Speakers

Guests of Honor

Carol Bradford, MD, MS, FACS

An internationally recognized head and neck cancer researcher, surgeon and leader in academic medicine, Carol R. Bradford, MD, MS, FACS, is the interim dean of the Medical School and interim Executive Vice President at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Bradford earned her MS in microbiology/immunology and her MD (cum laude) at the University of Michigan. She completed a general surgery internship at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital and research fellowship and otolaryngology-head and neck surgery residency at the U-M before joining their faculty in 1992. She quickly advanced through the academic ranks, becoming department chair in 2009 and executive vice dean for academic affairs in 2016.

Dean Bradford specializes in head and neck cancer surgery, focusing her research on the development of therapies that overcome resistance to therapy and identifying and evaluating biomarkers that can predict outcomes. She also pioneered the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy as a safe and reliable tool to stage patients with melanoma of the head and neck. She has published more than 330 peer-reviewed articles and authored more than 20 book chapters.

Throughout her career, Dean Bradford has received many awards recognizing her dedication to education, research, patient care, and community engagement.

She was elected the first woman president of the American Head and Neck Society in 2012 and has since received both a Distinguished Service Award and a Presidential Citation from the society. In 2024, she received the Margaret F. Butler Outstanding Mentor of Women in Head and Neck Surgery Award.

In 2020, she served a one-year term as elected president of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and was inducted into the academy’s Hall of Distinction in 2023. In 2019, she received the Helen F. Krause Memorial Trailblazer Award from the Women in Otolaryngology section.

Dean Bradford is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, American Head and Neck Society, Triological Society and American Laryngological Association. She is also a member of the prestigious National Academy of Medicine and the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

Robert Kersten, MD

Robert C. Kersten, MD, one of the country’s top oculoplastic surgeons, practices at the John A. Moran
Eye Center University of Utah location where he treats adults and children with congenital and acquired
disorders of the soft tissues and bones around the eyes. He also performs cosmetic eyelid and upper facial rejuvenation.

Dr. Kersten has authored more than 200 publications on the diagnosis and treatment of disorders and
cosmetic problems in the eye area. He has been recognized by his peers as one of America’s Best Doctors for over 20 years and received the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The American Society of Oculofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery awarded Dr. Kersten the 2021 Dortzbach Award in honor of his “outstanding teaching, academic, scientific, and scholarly achievements.”

He serves as program director and selection chair for Moran’s oculoplastic fellowship.

The former editor of the American Academy of Ophthalmology textbook on surgery for the eyelids,
orbits, and tear-duct system, Kersten has lectured internationally in more than 30 countries and frequently speaks in North America.

Dr. Kersten, former chief of ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of California
San Francisco, earned his medical degree at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, where he
also completed a residency in ophthalmology and a fellowship in ophthalmic plastic, orbital, and
reconstructive surgery.

Throughout his career, he has devoted significant time to outreach care, performing surgeries and training ophthalmologists worldwide.

Featured Speakers

Ophthalmology Guest of Honor: Robert Kersten
Ophthalmology Featured Speaker: Nisha Acharya
Otolaryngology Guest of Honor: Carol Bradford
Otolaryngology Featured Speaker: Myriam Loyo Li

All Speakers

Ophthalmology Speakers

Robert Kersten, MD – Guest of Honor
Professor of Ophthalmology – Oculoplastic Surgery
University of Utah, John Moran Eye Center
Salt Lake City, UT

Nisha Acharya, MD, MS – Featured Speaker
Professor of Ophthalmology – Uveitis
University of California
San Francisco, CA

Afshan Nanji MD, MPH – President
Associate Professor – Corneal & External Disease
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, OR

Frank Brodie MD, MBA – Program Chair
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology – Retina
University of California
San Francisco, CA

C. Ellis Wisely, MD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology – Cornea
Duke University
Durham, NC

Sri Padmanabhan, MD
Associate Professor of Ophthalmology – Glaucoma
University of California
San Francisco, CA

Luciano Greig, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
University of California
San Francisco, CA

Sophie Liao, MD
Associate Professor of Ophthalmology
University of Colorado
Aurora, CO

Christina Flaxel, MD
Professor of Ophthalmology – Retina
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, OR

Aaron Nagiel, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology – Retina
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

Evan Kalin-Hajdu B.Sc, MD, FRCSC, DABO, FASOPRS
Ophthalmic Plastic Reconstructive Surgery
University of Montreal
Montreal, Canada

Erick Rivera-Grana, MD
Glaucoma – Uveitis Specialist
Puerto Rico Inflammatory and Surgical Eye Care LLC
Puerto Rico

Matthew Simunovic, MD, BChir, PhD, FRANZCO
Professor of Ophthalmology
Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney
Sydney, Australia

Phoebe Lin, MD, PhD
Professor of Ophthalmology – Retina, Uveitis
Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, OH

Flavio Rezende, MD, PhD
Professor of Ophthalmology – Retina
University of Montreal
Montreal, Canada

Ying Han, MD, PhD
Professor of Ophthalmology – Glaucoma
University of California
San Francisco, CA

Laura Kopplin, MD, PhD
Professor of Ophthalmology – Uveitis
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI

Sudi Srivatsan, MD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology – Oculoplastic Surgery
University of Colorado
Aurora, CO

Zachary Kroeger, MD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology – Retina
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, OR

Brianna Bass
Medical Student
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, OR

Brandon Kennedy, MD
Fellow
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland, OR

Eric Suhler, MD, MPH
VA Health Care System
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland, OR

Charles DeBoer, MD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
Standford University
Palo Alto, CA

Ali Reza Gohari, MD
Ophthalmology – Retina
Stockton, CA

Katie Lucarelli, MD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
University of Colorado
Aurora, CO

Brian Chan-Kai, MD
Ophthalmology – Retina
Eye Health Northwest
Portland, OR

Charles Eifrig, MD, FACS
Retina Associates of Orange County
Newport Beach, CA

Otolaryngology Speakers

Carol Bradford, MD, MS, FACS – Guest of Honor
Interim Dean
Interim Executive Vice President for Health Affairs
University of Minnesota Medical School
Minneapolis, MN

Myriam Lobo Li, MD, MCR – Featured Speaker
Associate Professor of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland, OR

Alexander Rivero, MD, FACS – President
Otolaryngology
Kaiser Permanente
Oakland, CA

Randall Ow, MD
Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery
Sutter Health
Roseville, CA

Jonathan Liang, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Otolaryngology – Rhinology
Kaiser Medical School
Oakland, CA

Henry Zheng, MD
Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery
Kaiser Permanente
Oakland, CA

Bozen Wrobel, MD
Professor Otolaryngology
Head & Neck Surgery, Neurological Surgery
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
University of Southern California

Chris Tang, MD
Otolaryngology
Kaiser Permanente
Oakland, CA

Brandon Chang
San Francisco, CA

Beverly Chang
San Francisco, CA

Peter Eskander, MD
Resident
University of California
San Diego, CA

Charlotte Goddard
Kaiser Permanente
San Marcos, CA

Brendan Sweeney, MD
Resident
Navel Medical Center
San Diego, CA

Gabriel Calzada, MD
Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery
Kaiser Permanente
San Marcos, CA

Earl Harley, MD
Professor Otolaryngologist – Pediatrics
Washington University, DC

Amir Rafi, MD
Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery
Kaiser Permanente
San Francisco, CA

Nicholas Dewyer, MD
Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery
Sutter California Pacific
San Francisco, CA