Dr. Van Tassel is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Glaucoma Service and Glaucoma Fellowship at Weill Cornell Medicine Ophthalmology in New York.

1. Please share with us your background.>

I grew up in southwest Missouri and attended college at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where I designed my own major: ethics and religion in health care. I was (and am) interested in how backgrounds, values, and politics shape the way a person makes health care decisions. Although there aren’t many flashy ethical quandaries in glaucoma care, I do think my curiosity and interest in people shapes the way I care for patients and their families.

I moved to New York City for medical school and residency at Weill Cornell Medicine (with a brief jaunt to Pennsylvania for my internship), where Nathan Radcliffe, MD, ignited my interest in glaucoma. I remember being stunned that he could glance at a printout that resembled static snow on an old TV and claim that he saw patterns. Slowly, I came to realize that I could see them, too! The iStent (Glaukos) had just been approved, and glaucoma seemed to me like a space that was going to see tremendous innovation during my practice lifetime. That, coupled with the fact that I could form long-term relationships with patients and still “fix” a few problems like cataracts, hooked me. I then had the immense privilege of returning to Duke as a glaucoma fellow before joining the ophthalmology faculty at Weill Cornell.

2. What is the main focus of your efforts outside of clinical care?

My nonclinical time is split between research and education. I restarted the glaucoma fellowship at Weill Cornell about 5 years ago after a lengthy period of dormancy, and I’m very proud of this effort.

I have two primary research endeavors. First, I am interested in surgical outcomes, surgical device complications, and adverse events following procedures, with a focus on how to optimize and personalize procedural outcomes for patients. Second, I am collaborating with my colleague Yifan Peng, PhD, to develop and validate deep learning models for glaucoma diagnosis and prognostication and to look specifically at bias transfer in pretrained models.

3. What has your experience been collaborating with industry?

Collaborating with industry has been one of the highlights of my career. I’ve enjoyed the intellectual stimulation of various conversations and questions, and I’ve been able to creatively flex my brain in different ways than in a typical clinical or surgical day. Several very meaningful opportunities have evolved for me because of people I have met through industry collaborations.

4. In your opinion, how is the role of women in ophthalmology evolving?

We’re continuing to see many more women in leadership positions, more women at higher ranks in academic institutions, and more women “at the table” in various capacities. This is incredibly exciting, although there remains a need for women to be more represented in the most senior leadership positions: CEOs, deans, department chairs, society presidents, etc.

My hope for the decade ahead is that we will increasingly move in a direction where women are on panels not to avoid a so-called manel but because they are the first participants suggested when the activity was conceived. Through networking, mentorship, sponsorship, participation, and pursuit of excellence in our niches, we can all contribute to this vision of female representation throughout the hierarchy of organizations, committees, conferences, etc.

5. What hurdles do you feel women in health care still face?

It’s wonderful that the pandemic allowed many committee meetings, seminars, etc., to become virtual. For me, this flexibility often means that I can schedule commitments in the late evenings and thus be home for dinner and bedtime with my young family. But, that comes at the cost of cannibalizing my evening time. To be creative and productive, I crave dedicated periods of focus. It’s hard to do that when you have little crumbs of time here and there. I also want to carve out time for relaxation, exercise, hobbies, etc. The continued evolution of what a workday and workweek look like in the post-pandemic era is a challenge for everyone but particularly acute for women in health care who wear many hats.

6. What advice can you offer to young female ophthalmologists who are still in training or just beginning their careers?

Figure out your why. It’s easy to feel adrift if you’re not sure why you’re setting out down this path. Let your why be your North Star.

7. Can you propose a unique or creative idea that may help women in ophthalmic practices?

Pack your lunch. Packing lunch is an actionable way to say, “I’m planning ahead. I’m prioritizing my body. I’m managing my time.” Trainees and more junior doctors in particular often lack control over the pace of the day, so if the morning runs behind, that can mean skipping a midday meal. A packed lunch can easily become a quick nosh between patients. Also, a small, packed sweet item is a great pick-me-up. My days are so much better when I’ve packed lunch and a dessert. And, believe me, no afternoon patient would want to think that your judgment was clouded or your hands were tremulous because you were hungry.

PUBLISHED WORKS

• Lin M, Li T, Yang Y, et al. Improving model fairness in image-based computer-aided diagnosis. Nat Commun. 2023;14(1):6261.
• Lin M, Liu L, Gorden M, et al. Multi-scale Multi-structure Siamese Network (MMSNet) for primary open-angle glaucoma prediction. Mach Learn Med Imaging. 2022;13583:436-445.
• Lin M, Liu L, Gordon M, et al. Primary open-angle glaucoma diagnosis from optic disc photographs using a Siamese network. Ophthalmol Sci. 2022;2(4):100209.
• Lin M, Hou B, Liu L, et al. Automated diagnosing primary open-angle glaucoma from fundus image by simulating human’s grading with deep learning. Sci Rep. 2022;12(1):14080.
• Grover DS, Kahook MY, Seibold LK, et al. Clinical outcomes of Ahmed ClearPath implantation in glaucomatous eyes: a novel valveless glaucoma drainage device. J Glaucoma. 2022;31(5):335-339.
• Duong AT, Ertel ME, Van Tassel SH. Glaucoma prevalence and glaucoma surgical considerations in prosthetic replacement of the ocular surface ecosystem (PROSE) device use. Eye Contact Lens. 2022;48(2):69-72.
• Koenig LR, Duong AT, Yuan M, Van Tassel SH. Adverse events associated with femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery reported to the FDA MAUDE Database. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2022;48(2):168-172.
• Duong AT, Yuan M, Koenig LR, Rodriguez GH, Van Tassel SH. Adverse events associated with microinvasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) reported to the FDA. Ophthalmol Glaucoma. 2021;4(4):433-435.
• Ferguson TJ, Radcliffe NM, Van Tassel SH, et al. Overnight safety evaluation of a multi-pressure dial in eyes with glaucoma: prospective, open-label, randomized study. Clin Ophthalmol. 2020;14:2739-2746.

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS

• American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO)
• American Glaucoma Society (AGS)
• American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS)
• New York Glaucoma Society
• Society of Heed Fellows
• Women in Ophthalmology (WIO)

HONORS & AWARDS

• AAO Achievement Award | 2023
• AAO Secretariat Award | 2020
• Weill Cornell Medicine Healthcare Leadership Fellowship | 2019
• AGS Mentoring for Future Leaders in Glaucoma Award | 2019
• Pollock Foundation Award | 2018
• AGS Mentoring for the Advancement of Physicians Scientists Award | 2017
• Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Fellow | 2016–2017