What are the real-world safety data following administration of faricimab (Vabysmo, Genentech)? Maura Di Nicola, MD, and guests Sruthi Arepalli, MD, and Barton Blackorby, MD, review data from a real-world, single-center, retrospective study of approximately 4500 injections of faricimab in over 700 patients at Wills Eye Hospital. What did the data s…

Marc R. Bloomenstein, OD, FAAO, invites John Gelles, OD, FAAO, FIAO, FCLSA, to review risk factors and red flags that all optometrists should know for detecting the early signs of keratoconus. Dr. Gelles shares insights from a study on pediatric keratoconus and highlights the importance of screening and treating patients before the disease progress…

Jackie Garlich, OD, FAAO, and Jessilin Quint, OD, MS, MBA, FAAO, have a conversation with Kaleb Abbott, OD, FAAO, on the importance of vitamin A in maintaining ocular surface health. Dr. Abbott discusses the various forms of vitamin A, where it can be obtained, settings in which it can be potentially harmful to the ocular surface, signs and symptom…

Sponsored by Apellis Pharmaceuticals. Scott Walter, MD, and Esther Kim, MD, join John W. Kitchens, MD, to discuss how they treat GA in their practices. Listen to gain expert insights as Drs. Kim, Walter, and Kitchens each share their experiences with this treatment. They also share best practices for dosing based on trial data.…

Sponsored by Apellis Pharmaceuticals. John W. Kitchens, MD, invites Scott Walter, MD, and Esther Kim, MD, to discuss best practices for identifying appropriate patients with GA for treatment. Gain perspectives on patient selection, patient education, and safety considerations.By Retina Today

This month on The MOD Pod, Cecelia Koetting, OD, FAAO, invites Kriti Bhagat, OD, FAAO, to talk about key signs of keratoconus and the importance of screening family members. Dr. Bhagat also explains her strategy for encouraging patients to try specialty contact lenses. Continuing the keratoconus conversation, Dr. Koetting has Mitch Ibach, OD, FAAO,…

In part two of this podcast, Darryl Glover Jr., OD, invites Britt E. Gustafson, OD, and Selina R. McGee, OD, FAAO, to share considerations when presenting contact lens options to patients—focusing on chair time, comfort, and cost. They explain how Alcon WaterInnovations™ technology allows them to address patient needs and focus on comfort in contac…

Marc R. Bloomenstein, OD, FAAO, invites Steven Ferrucci, OD, FAAO, to discuss the role of optometrists in diagnosing and referring patients with geographic atrophy, diabetic retinopathy, and other retinal conditions. They will also discuss the integration of artificial intelligence and at-home monitoring technology to help manage these patients.…

Blake Williamson, MD, MPH, and Gary Wörtz, MD, invite William Plauché, MD, to review a presentation he recently delivered at the Caribbean Eye Meeting about his experience with PanOptix (Alcon), enVista Envy (Bausch + Lomb), and Tecnis Odyssey (Johnson & Johnson Vision) IOLs. The presentation compared similar amounts of patients and determined nuan…

Hosts Jackie Garlich, OD, FAAO, and Jessilin Quint, OD, MS, MBA, FAAO, welcome guest Mile Brujic, OD, FAAO, for a lively discussion of the most common conditions that can be mistaken for dry eye disease. Dr. Brujic also reviews the signs and symptoms that can be red flags that something else is occurring with a patient’s ocular or systemic health.…

On this month's episode of The MOD Pod, hear Justin Schweitzer, OD, FAAO, talk to host Cecelia Koetting, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO, about treatment compliance and ocular surface disease in patients with glaucoma. Also in this episode, Dr. Koetting invites Nora Lee Cothran, OD, FAAO, to discuss the different relationships involved in the comanagement of pa…

Darryl Glover Jr., OD; Britt E. Gustafson, OD; and Selina R. McGee, OD, FAAO, discuss contact lenses as an integral pillar of their practice success. They review how technology, such as Alcon’s WaterInnovationsTM portfolio, helps them differentiate their practice from competitors by customizing fit and comfort to each patient. They also explain how…

This year, the theme of our podcast will feature discussions of foundational equipment and emerging technology in ophthalmology. In the first episode of 2025, Roger Zaldivar, MD, MBA, joins Gary Wörtz, MD, to discuss the ICL Guru project and how its complex algorithm integrates with ultrasound biomicroscopy platforms. Dr. Zaldivar shares his experi…

Collaborative Corner has changed formats in 2025 and continues to offer expert insights and guests in optometry. Marc Bloomenstein, OD, FAAO, kicks off the first episode of this new podcast with guest Casey Krug, OD. The two discuss the recent devastation from Hurricane Helene in Asheville, North Carolina, where she practices. Dr. Krug describes th…

