Up Close and Personal with 2021 Award Winners

Jordan D. Deaner, MD

I am honored to be a part of the Michels Fellowship Foundation family.

I received my medical degree from Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. I completed my ophthalmology residency at Wills Eye Hospital, followed by a uveitis fellowship at Cole Eye Institute of the Cleveland Clinic and a vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at Duke University Eye Center. Currently, I practice vitreoretinal surgery and uveitis at Mid Atlantic Retina, Wills Eye Hospital and am an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

My clinical and research interests focus on the diagnosis, medical and surgical management of infectious and inflammatory intraocular disease.

Kenneth C. Fan, MD, MBA

It is an honor and privilege to join the Ronald G. Michels Fellowship Foundation family. After obtaining my MD/MBA from Boston University, I completed my residency, surgical retina fellowship, and chief residency at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. All of my clinical and research achievements I owe to the invaluable mentorship I have received over the past few years.

My academic interests include exploring the landscape of inherited retinal diseases and the various surgical techniques for retinal gene therapy. I am currently pursuing this research and clinical practice at the Retina Consultants of Texas in Houston, Texas and hope to help discover treatment options for those inherited retinal diseases which once had none.

My wife, Annie, and my kids, Lucas and Eden, are the joys of my life and we love spending time together at the pool and enjoying ethnic cuisine.

Edward Korot, MD

I am exceedingly honored and humbled to join the Michels family! I would not be here without the support of my mentors, to whom I am eternally grateful, and wish to model by mentoring others in my future career.

I am currently a vitreoretinal surgeon at Retina Specialists of Michigan following the completion of my fellowship at Stanford. I continue to be guided by the goal of maximally scaling the care I can provide. My work involves using technology as a force multiplier. Specifically, I focus on AI validation, guideline development, explainability, safety, and AI-driven pharmaceutical trial recruitment. I enjoy working with large companies and startups alike on my passion: moving research from publication to actual real world implementation for patient benefit.

In my spare time, you can find me playing tennis, practicing drone photography, and attempting to do yoga.

Chase A. Ludwig, MD, MS

It is a great honor to be a part of the Michels Foundation Fellowship family. I am a native Midwesterner, and I received my B.S. from Duke, followed by a combined M.D. and M.S. in Epidemiology and Clinical Research from Stanford. I also completed my ophthalmology residency at Stanford, then my vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at Massachusetts Eye and Ear.

My fascination with the neurosciences brought me to my current area of focus in myopia and other eye structure variants, where an improved understanding of the mechanisms may lead to additional insights in neurologic diseases involving similar pathways. Now as an Assistant Professor at Stanford, I run a High and Pathologic Myopia clinic focused on the retina sequelae of myopia (retinal tears/detachments, myopic macular degeneration, myopic traction maculopathy). I received an NIH K23 grant on the use of AI for the prediction of the retinal sequelae of myopia and am continuing to investigate the epidemiology, genetics, and mechanisms of myopia alongside my clinical vitreoretinal surgery practice.

I have been fortunate to work with outstanding mentors at Duke, Stanford and Massachusetts Eye and Ear who continue to inspire me and spark my curiosity daily. I am grateful to the giants in the field who brought us to where we are today and to my family for their endless support.