Beem-Fisher Awards

We are very pleased to share the names of the Beem-Fisher Award winners over the years.  Congratulations to all of the residents who submitted papers, and to those who are recognized below! 

Review Committee members - CLICK HERE to access this year's submissions.  (requires special log-in

2025 Beem-Fisher Awards 

First Place -- Kyle Chan, MD, Northwestern University -- "Levodopa is Associated with Reuced Development of New-onset Geographic Atrophy in Patients with Age-related Macular Degeneration"

Second Place -- Paul de Bustros, MD, Loyola University -- "Review of Culprit Drugs Associated with Patients Admitted to the Burn Unit with Diagnosis of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrosis Syndrome"

Third Place -- John Zahour, MD, Loyola University -- "Prevalence and characteristics of Post-Surgical Cystoid Macular Edema Following Combined Cataract Surgery with Kahook Dual Blade Goniotomy"

2024 Beem-Fisher Awards 

First Place -- Michael Massengill MD PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "Racial/ethnic Differences in the Diagnostic Yield of Panel-based Genetic Testing for Inherited Retinal Dystrophies"

Second Place -- Prithvi Bomdica MD, Rush University -- "Characteristics, Outcomes, and Optical Coherence Tomography Features of Macular Hole After Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment Repair"

Third Place -- Meredith Horacek MD, Loyola University -- "The Effect of Rho Kinase Inhibitors on In-vitro Human Orbital Preadipocytes"

 2023 Beem-Fisher Awards 

First Place -- Sarah Griffin, MD, Loyola University -- "Red Blood Cell Distribution Width as a Biomarker for Retinal Vein Occlusion"

Second Place -- Lincoln Shaw, MD, University of Chicago -- "Association of Metformin Use with Risk of Newly Onset Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration Development"

Third Place -- Jessie Wang, MD, University of Chicago -- "Full-thickness Macular Hole Closure with Topical Medical Therapy"

 2022 Beem-Fisher Awards

Fellow Award Winner -- David Dao, MD, University of Chicago -- "High-fat Diet Alters the Retinal Transcriptome in the Absence of Gut Microbiota"

First Place -- Lindsay Y. Chun, MD, University of Chicago -- "Rapid Pathogen Identification and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing in In Vitro Endophthalmitis with MALDI-TOF MS and VITEK 2 Without Prior Culture"

Second Place -- Saira Khanna MD, University of Chicago -- "Laser Prophylaxis in Patients with Stickler Syndrome"

Third Place -- Palak Patel, MD, Rush University -- "Analysis of Posterior Vitreous Detachment and Development of Complications Using a Large Database of Retina Specialists"

 2021 Beem-Fisher Awards

Fellow Awards --

Anna Mackin, MD, University of Chicago -- "Evaluation of Flow of Chorioretinal Capillaries in Healthy Black and White Subjects using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography"

Alisa J. Prager, MD, Northwestern University -- "Effectiveness and Tolerability of Netarsudil in Combination with Other Ocular Hypotensive Agents"

First Place -- Andrea Blitzer, MD, University of Chicago -- "Association of Metformin use with Age-related Macular Degeneration:  A Case-control Study"

Second Place -- Nita Valikodath, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "Evaluation of an Artificial Intelligence System for Retinopathy of Prematurity Screening in Nepal and Mongolia"

Third Place -- Emily Cole, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "Variability in Plus Disease Diagnosis using Single and Serial Images"

 2020 Beem-Fisher Awards

Fellow First Place -- Nicole Scripsema, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "The Influence of Ultra-wide Field Fluorescein Angiography on the Diagnosis and Management of Diabetic Retinopathy"

Fellow Second Place -- Daniel Maidana, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "Cup-to-Disc Ratio Agreement between Optic Nerve Digital Photos and Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography in Pediatric Glaucoma Suspects"

Fellow Third Place -- Monique Munro, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "Cytomegalovirus Retinitis in HIV and Non-HIV Individuals"

Resident First Place -- Jonathan Noguchi, MD, Loyola University -- "Kaempferol Protects Against Retinal Photoreceptor Degeneration and Function in a Mouse Model of Light-induced Retinal Injury"

Resident Second Place -- Ivy Zhu, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "Greenhouse Gas Emissions Related to Intraocular Gas Usage in Ophthalmology"

Resident Third Place (tie) -- Gregory Fu, MD, Loyola University -- "Detection of the Purkinje Shift with the Rapid Dark Adaptation Test:  Age and Vision Correlates"

Resident Third Place (tie) -- Levi Kanu, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "Glaucoma Care of Prisoners at an Academic Hospital"

2019 Beem-Fisher Awards

First Place -- Madeline Ripa, MD, Loyola University -- "The Role of Multisystem Disease in Composition of Autologous Serum Tears and Ocular Surface Symptom Improvement"

Second Place -- Daniel Oh, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "Inpatient and Emergency Room Ophthalmology Consultations at a Tertiary Care Center"

Third Place -- Kimberly Estes, MD, Loyola University -- "Effects of Corrective Strabismus Surgery on Social Anxiety and Self-consciousness in Adults"

2018 Beem-Fisher Awards

First Place -- Paul Park, MD, Loyola University -- "Paeonifliorin Protects Against Retinal Photoreceptor Degeneration in a Mouse Model of Light-induced Retinal Injury"

Second Place -- Talisa de Carlo, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "Simulating Vascular Leakage on Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography"

Third Place -- Michael Heiferman, MD, Northwestern University -- "Morphological implications of vascular structures not visualized on optical coherence tomography angiography in retinal vein occlusion"

2017 Beem-Fisher Awards

First Place -- Shilpa Gulati, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "Tear fluid neutrophils and neutrophil extracellular traps contribute to ocular graft vs host disease pathogenesis"

Second Place -- Jordan Thompson, MD, Loyola University -- "A multicenter study evaluating the risk factors and outcomes of repeat descemet's stripping endothelial kearatoplasty (DSEK)"

Third Place -- Mackenzie Sward, MD, Loyola University -- "Lax eyelid syndrome, obstructive sleep apnea and ocular surface inflammation"

 2016 Beem-Fisher Awards

First Place -- Andrew Francis, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "Thickness Mapping of Retinal Layers in Ins2 (Akita) Diabetic Mice by Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography"

Second Place -- Kai Kang, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "Micro- and Nanoscale Surface Topographies on Silk Regulate Cytoskeletal Dynamics and Gene Expression of Human Corneal Epithelial Cells"

 Third Place -- Laura Snyder, MD, University of Chicago -- "Prophylactic Peripheral Laser and Fluorescein Angiography after Bevacizumab for ROP"

2015 Beem-Fisher Awards

First Place - Michael Nolan, MD, Loyola University Medical Center -- "A Standardized Approach to Training for Cataract Surgery Skill Evaluation"

Second Place -- Michael Andreoli, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago -- "Epidemiological Trends in 1,452 Cases of Retinoblastoma"

Third Place -- Fatoumata Yanoga, MD, University of Chicago -- "The Etiology and Outcomes of Pars Plana Vitrectomy in Non-diabetic Dense Vitreous Hemorrhage"

 2014 Beem-Fisher Awards 

Second place – Diana Tamboli, MD, Loyola University Medical Center – “Retinoblastoma: A Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Evaluation for Treatment Patterns, Survival and Second Malignant Neoplasms”

Third place – Michael Andreoli, MD, University of Illinois at Chicago – “Optical Coherence Tomography Retinal Thickness and Volume Measurements in X-linked Retinoschisis”

2013 Beem-Fisher Awards