How can OCT angiography help retina specialists distinguish between retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and retinal artery occlusion (RAO) in patients who present without acute findings? Using real-world cases as a backdrop, Yasha Modi, MD, and Kat Talcott, MD, discuss Dr. Modi’s approach to distinguishing RVO and RAO via OCT angiography and review which …

What role can OCT angiography play in tracking the development of central serous retinopathy (CSR)? Yasha Modi, MD, and Kat Talcott, MD, review the use of OCT angiography in a real-world CSR case, discuss the value of selecting OCT angiography over fluorescein angiography for patients with neovascularization, and parse which populations are not a g…

In this month’s episode of To the Point, Jackie Garlich, OD, FAAO, and Cecelia Koetting, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO, talk about the most exciting, important, and novel ocular surface disease (OSD) news to come out of the past year, including FDA approvals, product launches, new clinical data, and more. They also discuss what developments to watch out for i…

In The MOD Pod's first episode of 2025 Cecelia Koetting, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO, chats with her former resident Brooke Hyde, OD, FAAO, about what it's like dealing with ocular emergencies. Dr. Hyde explains how treating these cases can be a practice-builder and shares helpful tips to keep in mind when dealing with an ocular injury. Dr. Koetting also sp…

Does switching wet AMD patients from aflibercept (Eylea, Regeneron) to faricimab (Vabysmo, Genentech) improve disease outcomes? Join Ben Young, MD, MS, and his guests Lediana Goduni, MD, and Joshua Uhr, MD, as they explore this a recent peer review paper on this question. What are the potential benefits of such a switch? How should providers use fi…

Rounding out this season’s theme of ‘Surgical Horror Stories,’ Jeffrey Whitsett, MD, joins Blake Williamson, MD, MPH, and Gary Wörtz, MD, to discuss his approach to managing the disappointment of poor surgical outcomes. He also shares a case example in which he encountered a complication during combination MIGS and cataract surgery, which resulted …

What are the benefits and limitations to FDA-approved therapies for geographic atrophy? John Kitchens, MD, is joined by Saradha Chexal, MD, and Geeta Lalwani, MD, as they explore which patients are best suited for treatment, how best to succinctly set expectations for outcomes, and whether patients on GA therapy may also be well-suited AREDS vitami…

This month on To the Point, learn about meibomian gland probing in patients with dry eye with Jackie Garlich, OD, FAAO, and Jessilin Quint, OD, MBA, MS, FAAO. Their guest, Rana Taji, OD, MSc, FAAO, explains what it is, how to do it, why to do it, and more.By Modern Optometry

How many real-world patients with proliferative DR were concordant with the treatment directions in Protocol S? Adrienne Scott, MD, explains how a database review of real-world patients with proliferative DR revealed how few patients are concordant with the strict dosing schedule of Protocol S, and shares which baseline factors were linked to lack …

Cecelia Koetting, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO, closes out The MOD Pod's last episode of 2025 with a discussion on aberrations in refractive cataract surgery with Nick Bruns, OD, FAAO. With modern technology, Dr. Bruns emphasizes that understanding the effect of higher-order aberrations helps optometrists better achieve optimal outcomes. Listen to the episod…

Gary Wörtz, MD, and Blake Williamson, MD, MPH, invite Nicole Fram, MD, to share a surgical horror story in which a patient experienced light arcs, starbursts, and halos after silicone IOL implantation. Dr. Fram describes her approach to IOL exchange using a Collamer lens with a larger optic to manage the positive dysphotopsias. She reviews the comp…

Does metformin use reduce the risk of developing AMD in non-diabetic patients? Moderator Rebecca Soares, MD, and panelists Matt Starr, MD, and Nikisha Kothari, MD, review a decade-long case control-control study assessing risk of AMD in non-diabetic patients who have been taking metformin for any reason. They ask whether the study's blindspots unde…

We’ve got to keep our eye on the pipeline. What do the latest data tell us about two drug candidates? Durga Borkar, MD, MMCi, reviews data from a phase 2 study assessing the safety and efficacy ONL1204 (ONL Therapeutics) delivered prior to RRD surgery. Did injecting ONL1204, which prevents Fas activation, lead to any postsurgical differences? Alex …

Jackie Garlich, OD, FAAO, and Jessilin Quint, OD, MBA, MS, FAAO, are joined by Sathi Maiti, OD, FAAO, who shares her knowledge and experience working on dry eye clinical research. Dr. Maiti offers great advice on what you need to know before seeking out a clinical trial, how to delegate tasks to your staff related to the study, tips for patient rec…

