Technicians’ Conference

Join us for the 10th Annual NOAO Technicians’ Conference (In-Person Only), Friday, April 16, 2021, at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans Hotel!

 

Online registration has now closed. You may still register onsite.

To download the Technicians’ Conference schedule, click here.

 
For our 10th Anniversary, our Technicians’ Conference faculty are expert level teachers and deeply committed to making this meeting worth your time.  We want every attendee to leave this meeting feeling more confident about providing better patient care. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer this course in a virtual format. Here are a few of our faculty for this meeting:
 
Denice Barsness CRA, COMT, CDOS, FOPS, is the technical director at the Ophthalmic Diagnostic Center. An NOAO veteran, she has participated in our Technicians’ Conferences since 2016, and we can’t wait for another year. She is immensely qualified and has given countless lectures on refined techniques for technicians and imagers.
 
 
 
 
Denise Capps MD, is an Ophthalmology Specialist in New Orleans, Louisiana. She graduated with honors from Louisiana State University School Of Medicine In New Orleans in 2016. Having more than 5 years of diverse experiences, especially in OPHTHALMOLOGY, Dr. Denise E Capps affiliates with many hospitals including Ochsner Medical Center, Leonard J Chabert Medical Center, cooperates with many other doctors and specialists in many medical groups including Ochsner Clinic LLC, South Louisiana Medical Associates.
 
Jeffery Daigrepont, senior vice president at Coker Group, specializes in healthcare automation, system integration, cybersecurity, operations, and deployment of enterprise information systems for large integrated delivery networks and medical practices. His specific interests deal with data migration, vendor contracting, strategic IT planning and optimization, security, and compliance.

A popular national speaker, Jeffery is frequently engaged by highly respected organizations across the nation, including many non-profit trade associations and state medical societies. He has co-authored a top-selling book, Complete Guide and Toolkit to Successful EHR Adoption (2011 HIMSS), and is a contributor to The Healthcare Executive’s Guide to ACO Strategy (2015 HCPro).

Alon Kahana, MD, Ph.D. was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, and grew up in Connecticut. He completed his undergraduate studies in Biochemistry at Brandeis University, graduating Summa Cum Laude and with Phi Beta Kappa honors. Dr. Kahana received his MD (with Honors) as well as a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology from The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed his residency in ophthalmology and a prestigious ASOPRS fellowship in oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Wisconsin under the preceptorship of Dr. Mark Lucarelli. He simultaneously completed a facial cosmetic surgery fellowship under the preceptorship of Dr. Brad Lemke. Dr. Kahana’s fellowship thesis won the prestigious Marvin Quickert Award from the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS).

In 2007, Dr. Kahana was recruited to the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, where he rose up the ranks to become tenured faculty, with an international reputation in orbital surgery – particularly thyroid eye disease – and pediatric oculoplastics – particularly blepharophimosis and congenital ptosis. He has authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications, multiple book chapters and reviews, and has given >100 lectures throughout the United States and internationally, including several endowed lectures and visiting professorships. He has served in numerous leadership positions, including as President of the North American Society of Academic Orbital Surgeons (NASAOS) and Chair of the Thesis Committee and the Scientific Advisory Committee for ASOPRS. He is also a Program Director for his own ASOPRS fellowship.

Dr. Kahana’s research has been awarded grants from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health, as well as philanthropic organizations and industry. Dr. Kahana was awarded career development and physician awards from Research to Prevent Blindness and has run a major prospective clinical trial on the treatment of advanced orbital and periocular basal cell carcinoma. While moving his clinical practice to Consultants in Ophthalmic & Facial Plastic Surgery (COFPS), Dr. Kahana will maintain his lab and continue his research efforts.

Dr. Kahana is a noted educator and has won resident teaching awards at both the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin. 

Christopher Riemann, MD obtained his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from John Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering in February 1989. After a six-month period as a Chesapeake Research Foundation Fellow at the National Institute on Aging, he attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. While in medical school, Dr. Riemann performed independent research as a National Institutes of Health Medical Student Research Fellow (1990) as well as an American Heart Association Research Fellow (1991-92). He received a Maryland Senatorial Scholarship in 1991 and served as the Vice President of the University of Maryland Chapter of the American Medical Student Association. Dr. Riemann obtained his medical doctoral degree in the Spring of 1994. Subsequently, he undertook a transitional internship at York Hospital in York, Pennsylvania, and completed Residency training in Ophthalmology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. He then continued his training at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation as a vitreoretinal surgery Fellow where he developed expertise in both the medical and surgical management of retinal disorders.

