Up Close and Personal with 2006 Award Winners

Geoffrey G. Emerson, MD, PhD

Geoffrey Emerson, MD, PhD is on the Executive Committee of ASRS, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota, and partner at Retina Consultants of Minnesota. His primary focus is medical and surgical retina, with particular interests in retinal detachment, sustainability, and the safety of retina therapeutics.

Geoff grew up in Seattle, Washington. He graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a degree in chemical engineering and was a member of the varsity swim team. More recently, his hobbies include tennis and backyard barbeque.

M. Vaughn Emerson, MD

I am a Partner at Retina Consultants of Minnesota. In addition to my clinical duties, I enjoy research, working with RCM fellows and University of Minnesota ophthalmology residents, and my work with the American Board of Ophthalmology.

Howard F. Fine, MD, MHSc

I am honored and humbled to be included in the prestigious ranks of Ron Michels fellowship recipients and would like to thank my mentors including Drs. Larry Yannuzzi and Stan Chang in NYC and the late Dr. Bob Nussenblatt from NEI.

I am currently an associate professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey and a partner at NJRetina. I launched the first vitreoretinal fellowship in NJ and serve as fellowship director. I sit on the editorial boards of the journals RETINA and OSLI Retina. I was a named co-inventor for several ophthalmic robotic surgical patents and was involved in the founding of a surgical robotics company which has an FDA approved surgical robot for applications outside of ophthalmology.

I spend my spare time with my wife and children and we are all avid tennis players.

Michael M. Lai, MD, PhD

I joined the Retina Group of Washington (RGW) after completing my fellowship at Associated Retinal Consultants/William Beaumont Hospital. I am currently a managing partner and the Director of Clinical Research for my practice. I also serve as Co-Director of the combined Vitreoretinal Surgery Fellowship program at RGW/Georgetown/Washington Hospital Center, and Chief of Pediatric Retina at Children’s National Medical Center.

In addition to maintaining a busy adult and pediatric retina practice, I enjoy overseeing a growing repertoire of clinical trials at RGW, mentoring our fellows, and teaching residents.

When not working, I devote as much time as possible to my wife and two daughters. We enjoy biking and hiking the trails around Washington, DC.