Our Editorial Advisory Board

The AllAboutVision.com Editorial Advisory Board was formed to ensure that this website offers as much interesting and accurate information about eye care and eyewear as possible. Members include leading ophthalmologists, optometrists, opticians, and other eye care professionals.

Brian S. Boxer Wachler, MD
Dr. Boxer Wachler is a board-certified ophthalmologist and refractive surgeon at the Boxer Wachler Vision Institute in Beverly Hills. He obtained his undergraduate degree from UCLA in psychobiology, attended Edinburgh University in Scotland on a Rotary Scholarship and completed his medical school training at Dartmouth. He served his ophthalmology residency at Saint Louis University Eye Institute and his refractive surgery fellowship at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Previously he was director of the UCLA Refractive Laser Center at the Jules Stein Eye Institute; his current practice is the Boxer Wachler Vision Institute. Dr. Boxer Wachler has served as an investigator in 13 FDA clinical trials evaluating new refractive surgery technologies. He is a faculty member at UCLA and is on the staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He has lectured on LASIK and other types of refractive surgery to thousands of eye surgeons and has authored more than 100 articles and book chapters. He was the 2003 recipient of a Career Achievement Award by the American Academy of Ophthalmology and was named one of the best ophthalmologists in the United States by Consumers' Research Council of America.

Brian Chou, OD, FAAO
Dr. Chou is a partner at Carmel Mountain Vision Care, a group optometric practice in San Diego. A graduate of University of California Berkeley School of Optometry, he completed fellowship training in refractive surgery management at Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA School of Medicine. He has authored more than 60 eye care manuscripts, including the book Spanish Terminology for the Eyecare Team and book chapters on keratoconus, cataracts and laser vision correction. He received the Nuemueller Award in Optics from the American Academy of Optometry and is on the editorial board for Review of Cornea & Contact Lenses. Dr. Chou is a clinical investigator and a consultant to the vision correction industry. He also recently launched iSurveyDog, a patient survey system for eye care practices.

Michael DePaolis, OD
Dr. DePaolis is a partner in Visionary Eye Associates in Rochester, N.Y. He is chief optometric editor of Primary Care Optometry News, adjunct clinical professor of optometry, Pennsylvania College of Optometry, and adjunct clinical associate, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Rochester School of Medicine. His research has been published in International Contact Lens Clinic Journal, Journal of the American Optometric Association, Ophthalmic Surgery, Review of Optometry, Optometric Management, and Contact Lens Spectrum, among others. Dr. DePaolis's work has also been presented at numerous scientific meetings, journal panel discussions and symposia. He is a member of the New York State Optometric Association and the American Optometric Association, and a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry. He received a BS in physiological optics and his doctorate of optometry from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry.

Burt Dubow, OD, FAAO
Dr. Dubow, a senior partner at Insight Eye Care in St. Cloud, Minn., received his doctor of optometry from Pacific University College of Optometry in 1975. He is a past chair of the Contact Lens and Cornea Section of the American Optometric Association, a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, and a distinguished fellow of the National Academies of Practice. Dr. Dubow was editor of Eye Quest Magazine, and has written many articles on contact lenses and patient care internationally. He also has lectured to optometrists, ophthalmologists, pharmacists, and staff in the United States and abroad.

Robert L. Epstein, MD
As a nationally recognized ophthalmologist and refractive surgeon, Dr. Epstein has performed refractive surgery procedures since 1980. In 1991, he was the first surgeon in the Midwest and the third in the United States to perform LASIK. Currently he is medical director and chief surgeon at Mercy Center for Corrective Eye Surgery in Chicago, where he performs LASIK, PRK, epi-LASIK, Crystalens implantation and other procedures. Dr. Epstein has developed several patented devices, including an instrument that increases the safety and accuracy of laser vision correction. He helped develop multifocal LASIK and participates in U.S. clinical trials to investigate its safety and effectiveness for people with presbyopia. He also performs scleral reinforcement, a new procedure for excessive nearsightedness. After earning undergraduate and graduate degrees in electrical engineering, Dr. Epstein worked as a research scientist at Bell Laboratories before obtaining his medical degree from New Jersey Medical School. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at the University of Illinois School of Medicine and his MBA at the University of Chicago. Board-certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology, Dr. Epstein is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, of which he is former vice chief of medical staff and chairman of medical staff quality assessment.

