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Review of Presbyopia & The Aging Eye is a one-stop-destination for all educational and informational needs related to presbyopia and encompassing topics in science and anatomy of the aging eye, clinical aspects of care, new products and technologies, best practices in patient care, practice management, new research, presbyopia news, and more. The digital journal categorizes and archives its content in the following categories with the latest information written and curated by the following key opinion leaders in the field of vision care:

MEET OUR PROFESSIONAL EDITORS
Chief Clinical Editor
Jack Schaeffer, OD, FAAO, is a native of Charleston, South Carolina. He practiced in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was also president of an 18-location group practice and a refractive laser center. Dr. Schaeffer lectures internationally and serves on many industry boards and advisory panels. He is involved with many clinical studies on contact lenses, pharmaceuticals, and equipment. He has recently authored a miniseries on the history of contact lenses and the contact lens specialty practice. He was an Executive Associate Editor of the International Contact Lens Leadership Summit and the developer and Editor of the series, Optometry Scene. Dr. Schaeffer also served as Chairman of the Contact Lens and Cornea Section of the American Optometric Society. He served as board member and fundraising chairman for Optometry Cares: The AOA Foundation and the GPLI Institute. Dr. Schaeffer is on the College of Charleston School of Business Board of Governors. Dr. Schaeffer is involved in multiple community, charitable, and political organizations in Alabama and South Carolina.
Editor-in-Chief
John Sailer, a writer/editor his entire career, John Sailer was appointed Editor-in-Chief of Review of Myopia Management in January 2020. He first entered the vision care field in 2005 with Vision Care Product News, following positions with various trade publications in other areas of expertise. In 2011, he joined Jobson Optical Group and the Vision Monday editorial team as Senior Editor. Sailer returned to VCPN as VP, Editorial, in 2015, before leaving to return to Jobson to join RMM just before the publication’s first anniversary in March 2020. jsailer@jobson.com
Optical
Kirk Smick, OD
, is a retired Air Force Colonel and pilot. He has held several key leadership positions in optometry and has lectured both nationally and internationally. He is a past president of the Georgia Board of Optometric Examiners, the Georgia Optometric Association, and SECO International. Dr. Smick believes that post-graduate education is the key to best practices and therefore has dedicated much of his professional life to continuing education. He served as the chairman of continuing education for SECO International, the American Optometry Association’s Optometry’s Meeting, and the Vision Expo meetings. In total he has dedicated more than 30 years to continuing education, both as a facilitator and a lecturer. He was the first optometrist to be certified by the American Academy of Certified Procedural Coders and an original founder of the Omni Referral Center System. He continues to consult with several industry partners, including Allergan, Optical Connection, and ScienceBased Health. He views presbyopia as a unique opportunity for optometrists because of the new technologies available.
Contact Lenses
Brooke Schaeffer Kaplan, OD, currently serves as Clinical Field Director at MyEyeDr in Birmingham, Alabama. In addition to seeing patients in the clinic, she supports 36 other optometrists throughout the state. Prior to this, she was Medical Director for Schaeffer Eye Center and its 18 locations. She is also on the faculty at UAB School of Optometry as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Primary Care Service. She is a CooperVision CAST speaker and has served as a consultant for other companies in the optometric industry. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in Genetics. She completed her Doctor of Optometry from the University of Alabama Birmingham.
Contact Lenses
Mark Schaeffer, OD, FAAO,
serves as Clinical Field Manager at MyEyeDr in Birmingham, Alabama, where he practices full scope optometry. In addition to day-to-day patient care, he has run several clinical trials and is affiliated with multiple pharmaceutical companies in consulting for ocular disease and contact lenses. Dr. Schaeffer has appeared in various media as an author for publications, lecturer for continuing education, and advocate for the profession and patient care. He is a founding member of the Intrepid Eye Society, and he is a member of the Alabama and American Optometric Association, American Academy of Optometry, and the Contact Lens and Cornea Section. Dr. Schaeffer earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the University of Georgia, his Doctor of Optometry from Southern College of Optometry, and he completed a residency in Ocular Disease at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida.

