, UMEC attended six health fairs serving 149 patients. UMEC found 73 cases of refractive error, 30 cataracts, 11 glaucoma suspects, and 40+ other diagnoses where further care or treatment is needed. For these health fairs, UMEC collaborated with a variety of student, government, and community organizations, such as UCLA Filipinos for Community Health, American University for Health Sciences Foundation, and the City of Maywood. We are passionate about providing compassionate and culturally aligned care with a significant impact throughout the Los Angeles community.

Percent Pledge and Dexcom
UMEC had an exciting collaboration with Percent Pledge and Dexcom over summer 2021. Percent Pledge creates customized workplace charity programs so companies can donate to any charity and/or volunteer in their local communities. One of Percent Pledge’s newest companies, Dexcom, makes continuous glucose monitoring systems for diabetes management. With UMEC and Percent Pledge’s help, Dexcom planned a volunteer project for their summer interns. Knowing that diabetes is one of the leading causes of blindness, the Dexcom interns created valuable educational materials for children and adults in multiple languages about diabetes and how it affects the eye. Resources included pamphlets, flyers, healthy cooking recipes, and even 3D models of diabetic retinopathy.

Early Authentic Clinical Experience (EACE) Program
We are excited to announce a new academic program in collaboration with the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. The EACE program engages first-year DGSOM students in an immersive and real life clinical and community experience. The on-site component of EACE consists of 12 visits on the UMEC from October 2021–July 2022. The goal of EACE is to have students add value to their site by working collaboratively with the site team to advance the health and health care goals of the underrepresented and vulnerable communities UMEC serves.

Through experiential learning with UMEC, students learn to be compassionate, knowledgeable, and self-aware care providers with the skills and personal strengths necessary to deliver collaborative care with compassion. This experience gives students a firsthand introduction into the important eye care services provided to all groups in great need in our local Los Angeles community, while also giving them opportunities to interact with potential future mentors. Because UMEC also has ongoing partnerships with community organizations providing services to individuals experiencing housing insecurities throughout Los Angeles County, there will also be experiences available to assess factors affecting health as they relate to eye diseases that cause vision impairment and blindness.

IEC Resources

Health Opportunities for All:

If you are a student without adequate resources or are interested protecting the health of vulnerable populations or promoting health for all, we have a variety of opportunities that provide hands-on training and a unique experience in many public health fields. These opportunities are highlighted here, but are also organized within the short-term internships and long-term fellowships at Fellowships and Training Opportunities | Fellowships and Training Opportunities | CDC

The Rabb-Venable Excellence in Ophthalmology Program

The Rabb-Venable Excellence in Ophthalmology Program supports medical students, residents, and fellows in ophthalmology or who desire to work in their own communities. We are committed to increasing access to eye care to better reflect the U.S. population.

Ophthalmology Research Program | Rabb Venable

ARVO Travel Grants:

The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology- Minority Fellowship Travel Grants

Each year ARVO awards three fellowship travel grants. The ARVO SACNAS Eye and Vision Research Award is given to an individual with the best vision and ophthalmology-related abstract from the Society for Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science conference of that year. The ARVO Vision Research Fellowship Award is awarded to an individual who has won a Rabb-Venable Excellence in Ophthalmology Award at that year’s U.S. National Medical Association’s annual convention (two awards given each year). The Rabb-Venable award is named in honor of Dr. Maurice Rabb, Jr., and Dr. H. Phillip Venable, two pioneering African American ophthalmologists and researchers. For more information about these grants, please contact awards@arvo.org.

Funding Opportunities for Eye Research

AUPO Resident and Fellow Research Forum

Resident and Fellow Research Forum | Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology

Recognizing promising house officers pursuing a career in academic ophthalmology and vision research.

The AUPO/RPB Resident and Fellow Research Forum was established through a grant provided by Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB). The AUPO believes strongly that skills learned by participating in research are an invaluable component of the education of an ophthalmologist. The establishment of the Resident and Fellow Research Forum acknowledges the importance of research in ophthalmic education and is intended to encourage the most promising house officers to pursue a career in academic ophthalmology and vision research. Through this forum AUPO promotes excellence in research by residents and fellows and identifies and supports individuals considering a career in ophthalmic research. Each year, AUPO schedules a session for the Forum as an integral part of the annual meeting. Travel-related expenses for the meeting are covered by AUPO; winners receive a cash award of $500 and a commemorative certificate.

RPB Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship

Medical Student Fellowship – Research to Prevent Blindness

Department of Ophthalmology, UCLA

Medical Student Programs – Ophthalmology | UCLA Health

Fight for Sight Summer Student Fellowships

Research Categories | Fight for Sight

Resources at DGSOM

DGSOM mentorship program

Global Health Program | Global Health Program

Medical School | Mentorship | UCLA Medical School

Medical School | Community & Equity | UCLA Medical School

NANOS has a trainee resources. They can all be accessed by emailing info@nanosweb.org