Thomas E Flynn, MD

Vlad Diaconita, MD is an Assistant Professor in Ophthalmology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and a retina specialist. Dr. Diaconita is double board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Dr. Diaconita completed a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Neuroscience and Physiology from the University of Toronto and a Doctor of Medicine Degree from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University in Ontario, Canada. He completed a five-year residency program in Ophthalmology followed by a two-year surgical retina fellowship at Columbia University. He has been recognized with awards and grants as a medical educator, researcher and has been a panelist and speaker at national and international conferences. He is an active member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Society of Retinal Surgeons, Canadian Ophthalmology Society, Canadian Retina Society, VitBuckle Society as well as other national and international groups. His research interests include macular degeneration, diabetes and vein occlusion treatment, as well as the application of artificial intelligence in ophthalmic imaging.

Jerry Hsu, MD, MS, is a board-certified ophthalmologist with fellowship training in Cornea, External Diseases, and Refractive Surgery. He serves as an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Columbia University Medical Center, where he specializes in the medical and surgical management of corneal and external diseases, as well as cataract and refractive surgery. Dr. Hsu completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating summa cum laude with a triple major in Neurobiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics, through the Roy & Diana Vagelos Molecular Life Sciences Program.  He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and simultaneously earned a Master of Science in Chemistry during his time at Penn. He received his medical degree at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He went on to complete his ophthalmology residency at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, where he served as chief resident. He then pursued fellowship training in Cornea, External Diseases, and Refractive Surgery at the prestigious Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami. Dr. Hsu’s clinical and research interests focus on infectious and inflammatory diseases of the cornea. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including first author manuscripts on microbial keratitis and ocular toxicities related to systemic cancer therapies. His academic excellence has been recognized with multiple honors, including the Neysa Cristol Adams Prize in Biology and the John C. Makris Award in Biochemistry as an undergraduate, as well as the Chairman’s Award for Academic Honors and Distinction during all three consecutive years of residency. He also received the Louis J. Girard Award for outstanding resident research.

Dr. Jason Horowitz, Professor of Ophthalmology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, joined Columbia in 2011 after a rewarding 25-year experience delivering retinal care to the Waterbury, Connecticut community. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Medical School, Dr. Horowitz was an ophthalmology resident at Yale before completing a retinal fellowship at Cornell, where he trained under Dr. Stanley Chang. Dr. Horowitz’s interests in ophthalmology are wide ranging. He is currently Medical Director of the Residents’ Eye Clinic at Harkness, where some of the most complicated and diverse patients in the world are evaluated and treated for an astonishing variety of ocular diseases. In a completely different domain, Dr. Horowitz has assumed the role of performing essential evaluations for retinopathy of prematurity in the infant patients of the world famous neonatal intensive care unit at Columbia’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York. In yet another realm, Dr. Horowitz manages complex retinal and macular disorders in adults such as retinal detachments and macular pucker. Together with his 36 years of retinal practice experience, Dr. Horowitz employs the full range of cutting-edge medical and surgical modalities in his practice. He particularly values the ability to use the most improved, up-to-date laser, pharmacological, and surgical therapies to successfully prevent (and, in some cases, even correct) profound visual impairment in conditions such as diabetic retinopathy and macular holes or epiretinal membranes.