Empowerment and Opportunity Mentoring Program
The Empowerment and Opportunity Mentoring Program, launched in June 2022, is unique in that it is built around groups of mentees and mentors known as families. Each of the seven families currently consists of four mentors and two to four mentees. The long-term goal is to foster deep, life-long professional relationships that will encourage the mentees to become retina specialists. The mentees represent a wide range of races and sexual orientations. This is the first ophthalmology mentorship program that openly includes LGBTQ+ trainees.
The program also has a traditional track in which mentors and mentees are paired up one-on-one. These participants also have the opportunity to benefit from some of the family track training materials to allow them insight into the roles and responsibilities of mentorship. Most sessions are also open to all ASRS members. The next session will take place on Saturday, July 18 at 6:00 AM at the Annual Meeting in Montreal. This event will be open to ASRS members and corporate sponsors of the Empowerment & Opportunity section.
Program facilitators have included Debon Lewis, Dr. Tamara Fountain, Julio Alvarez, Dr. César Briceño, Dr. Taison Bell, Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld, and Dr. Stephanie Jones Marioneaux.
Read testimonials from some of our mentees here and view a selection of the mentorship session recordings here!
Applications for the 2027 program will be made available in December 2026.
To learn more about ASRS's various mentorship programs and to decide which one is right for you, review our mentorship programs overview chart.
Donate to the Foundation of ASRS to support this program (be sure to select "Empowerment and Opportunity Mentoring Program" from the Donation Category dropdown box). Your donation represents an investment in the next generation of underrepresented retina specialists at a critical point in their career development. Attending ASRS’s Annual Scientific Meeting allows ophthalmology residents from underrepresented groups to form invaluable professional relationships, learn about leading-edge developments and technology and add to the diversity of perspectives represented.
Thank you to the 2026 family-track and traditional-track mentors:
Alejandro Ochoa, MD, MPH
Alexis Warren, MD
Anh H. Nguyen, MD MS
Arnulfo Garza Reyes, MD
Basil K. Williams, MD
Camille V. Palma, MD, FASRS
Chase A. Ludwig, MD, MS
Christian A. Leal, MD
Christine I. Clavell, MD
Daniel S. Churgin, MD
David S. Chin Yee, MD, FASRS
Ella H. Leung, MD
George Sanchez, MD
Hong-Uyen Hua, MD
Hossein Nazari, MD, PhD
Jennifer Aye, DO, MS
Jennifer Lopez, MD
Jennifer O. Adeghate, MD, PhD
Jessica D. Randolph, MD, FASRS
Jordan D. Deaner, MD
Kisha D. Piggott, MD, PhD
Luis J. Haddock, MD
Merina Thomas, MD
Ogul E. Uner, MD
Roberto Diaz-Rohena, MD
Saif A. Hamdan, MD
Scott R. Shuldiner, MD
Shawn Charles Wilker, MD
Stuart J. McFarland, MD
Thamolwan Surakiatchanukul, MD
Valencia L. Potter, MD PhD
Vivienne S. Hau, MD, PhD