Ahmad A Aref Editor

Ahmad A. Aref, MD, graduated from the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill., in 2006 and subsequently completed a residency at the Penn State Hershey Eye Center, Penn State University College of Medicine and a fellowship in Glaucoma at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami. Since 2011 he has been Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Chief Quality Officer at Illinois Eye & Ear Infirmary, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Medicine. He is board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada. In 2011 Dr. Aref received an American Glaucoma Society MAPS Award and he currently sits on the society’s Multimedia Committee. He has published 25 articles in peer-reviewed journals and is a reviewer for a number of journals, including Ophthalmology, JAMA Ophthalmology, and American Journal of Ophthalmology. 

Rohit Varma, MD, MPH, graduated from Maulana Azad Medical College, University of Delhi, India and completed a residency in Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He also completed fellowships in the Glaucoma Services of Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, and the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Southern California School of Medicine. In 2005 he was appointed Professor (tenured) at the Department of Ophthalmology and Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles. From 2012 to 2014 Dr. Varma was Professor and Chairman, Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, UIC Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Chicago, and Illinois Lions/Charles I. Young Endowed Chair of Ocular Research, Lions of Illinois Eye Research Institute, Chicago. Since 2014, Dr. Varma has been the Grace and Emery Beardsley Professor and Chair of the USC Department of Ophthalmology and Director of the USC Eye Institute, Los Angeles. He also serves as Associate Dean for Strategic Planning and Network Development at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. 

During his distinguished career he has been the recipient of various honors, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology Honor Award (1998) and Senior Achievement Award (2006) and the President’s Award from the Glaucoma Research Foundation (2009). Dr. Varma served on the Editorial Advisory Board of Ophthalmology from 1999 until 2013 and since 2010 has been an Examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology Oral Examinations. He has published approximately 220 articles in peer-reviewed journals and edited/co-edited two books: Essentials of Eye Care: The Johns Hopkins Wilmer Handbook (Lippincott Raven, 1997) and The Optic Nerve in Glaucoma (Lippincott 1992).