Michigan Ophthalmology Trainee Career Development Award

The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences has initiated the Michigan Ophthalmology Trainee Career Development Award (MOTCDA), an academic grant program that encourages residents and trainees to pursue projects they are passionate about. Recipients of the award select faculty at Kellogg and throughout the campus to partner with them in accomplishing their goals.

MOTCDA Award Recipients

  • Anvesh Annadaman, MD
    Research Proposal:  “Social Determinants of Health Affecting Visual Outcomes in Microbial Keratitis”; Travel to Aravind Eye Hospital
  • Karen L. Christopher, MD
    Research proposal: "Ocular GVHD monitoring and treatments in absence of PROSE"
  • Abigail T. Fahim, MD, PhD
    Research proposal: “X-Chromosome Inactivation Ratios and Variable Expressivity in Heterozygotic Female Carriers of RPGR Mutations”
  • Ryan J. Fante, MD
    Research proposal: "Vitreous Cytokine and Chemokine Profile in Macular Edema Secondary to Diabetes and Central Retinal Vein Occlusion"
  • Philip S. Garza, MD, MSc
    Research Proposal: "PAnGAEA: Periocular Anthropometry and Glaucoma Attitudes among Ethiopians and East Africans"; Travel to Ethiopia
  • Otana Jakpor, MD
    Research Proposal:  “Environmental Exposures & Vision in a French Mother-Child Cohort”; Travel to Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Grenoble, France
  • Otana Jakpor, MD
    Research Proposal: “Environmental Exposures & Vision in a French Mother-Child Cohort”; Travel to La Tronche, Isère, Grenoble, France
  • Lee Kiang, MD, PhD
    Research proposal: "Role of fractalkine, also known as CX3CL1, in retina-RPE separation”
  • Olivia Killeen, MD
    Research Proposal: "Cornea Transplantation in Taiwan"; Travel to National Taiwan University
  • Tyson Kim, MD, PhD
    Research Proposal: "Development and application of iPhone-based retina camera for high-quality, low-cost diagnostics"
  • Monica Michelotti, MD
    Research proposal: “Analysis of Healthcare Delivery Systems in the US and UK through the Prism of Ophthalmology”
  • Crandall E. Peeler, MD
    MOTCDA research award used to travel to Bhairawa, Nepal to evaluate whether a low cost automated fundus camera can improve screening efforts in rural areas
  • Lev Prasov, MD, PhD
    Research Proposal: "Validation of a novel nanophthalmos gene"
  • Ira H. Schachar, MD
    Research proposal: "Laser Retinectomy for the Treatment of Glaucoma" 
  • Emily Schehlein, MD
    Research Proposal: "A Comparison of two Aravind-Pondicherry Eye Camp Models for the Deterction of Posterio Segment Disease-A Clubster Randomised Trial"; Travel to Aravind Eye Camps
  • Nakul Shekhawat, MD, MPH
    Research Proposal: "Telemedicine for prevention of posterior segment conditions in a low-resource setting: A prospective, randomized study"
  • Stephen Smith, MD
    Research proposal: "Preclinical acute safety study of combined carboplatin and etoposide phosphate intravitreal injection therapy for retinoblastoma” 
  • Andrew Stacey, MD, MS
    Research proposal: “Assessing the role of topotecan as an adjunct chemotherapeutic agent in selective ophthalmic artery chemotherapy for children with retinoblastoma”
  • Krista Stewart, MD
    Research proposal: "Postoperative Pain Control After Enucleation or Evisceration, a Double-Masked, Randomized Controlled Trial of Plain 0.5% Bupivacaine versus Sustained-release Bupivacaine (Exparel)” 
  • Erik Sweet, MD
    Research Proposal: "Validation of a Paraprofessional Training Method for International Container Clinic Outreach"; Travel to Jamaica
  • Kevin Tozer, MD
    Research proposal: "Kinetic Energy Harvesting Intraocular Lens”
  • Eric Weinlander, MD
    Research Proposal: "Decision-Making in Complex Ocular Surgery"
  • Annie Wu, MD
    Research Proposal: "Cataract Surgery Outcomes in early vs late day cases at a high volume cataract surgery practice"; Travel to Aravind Eye Hospital
  • Thomas Wubben, MD, PhD
    Research Proposal: "Enzymatic and non-enzymatic regulatory roles of the glycolytic protein, PKM2, in photoreceptor survival"
  • Warren Pan, MD, MPhil, PhD
    Research Proposal: “Pharmacologic activation of PKM2 as a gene-agnostic, novel treatment to prevent photoreceptor degeneration in a model of IRD”