Special Thanks to The Salah Foundation
GLOBAL Down Syndrome Foundation Eye Care & Vision in Down Syndrome Conference
Presenting Speakers:
Emily McCourt, MD, is the chief of pediatric ophthalmology at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Dr. McCourt grew up in Scarsdale, NY and completed her undergraduate training at University of Pennsylvania. She then completed medical school at the University of Buffalo. Finally, after ophthalmology residency and pediatric ophthalmology fellowship in Colorado, she joined the faculty at the University of Colorado. As a faculty member, Dr. McCourt has held multiple leadership roles including research director for the section. She has almost 40 peer reviewed publications and her current research interests include pediatric keratoconus focusing on patients with Down syndrome, retinopathy of prematurity, and pediatric syndromic retinal dystrophies.
Michael Puente, MD is a pediatric ophthalmologist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital Colorado. After completing medical school at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Puente completed a surgical ophthalmology residency at Tulane University followed by a pediatric ophthalmology fellowship at the University of Colorado, where he now serves on the faculty. Dr. Puente is the director of an eye clinic for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and his research interests include eye health for individuals with Down syndrome, congenital cataracts, and LGBTQ issues in ophthalmology.
Melissa Engle, OD, FAAO, is a pediatric optometrist who has been practicing at Children’s Hospital Colorado for the past 7 years. She is the director of the Pediatric Optometry Specialty Care Residency Program and the director of Clinical Informatics for the Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology. She completed her undergraduate training at Auburn University studying biomedical sciences and attended New England College of Optometry for optometry school in Boston, MA. Her current research interests are in myopia control, amblyopia, keratoconus and specialty contact lenses.
Susan James is a Certified ophthalmic medical technologist working at Children’s Hospital Colorado for 10+ years. Her current role at Childrens is the ophthalmic education coordinator which includes onboarding and training of ophthalmic staff. In Susan’s free time she stays active with yoga and rock climbing. When she’s not being active Susan enjoys gardening and playing with her cat named Chicken.