2024 Fellowship Highlights

Retina Surgery Fellowship

Sam S. Dahr, MD, MS, the Mary Farish Johnston Distinguished Chair at McGovern Medical School, helped co-design and now directs our two-year Retina Surgery Fellowship launched in 2023. The program’s first fellow, Omar Ismail, MD, will achieve approximately 400 surgical cases as primary surgeon and a few hundred more as assistant surgeon before graduating in 2025.

Dr. Ismail is the department’s first fellow to be credentialed at the instructor level, allowing him to participate in key educational and clinical care activities. As a critical member of the surgical and consult retina services at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, he has cared for patients with the most difficult diseases affecting the back of the eye. His skills and decision-making have progressed in a rapid fashion, and he will graduate in July 2025 as a highly capable vitreoretinal surgeon.

“We have the patients, the facilities, and the technology to expose our fellows to the full spectrum of retina pathology,” Dr. Dahr says. “Our goal is to ensure their future success as a valuable asset to any department in the country.”

Dr. Dahr recently joined the board of Scientific Advisors of the Retina Research Foundation as he continues his big data research efforts.

Oculoplastic Surgery Fellowship

Our new Oculoplastic Surgery Fellowship, vetted by the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS), has matched our first fellow, Kimberly Seamon, from a pool of competitive applicants.

Timothy J. McCulley, MD, an ASOPRS member with more than 20 years of experience in fellows training, serves as the primary preceptor for the program. Ying Chen, MD, the A.J. McNeese, Jr. Professor in Ophthalmology at McGovern Medical School, who specializes in cosmetic surgery and is an ASOPRS member as well, is an associate preceptor for the program, along with colleagues in other ophthalmic specialties, Karina Richani, MD; Imtiaz Chaudhry, MD; and Bita Esmaeli, MD. Dr. Chen recently earned the prestigious ASOPRS Marvin Quickert Thesis Award for her research, “Combined Orbital Adipose Tissue and Activated Platelet-Rich Plasma Fibrin Membrane Promotes Conjunctival Regeneration.”

“It’s hard to get an ASOPRS fellowship. This is UTHealth Houston’s first,” Dr. McCulley says. “We’re all very proud to be a part of it.”