Contact Lenses
David Schaeffer, OD, FAAO, currently practices full scope optometry with MyEyeDr in Mountain Brook, Alabama, with an emphasis in specialty contact lenses and management of ocular disease. He received his undergraduate degrees in Microbiology and Psychology from the University of Georgia in 2012, and he graduated from the Illinois College of Optometry in 2017. In 2018, Dr. Schaeffer completed his residency in ocular disease at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami and is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry. He currently speaks on behalf of CooperVision.

Dry Eye
Melissa Barnett, OD, FAAO, FSLS, FBCLA, is passionate about helping people improve their lives by optimizing their vision, health and wellness with a customized approach. An internationally recognized expert in specialty and scleral lenses, dry eye disease, and presbyopia, Dr. Barnett is a key opinion leader, frequent lecturer, and advocate for expanding the scope of practice through technology and sharing best practices. She has authored books and numerous research publications and sits on boards of multiple specialty organizations. Dr. Barnett was awarded the inaugural Theia Award for Excellence for Mentoring by Women In Optometry and was granted the Most Influential Women in Optical from Vision Monday.

Dry Eye
Jaclyn Garlich, OD, FAAO, 
is a graduate of the New England College of Optometry and completed a residency in primary care and ocular disease at the St. Louis Office of Veterans Affairs. She is the founder of 20/20 Glance, a weekly optometry email that distills clinically relevant news for the practicing optometrist, and is the owner of Envision Optometry, a dry eye specialty practice in Boston. Dr. Garlich is also the co-host of the To The Point podcast, a podcast focused on educating colleagues on dry eye treatments. Dr. Garlich is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and serves as a Major in the Air National Guard.

Dr. Blair Lonsberry

Pharmocology
Blair Lonsberry, MS, OD, MEd, FAAO,  grew up in Rossburn, Manitoba (Canada). He obtained his optometry degree from the University of Waterloo in 1996 after completing a Master of Science in Physiology from the University of Manitoba. He completed his residency in Primary Care Optometry from the Illinois College of Optometry in 1997 then joined the faculty at Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tenn. During his time at SCO, he completed a Masters in Education degree with an emphasis in adult learning. Currently, Dr. Lonsberry is a full professor with Pacific University College of Optometry in Oregon, where his primary teaching responsibilities are supervising interns and overseeing a specialty “lumps and bumps” clinic. Dr. Lonsberry is a diplomate of the American Board of Optometry, and he is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, the Optometric Retinal Society, and the Optometric Glaucoma Society.

Glaucoma
Murray Fingeret, OD, FAAO, is a Clinical Professor at the SUNY College of Optometry and was Chief of the Optometry Section, Veterans Administration New York Harbor Health Care System from 1983 until 2020. Dr. Fingeret was inducted into the National Optometry Hall of Fame in 2019 and sits on the board of directors of the Glaucoma Foundation. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and member of the American Glaucoma Society, the American Optometric Association, and the National Academies of Practice. Dr. Fingeret is a founding member and past president of the Optometric Glaucoma Society and currently president of the Optometric Glaucoma Foundation. He is the recipient of the 2013 Vincent Ellerbrock Clinician Educator Award from the American Academy of Optometry, 2008 Distinguished Service Award Optometric Glaucoma Society, 2005 Carel C. Koch Memorial Medal from the American Academy of Optometry, 1999 AMSUS Federal Service Optometrist of the Year Award and 1996 Otsuka Glaucoma Educators Award from the American Academy of Optometry.

