Joseph Nezgoda, MD, Elected as President of Florida Society of Ophthalmology

Drs. Eichenbaum, Goldhardt, Correa, Hariharan, and Bovee Round Out Executive Leadership Team

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - (June 13, 2021) - Retina disease and surgery specialist Joseph T. Nezgoda, MD, MBA was installed as president of the Florida Society of Ophthalmology (FSO). Elections were held during the Annual Business Meeting for the FSO which took place on Saturday, June 11 in Orlando.

As president, Dr. Nezgoda will guide the nonprofit association, which represents more than 500 medical doctors focused on preserving the medical and surgical specialty of ophthalmology. In addition to active participation in legislative advocacy and the dissemination of responsible information to physicians and patients throughout the state, the FSO also provides continuing medical education opportunities and humanitarian work through its foundation.

Dr. Nezgoda is a former researcher at the world-renowned National Institutes of Health, Nezgoda graduated with honors from Georgetown University and attended medical school at Rutgers (UMDNJ)-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School where he received the Excellence in Teaching and Gold Humanism Awards. He trained at Mount Sinai (NY), Einstein Medical Center, the Cleveland Medical Center, and the University of California. His focus is on macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease, and other serious blinding eye diseases. He practices in West Palm Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton, FL.

Dr. Nezgoda joined the FSO in 2016 and has served in several roles on the board of directors including delegate to the Florida Medical Association, councilor to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, secretary/treasurer and vice president of education.

Dr. Nezgoda's humanitarian and research efforts have earned him recognition, including the esteemed Leadership in Medicine Award from the American Medical Association and the Achievement Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. In 2019, Dr. Nezgoda received the Florida Society of Ophthalmology's Michael R. Redmond, MD, Outstanding Young Ophthalmologist Award and most recently the John R. Brayton, Jr., MD Leadership Award that recognizes a Florida-based ophthalmologist who exemplifies leadership and dedication to the profession.

The FSO also announced the elections of David A. Eichenbaum, MD as president-elect, Raquel Goldhardt, MD, as vice president of advocacy, Zelia M. Correa, MD, as vice president of education, and Luxme Hariharan, MD, as vice president of outreach and Courtney Bovee, MD, as secretary/treasurer.

Javier Perez, MD, who preceded Dr. Nezgoda as president, will assume the role of immediate past president, and Sarah Wellik, MD, will transition into the role of past president.

David A. Eichenbaum, MD was installed as the president-elect of the FSO at the Annual Business Meeting held at the Masters in Ophthalmology 2022 meeting on Saturday, June 11.

Dr. Eichenbaum is a board-certified ophthalmologist fellowship-trained in diseases and surgery of the vitreous and retina. He has been practicing in Tampa Bay since 2007. He completed the Medical Honors Program earning both his undergraduate and medical degree at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He completed his Ophthalmology residency at the University of South Florida where he served as Chief Resident. Dr. Eichenbaum completed his two-year Surgical Retina fellowship at Tufts New England Eye Center and Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston.

Dr. Eichenbaum serves as Director of Research for Retina Vitreous Associates and has been Principal Investigator in over 70 early- to late-stage clinical trials studying common retinal diseases such as dry and wet macular degeneration, and diabetic eye disease, and retinal vascular disease. Dr. Eichenbaum has published over 50 articles in professional journals and authored multiple textbook chapters and continues to passionately contribute to the current retinal literature. Dr. Eichenbaum presents data internationally and is a regular abstract presenter at the American Society of Retinal Specialists, American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Association of Research and Vision in Ophthalmology, and at the prestigious invitational Retina Society meeting. Dr. Eichenbaum serves as a Collaborative Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida.

Raquel Goldhardt, MD, FACS was installed as the vice president of advocacy of the FSO at the Annual Business Meeting held during the Masters in Ophthalmology 2022 meeting on Saturday, June 11.

As a cataract surgeon, medical retina, and uveitis specialist, Dr. Goldhardt has extensive surgical and clinical experience in the management of complicated cataract surgery, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious and inflammatory diseases, retinal pathologies including macular degeneration, vein occlusions, and diabetic retinopathy. Her research focuses on novel imaging techniques for macular degeneration, Stargardt's disease, corneal nerves analysis in patients receiving anti-VEGF injections, the investigation of quality-of-life following cataract extraction in AMD patients, ocular manifestations, and biomarkers of Gulf War illness, and was the first to describe posterior subhyaloid precipitates in patients with cytomegalovirus retinitis. 

Dr. Goldhardt is committed to fostering a culture of belonging and opportunity for all. She serves as the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute champion for inclusion and diversity and has played an active role in the admission and executive committees for the University of Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami for many years. Dr. Goldhardt has been invited to lecture all over the world and has been a key figure in national and international physician education.  Her commitment and passion for medicine inevitably drove her to get involved in several mission trips and health fairs vision screenings throughout Florida. She has led mission trips to underserved areas in China and South America (eg. Darwin Project in the Galapagos) and surgical mission trips to Mexico and is the co-director of the International Physician Global Outreach at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute since 2019.