The ELEVATUM study exclusively enrolled historically underrepresented patients in a study assessing faricimab (Vabysmo, Genentech/Roche) for DME. Were there any surprises in the data? Jeremiah Brown, MD, MS, sits down with New Retina Radio to review the philosophy behind the ELEVATUM study, discuss the study’s findings, and preview the next phases …

Are retina doctors seeing more retinal pathology following infection or vaccination? Or is there nothing to see here? Rahul Khurana, MD, joins us to discuss the findings of various health care database analyses seeking to clarify whether COVID infection or vaccination were linked to retinal manifestations. Was there a clear—or even an opaque—connec…

Check out the latest episode of The MOD Pod to hear host Cecelia Koetting, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO, talk about the use of retinal imaging in hematologic disorders and the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric uveitis with guests Sherrol A. Reynolds, OD, FAAO, FNAP, and Carlo J. Pelino, OD, FAAO, respectively.…

We finally have two FDA-approved treatments for geographic atrophy (GA)—and yet, many retina specialists have been reluctant to embrace them. Join moderator John Kitchens, MD, as he explores this question with Miguel Busquets, MD, and Esther Kim, MD. Further in the episode, they gameplan patient conversations centered around choosing a treatment, a…

For the Halloween episode of this season’s surgical horror stories, Cathleen McCabe, MD, joins Gary Wörtz, MD, and Blake Williamson, MD, MPH, to share two uniquely challenging cases. In the first case, Dr. McCabe describes the time she performed cataract surgery on a kyphotic patient who was unable to lie on his back for the procedure. She explains…

In this episode of the New Retina Radio Journal Club with VBS, Maura Di Nicola, MD; Sruthi Arepalli, MD, and Barton Blackorby, MD, discuss a recent study comparing endophthalmitis rates following anti-VEGF injections with pre-treatment using either 5% Povidone Iodine or 0.05% Chlorhexidine. They highlight how prefilled syringes can reduce the risk …

Which technologies are essential to conducting a thorough examination for new glaucoma patients? And which modalities and softwares are most useful for long-term care? Danica Marrelli, OD, and Anu Laul, OD, compare their approaches to initial encounters with glaucoma patients, swap notes on their preferred methodologies for tracking long-term treat…

Tens of thousands of real-world geographic atrophy patients were analyzed in a retrospective database study. How did GA progress—and how do these data inform our understanding of GA? Ted Leng, MD, stopped by the show to share the findings from his research on the natural history of GA, which he recently delivered on the podium in Lisbon. And Michae…

Jacob Lang, OD, FAAO, shares his knowledge of innovative therapies for dry eye with Jackie Garlich, OD, FAAO, and Jessilin Quint, OD, MBA, MS, FAAO. He discusses drugs in development that target pathways involved in ocular surface disease, such as reactive aldehyde species inhibitors, transient receptor potential receptors, and more.…

In this special episode of The MOD Pod, Cecelia Koetting, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO, interviews a diverse group of attendees from MOD Live 2024. She speaks with program chairs, faculty, newcomers, and returning attendees, capturing a wide range of perspectives from the event.By Modern Optometry

Sebastian Heersink, MD, joins to contribute to this season’s theme of surgical horror stories. He talks with Blake Williamson, MD, MPH, and Gary Wörtz, MD, about his experience performing cataract surgery on his father and former guest of the podcast, Marnix Heersink, MD. Dr. Sebastian Heersink recounts how he managed the stress of operating on a f…

What is the relationship between retinal artery occlusion (RAO) and death, stroke, or myocardial infarction? Moderator Katherine Talcott, MD, is joined by Kyle Kovacs, MD, and Phoebe Mellen, MD, to explore the latest contribution to the literature on this topic. After the break, they discuss how best to manage patients who present to the clinic wit…

Jackie Garlich, OD, FAAO, and Jessilin Quint, OD, MBA, MS, FAAO, discuss the benefits of using radio frequency to treat conjunctivochalasis (CCH) with Edward H. Jaccoma, MD, an ophthalmologist who specializes in dry eye and ocular aesthetics. Dr. Jaccoma also offers his insights for patient education, managing cases of CCH that don’t go entirely as…

Could inhibition of C1q effectively halt the progression of GA? Joel Pearlman, MD, PhD, sat down to discuss findings from the phase 2 ARCHER study, which evaluated ANX007 (Annexon) in patients with GA. He tells us what happened when patients were dosed with ANX007 for 1 year—and what occurred when patients stopped receiving treatment. And later, Di…

Cecelia Koetting, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO, invites guest Julie Poteet, OD, MS, CNS, FOWNS, to the episode to talk about nutrition's role in the medical field and how it affects patients' ocular and systemic health. Dr. Koetting also speaks with Thomas Kislan, OD, on the topic of inflammatory dry eye. They cover diagnosis tactics, management options, and…