Retina
Mark T. Dunbar, OD, FAAO has been a member of the optometric staff at the University of Miami’s Bascom Palmer Eye Institute for over 30 years and currently serves as the Director of Optometric Services. He has served on the Conference Advisory Board for Vision Expo for many years and is finishing his term as Co-Chairman. Dr. Dunbar is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and is a founding member of both the Optometric Glaucoma Society and the Optometric Retina Society. Dr. Dunbar serves on the Editorial Boards for Review of Optometry, where he has written the monthly column “The Retina Quiz” for over 20 years. In 2021 and 2022, he was named as one of the “Top 150 Optometrists in the Nation” by Newsweek magazine’s annual survey.

Surgery
Marc R. Bloomenstein OD, FAAO, is the Director of Optometric Services at the Schwartz Laser Eye Center in Scottsdale, Arizona, and President of MRB Eye Consultants. He is the Chairman of the Education Committee for Vision Expo. Dr. Bloomenstein served as the Chairman of the AOA Continuing Education Committee, served on the board of the Ocular Surface Society of Optometry (OSSO), and was a founding member of the Optometric Cornea, Cataract, and Refractive Society (OCCRS). Dr. Bloomenstein has served as the President of the Arizona Optometric Association and as Legislation Chair and President of the Board of the Arizona Optometric Charitable Foundation. Dr. Bloomenstein has delivered over 1,500 invited lectures worldwide and serves as a consultant to numerous industry-leading
pharmaceutical, biomedical, and information technology companies.

Eric E. Schmidt, OD, FAAO is the President of Omni Eye Specialists, a multispecialty practice headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina. Dr. Schmidt graduated from the University of Illinois and received his Doctor of Optometry degree from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry. He completed a Residency in Ocular Disease from The Eye Institute of PCO and a fellowship in Glaucoma from Scheie Eye Institute in Philadelphia. Dr. Schmidt is an adjunct professor at various Colleges of Optometry and is a frequent contributor to optometric journals. He is the author of the textbook Clinical Procedures of The Lids and Nasolacrimal System and lectures internationally on eye disease. He has a special interest in glaucoma and anterior segment procedures as well as Neuro Eye Disease.

Aesthetics
Selina McGee, OD, FAAO, Dipl. ABO, 
is Founder and Owner of BeSpoke Vision, a boutique private practice that offers patients a wide range of optometric care via its dry eye center, specialty contact lens clinic, and aesthetics suite. She is the first optometrist in the country to perform neurotoxin injections and laser resurfacing. She performs radiofrequency, intense pulsed light, and surgical lid procedures. She is a renowned national and international speaker. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Northeastern State University College of Optometry. She currently serves as President for the Intrepid Eye Society and as a Trustee on the SECO Board and on the Board of Examiners in Oklahoma. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and a Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry. She is Past-President of the Oklahoma Association of Optometric Physicians.

Nutrition
Julie Poteet, OD, MS, CNS, FOWNS,
graduated from The New England College of Optometry and then completed a residency in primary care and ocular disease at the VA Medical System in Boston. At the VA, Dr. Poteet became interested in why some veterans seemed to age so differently than their peers and began questioning what lifestyle factors have the greatest impact on health and vitality. She then went on to complete a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine. After earning her Master’s degree, she then completed the requirements to become a Certified Nutrition Specialist in 2015. This is the most rigorous nutrition certification for doctors, and fewer than 15 optometrists in the U.S. have it. Dr. Poteet served as Vice President of the Ocular Wellness & Nutrition Society (OWNS) for six years under her mentor Dr. Stuart Richer. She is a Fellow of OWNS, where she serves as the current President. She has lectured extensively on the microbiome and immune system dysfunction. She works in Atlanta, Ga., where her office is a Macular Degeneration Center of Excellence. She is a member of the American Nutrition Association, formerly the American College of Nutrition. Dr. Poteet is passionate about carrying on the legacy of her mentor, Dr. Stuart Richer, whose mantra “repair the roof before it starts raining” is an excellent metaphor for using lifestyle and nutrition to mitigate the course of disease.


 

 

 

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