Officers
Fasika Woreta, MD, CHAIR
Fasika A. Woreta, M.D., is an associate professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute and the Eugene de Juan, M.D. professor of ophthalmic education. Dr. Woreta received her M.D. degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and her M.P.H. degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She completed her residency in ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute and a fellowship in cornea and refractive surgery at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Dr. Woreta is currently the residency program director and the Director of the Eye Trauma Center at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. She is currently chair of the National Medical Association Ophthalmology section, President of the American Society of Ophthalmic Trauma (ASOT), and Secretary of the Maryland Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons. She is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion and serves as co-chair for the American Academy of Ophthalmology’ Committee for Resident Education DEI subcommittee, a mentor for the Minority Ophthalmology Mentoring Program, and faculty lead for the Diversity Scholars Program at Wilmer Eye Institute.
Basil Williams, MD, Chair Elect
Basil K. Williams Jr. MD is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, where he completed his ophthalmology residency and vitreoretinal surgery fellowship and served as a chief resident and co-director of ocular trauma. During this time, he won the Fellow of the Year Award. He completed an additional fellowship in ocular oncology at Wills Eye Hospital, where he received the William Tasman Outstanding Fellow Teaching Award. He is the chair elect of the National Medical Association Ophthalmology Section, the Vice President of the PanAmerican Ocular Oncology Society, the Co-Chair of the Early Career Section for the American Society of Retina Specialists and the Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the Vit-Buckle Society. He has co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts and several book chapters, and his research interests pertain to health disparities, surface and intraocular tumors and vitreoretinal surgical topics.
Karen Allison M.D., FACS, MBA, CME Chair
Karen Allison M.D, FACS, MBA, is a board certified ophthalmologist at the Flaum Eye Institute at the University of Rochester. Before she was in private practice in NYC. She graduated from Rutgers Medical School, completed her residency in ophthalmology at SUNY- Health Science Center in Brooklyn, New York followed by a fellowship in Glaucoma at the Oschner Foundation, in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has been actively teaching residents for over 20 years and is currently the Glaucoma fellowship director and head of the population medicine glaucoma division. She is actively involved in population medicine research (member of the population medicine research committee, population medicine data team) and diversity and equity research at University of Rochester, Flaun Eye Institute.
Ninita Brown, MD PhD, Past Chair
Thomas Eye Group
Atlanta, Georgia
Education: After earning her Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at Spelman College, Dr. Brown earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering at Georgia Tech. Her Medical Doctorate is from Duke University. While at Duke, she also completed a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in biomedical engineering.
Professional: Dr. Brown completed her internship at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, the county hospital affiliate of Stanford University. She then completed a residency in Ophthalmology at Howard University, in Washington, DC. She completed a glaucoma fellowship at Duke University. During her fellowship, Dr. Brown received specialized training in glaucoma treatments and surgery. She also trained Duke residents at the Durham Veterans Hospital. Dr. Brown is currently in private practice with the Thomas Eye Group serving patients in Atlanta and Newnan, Georgia.
Leadership: Dr Brown is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology. She participated in AAO Leadership Development Program in 2019 and currently works on the AAO Young Ophthalmologist Advocacy Committee. Dr. Brown is a member of the American Glaucoma Society and Atlanta Medical Society. She is currently on the board of the Georgia Society of Ophthalmology and previously served as a board member of the North Carolina Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons.
Outreach: Dr Brown began participated in multiple medical missions to India, Haiti, and Ethiopia as a Duke medical student then fellow. Most recently, Dr Brown volunteered at St Joseph Hospital in La Valee de Jacmel with ahdhhaiti.org to perform cataract and glaucoma surgery. Locally, Dr Brown is a board member of Prevent Blindness Georgia which funds vision screening for children and underserved adult populations throughout Georgia.
Mildred M.G. Olivier, MD, BS, Rabb Venable Chair
Dr. Mildred M.G. Olivier is Assistant Dean for Diversity, Global Health Chair for Chicago Medical School and Professor of Ophthalmology at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science/John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County. Her academic work includes clinical instruction of medical students and residents in glaucoma. She is the founder and CEO of the Midwest Glaucoma Center, PC. Dr. Olivier is a member-at-large of the Board of Trustees of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Past President of Women in Ophthalmology. She serves on the Diversity Issues Committee at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). She previously served on the Advisory Council of the National Eye Institute and is an AAO delegate to the American Medical Association.
Dr. Olivier has published in peer-reviewed journals and has co-authored books and book chapters. She has been conducting regular medical missions to Haiti since 1993. Dr. Olivier is frequently called upon to speak on glaucoma, healthcare disparities, and global health at national and international medical conferences.
Eydie Miller-Ellis, MD, Rabb Venable Chair
Dr. Eydie Miller-Ellis is Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology and Director of the Glaucoma Service at the Scheie Eye Institute, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Miller-Ellis maintains a busy clinical practice in glaucoma and has lectured nationally and internationally on glaucoma diagnosis and management. She has excelled in the area of resident education, especially surgical training, and received the 2011 Surgical Teaching Award at the Scheie Eye Institute. Her research interests include risk factors for the development and progression of glaucoma, pharmacological and surgical treatment of glaucoma, and diagnostic techniques. She has reviewed articles for the Archives of Ophthalmology, British Journal of Ophthalmology, Journal of Glaucoma, and Retina.
Dr. Miller-Ellis has served on the board of the American Glaucoma Society and Women in Ophthalmology, and was on the Scientific Committee for Prevent Blindness America. In 2014, she was named a Master Clinician at the Perelman School of Medicine. She is the current president of the Joint Commission for Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO).
Benjeil Z. Edghill, MD, Past Chair
Benjeil Z Edghill, MD, chair of the ophthalmology section of the National Medical Association from 2018-2020, is a Brooklyn native. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he received the prestigious Morehead Award Scholarship. He attended Duke University School of Medicine, receiving the Dean's scholarship, the Nathan Award, and the Charles Johnson Award. He also earned the ARVO/NEI Travel Fellowship Award and Research to Prevent Blindness Fellowship Grant.
His formal ophthalmology training was done at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn. As a resident, he entered the Rabb Venable competition and took first place in 2006 for his research on ROP. He returned to the Duke Eye Center to complete his glaucoma and anterior segment fellowship under the chairmanship of David Epstein, MD. He has been practicing in Staten Island for the past 15 years as the only glaucoma fellowship trained ophthalmologist on the island. Dr. Edghill has taken care of thousands of patients and is an expert in the latest medical, laser, and surgical treatments of glaucoma and cataracts. He is board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He is a key opinion leader for two of the latest microinvasive devices for the treatment of glaucoma and has given lectures nationally, teaching other physicians, and participated in symposiums throughout the United States. He has committed himself to helping the underserved through community service and on medical missions, including trips to Ghana and Haiti. Dr. Edghill is one of the founding members of the David K. McDonogh scholarship; he is working closely with members of the National Medical Fellows advocating on behalf of minority students pursuing residencies in ophthalmology and ENT. He serves on the board of Sankofa Community Empowerment, a local community organization, and his passion is helping young people to achieve their full potential through mentorship. He is happily married to a pediatrician and has two children.