Up Close and Personal with 2000 Award Winners

James C. Lai, MD

I am currently a partner in the largest retina group in Hawaii, the Retina Consultants of Hawaii. Our practice has been involved in almost all the large multicenter clinical trials for AMD, diabetic retinopathy, and vein occlusions. I've been actively involved in teaching medical students, residents and fellows as Associate Clinical Professor for the University of Hawaii Medical School. I just completed a Masters of Medical Management at USC. Using this business degree, I recently founded InTeleretina, a telemedicine company that assists physicians with diabetic retinopathy screening.

However, the best thing that I have done is to have married the woman of my dreams. Together we are raising two beautiful daughters who keep our lives very busy and fulfilled.

Joel A. Pearlman, MD, PhD

Dr. Joel Pearlman is managing physician at VRMG. He enjoys seeing patients with his nine excellent partners. He finds unabated joy diagnosing PVDs, repairing complicated RDs, and everything between. He is honored to work with a top-notch study group, passing one hundred trials and still going strong. His stellar team at VRMG creates an atmosphere of compassionate medicine coupled with science.

Outside clinic, he enjoys writing the genetics section of Retina Times with his colleague and friend David Telander, MD, PhD. When not working he loves to spend time with his lovely wife Valerie and his wonderful daughters Sarah and Zoe.