Valerie Kattouf, OD
Dr. Kattouf is an optometrist in private practice and on the faculty at Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago, where she lectures on such topics as strabismus, amblyopia, binocular vision disorders and the relationship between vision and learning. She also coordinates the Pediatric/Binocular Vision residency there. And she is an editorial council member of the Journal of Optometric Vision Development. Dr. Kattouf completed a residency in pediatrics and binocular vision at the State University of New York Optometric Center. She has presented at numerous scientific meetings on pediatric eye care and strabismus. Dr. Kattouf is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and a member of the Illinois Optometric Association and the College of Optometrists in Vision Development.

Chris A. Knobbe, MD
Dr. Knobbe is assistant clinical professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology, Dr. Knobbe is in private practice in Denison, Texas. He specializes in general ophthalmology and cataract surgery. Dr. Knobbe was founder and publisher of the popular Web site EyeMDLink.com, established in 2000. He wrote virtually all of the detailed content on eye conditions and procedures for the site. In early 2008, Access Media (owner of AllAboutVision.com) acquired EyeMDLink, and Dr. Knobbe joined AllAboutVision.com as a regular contributor and member of the editorial advisory board. Dr. Knobbe also authored the first complete reference to vision surgery for the consumer: Refractive Eye Surgery – A Consumer's Complete Guide. This book is available through AllAboutVision.com or Amazon.com. Dr. Knobbe is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, American Medical Association, Texas Medical Association, Texas Ophthalmological Association and Grayson County Medical Society.

Mark Mattison-Shupnick, ABOM, BS
Master optician Mark Mattison-Shupnick directs the continuing education program for 20/20 magazine and Vision Monday, owned by the ophthalmic industry's largest trade publisher, Jobson Medical Information LLC. Mattison-Shupnick also is an independent consultant to the ophthalmic industry. His expertise includes market research, product development, project management, and ophthalmic optics training for doctors and staff. Clients have included major lens manufacturers, regional and national chains, and lens processing laboratories, along with optometric management consulting and buying groups. With more than 30 years of experience in the optical industry, Mattison-Shupnick also lectures nationally and internationally. He currently works in retail activities, conducts primary research, participates in product development projects, assists companies with technical marketing needs, and teaches classes on behalf of company, trade, and professional organizations. Mattison-Shupnick belongs to the Opticianry Hall of Fame and also received the Beverly Myers Award for Education from the National Academy of Opticianry.

Charles B. Slonim, MD, FACS
Dr. Charles Slonim is a board-certified ophthalmologist in private practice at the Older and Slonim Eyelid Institute in Tampa, and is affiliate professor of ophthalmology at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. He is a fellow of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS). Dr. Slonim received Honor Awards from the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 1993 and the Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists in 1998. He has lectured extensively to ophthalmologists, optometrists and other physicians in more than 37 cities in 26 countries around the world. He has published 26 ophthalmic journal articles, 15 textbook chapters and five clinical symposia.

Vance Michael Thompson, MD, FACS
Dr. Vance Thompson is the director of refractive surgery for Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, S.D., and serves as an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine. A leading international researcher in the field of laser and implant vision correction, Dr. Thompson has played a key role in developing the excimer laser for vision correction. He also has served as a principal investigator in 29 FDA-monitored clinical trials, studying laser and implant vision correction of nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia. Dr. Thompson continues to play an important role in the ongoing development and refinement of laser and implant vision correction. He is conducting research on various myopic and hyperopic phakic intraocular lens technologies and the AcuFocus presbyopic corneal inlay. In addition, he has been published extensively in journals and books and is co-author of the textbook Refractive Surgery. Dr Thompson has lectured and taught refractive surgery to thousands of eye surgeons throughout the world.

Executive Editorial Consultant

Joseph T. Barr, OD, MS
Dr. Barr is vice president, Global Clinical & Medical Affairs and Professional Services, Vision Care for Bausch & Lomb. Prior to joining that company in July 2007, he was with The Ohio State University College of Optometry for 24 years in various capacities including Associate Dean for Clinical Services and Professional Programs, and Chief of the Contact Lens Clinical Service. Dr. Barr was also editor of the professional journal Contact Lens Spectrum for two decades. He is a founding board member of AllAboutVision.com.

[Page updated July 2009]