In 2017, she served as President of the Miami Ophthalmological Society. In 2020, Dr. Goldhardt joined the Florida Society of Directors and has served in various roles including vice president of outreach and vice president of education. Dr. Goldhardt has made significant contributions in her community through her time, talent, and dedication. At the FSO annual meeting this year, she was honored with the James W. Clower, Jr., MD, Community Service Award, which recognizes a Florida-based ophthalmologist who has made the greatest contribution of time and service to his or her community.

Zelia M. Correa, MD, PhD was installed as the vice president of education of the FSO at the Annual Business Meeting held at the Masters in Ophthalmology 2022 meeting on Saturday, June 11.
Dr. Correa is a Professor of Ophthalmology at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, and the Director of Ocular Oncology and Echography at the same institution. Dr. Correa specializes in ocular oncology and vitreoretinal surgery.

Prior to her current position at Bascom Palmer, she was the Tom Clancy Chair of Ophthalmology (2008-2020) and the Mary Knight Asbury Endowed Chair of Ocular Oncology and Ocular Pathology (2006-2007). She is involved with professional organizations such as the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO), Women in Retina, and the Maryland Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons (MSEPS). During her term with MSEPS, she served as Scientific Chair (2019-2021) and Program Chair for the State Society Annual Meeting in 2021.

Throughout her career, Dr. Correa has been recognized for her clinical expertise, academics, and leadership. More recently she received the Senior Achievement Award by the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Benjamin Boyd Humanitarian Award and the Ambassador for Education by the Pan American Association of Ophthalmology. Dr. Correa was selected for The Ophthalmologist Power List 2022, which honors the world's 100 most influential people in the field of ophthalmology. She also serves on the Editorial Board of JAMA ophthalmology, TVST, Brazilian Archives of Ophthalmology (Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia), EyeNet magazine, and Retina Times. Dr. Correa's focus is on clinical and translational research in uveal melanoma and retinoblastoma.

Luxme Hariharan, MD, MPH was installed as the vice president of outreach of FSO at the Annual Business Meeting held at the Masters in Ophthalmology 2022 meeting on Saturday, June 11.

Dr. Hariharan is a pediatric ophthalmologist and global health expert within the Division of Ophthalmology at Nicklaus Children's Hospital. She currently serves on the Nicklaus Children's Hospital Foundation board of directors. As an accomplished global researcher and child health advocate, she has a passion for international health that is deeply rooted in her own background.

Born in Hyderabad, India, Dr. Hariharan grew up in Nairobi, Kenya; Iowa City, Iowa; and eventually, Madison, Wisconsin. She completed a Pediatric Ophthalmology fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, FL and an additional fellowship in Pediatric Cornea, Cataract and Glaucoma and International health at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA). Dr. Hariharan completed her ophthalmology residency at the University of Pennsylvania Scheie Eye Institute in Philadelphia, PA. She completed a pediatric internship at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. Dr. Hariharan also holds a Master of Public Health degree emphasizing global and child health policy from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Hariharan's life and career passion is to create and scale effective programs & policies to prevent, diagnose, and clinically & surgically treat childhood vision disorders both locally and abroad. Specifically, she has experience in policy, advocacy, and governance, working with Ministries of health on the implementation of childhood blindness prevention programs in El Salvador, Argentina, Niger, the Dominican Republic, India, Guatemala, and Puerto Rico. She most recently worked in Mexico, India, and South Africa on blindness prevention programs, as well as in Geneva, Switzerland with the World Health Organization. She has vast experience working across disciplines including the private sector, academics, hospitals, non-profits, the United Nations, and Ministries of Health to create systems solutions to eliminate childhood blindness.

Courtney Bovee, MD was re-installed as the secretary/treasurer of the FSO at the Annual Business Meeting held at the Masters in Ophthalmology 2022 meeting on Saturday, June 11.

Dr. Courtney E. Bovee is a Harvard fellowship trained glaucoma specialist and cataract surgeon in Tampa Bay, Florida. She received her medical degree from the University of South Florida and completed her Residency at UCLA and Eastern Virginia Medical School. She is actively involved in education, medical device and pharmaceutical development and clinical research. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Bovee is a leader in organized medicine in numerous local, state, and national societies.

Dr. Bovee has been honored by "The Ophthalmologist" as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world of ophthalmology by being selected to be on the Power 2022 List. She was awarded the Harvard Department of Ophthalmology Richard and Ruthanne Simmons Fellowship Award. As a medical student she was awarded the prestigious AMA Foundation's Excellence in Medicine Leadership Award. Other notable awards include the American Business Journal's Rising Star Award, The Michael R. Redmond Outstanding Young Ophthalmologist Award, the Kenneth Tuck Advocacy Award, The Orlando Business Journal's 40 Under 40 Award, the American Business Influencers Award, University of Florida's 40 Under 40 Award, and the New England Society of Ophthalmology Clinical Research Award. The FSO is grateful to have Dr. Bovee serve as the secretary/treasurer for another term.

Florida Society of Ophthalmology
6816 Southpoint Parkway, Suite 1000
Jacksonville, FL 32216
Colleen Filbert, Executive Director
904-309-6209

The Florida Society of Ophthalmology (FSO) has a rich history of serving patients since its founding in 1939 as the Florida Society of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology. Today, the organization represents more than 500 physician members throughout the state and is focused on advancing patient care and protecting the medical specialty of ophthalmology. For more information, please visit the FSO website at www.mdeye.org.

This release was published on openPR.