Dr. Riemann is a member of the ASRS, American Academy of Ophthalmology, Ohio State Medical Association, Cincinnati Academy of Medicine, Cincinnati Ophthalmology Society, and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. His original research in the fields of Ophthalmology, Cardiology, and Endocrinology has been published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and has been presented at national scientific meetings.  He has several patents for innovative surgical technologies and enjoys sharing his passion for the blend of engineering and medicine.

In collaboration with the other Retinal Surgeons at Cincinnati Eye Institute, Dr. Riemann is a principal investigator or co-investigator for many phase two and phase three FDA trials.

Dr. Riemann specializes in medical and surgical vitreoretinal diseases including diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, retinal detachment, retinopathy of prematurity, vascular diseases of the retina, uveitis, histoplasmosis, complications of anterior segment surgery, endoscopic posterior segment surgery, and ocular trauma.

Rizwan Shaikh MD was born and raised in Lodi, New Jersey. Began volunteering at his local
hospital and went on to be a volunteer EMT at 16 years old. He completed his bachelor of science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He earned his medical degree from the American University of Antigua and went on to a medical internship at the Medical College of Georgia. He is a recent graduate of the ophthalmology residency at the Baylor College of Medicine. Currently, he is the vitreoretinal surgery fellow at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation training under Drs. Anthony Mazzulla & Joseph Benevento. He sees patients at Ochsner Main Campus in New Orleans and at Chabert Medical Center in Houma, LA. He is a fellow member of the American Academy of Ophthalmologists and the American Society of Retina Specialists. His clinical interests include secondary intraocular lens placement, retinal detachment, and macular hole repair. He has presented basic science research at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and has co-authored several publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Shaikh enjoys traveling and experiencing new cultures through their architecture and cuisine
with his wife. He is also an avid Formula 1 racing fan and general motorsports enthusiast.

 
NOAO President, Pulin Shah MD, was raised in the heart of Cajun Country: Lafayette, Louisiana, where he attended the Episcopal School of Acadiana. His parents, a doctor and an engineer who immigrated to the US from India in the 1960s, taught him the value of professionalism and hard work.

He went on to attend Emory University in Atlanta, then LSU Medical School in New Orleans. He completed his Ophthalmology Surgical Training at California Pacific in San Francisco and the prestigious Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, before returning to New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina, to establish his medical practice at Ochsner Medical Center.

For over a decade, he has lead the department of Ophthalmology as Section Head of Cataract and Corneal Surgery and Medical Director of the Ochsner Baptist Laser Vision Center. Dr. Shah has personally performed over 10,000 cataract procedures, taught many medical students and residents, and was Principal Investigator of a major Clinical Research Trial which has brought innovative new technology to our region.

Dr. Shah serves as a Medical Director for the Southern Eye Bank, a local non-profit organization that supports organ and tissue donation and provides precious eye tissue for patients undergoing corneal transplantation. He also partners with St. Thomas Clinic and Daughters of Charity to provide free cataract surgery to needy New Orleanians. Dr. Shah’s contributions extend beyond our borders, through his position as Board President of the International Eye Institute, where he leads a team of volunteer medical professionals every year to Central America to perform sight-restoring cataract and corneal surgeries. Dr. Shah also serves on Ochsner’s International Advisory Board and has established the Ochsner International Eye Care Fund to allow grateful patients and donors to directly support his efforts in the fight against preventable blindness worldwide.

 
Topics that will be covered are Epidemiology of Glaucoma, OCT imaging, Endophthalmitis, The New Norm – How COVID changed the way we see and treat patients, the 21st-century cures act, a jeopardy round, and much more!  
 
There’s more to come, so register now and join us for our 10th Anniversary!

Strategize with accessible faculty and engage in the open exchange of techniques and ideas. This intimate educational event combines energizing sessions with cases, debates, and discussions. You will come away re-energized by new knowledge and insight that will have an immediate impact on your work. 

A day of exclusive content for ophthalmic technicians (Friday, April 16)!

Registration Options:

Technicians have the option of attending the tech conference only, the Annual Symposium Friday-Sunday, or both. 

To take advantage of the lower price in either category, your physician must be a member of the New Orleans Academy of Ophthalmology (please see registration form for fees).

Download the Technicians’ Conference agenda: COMING SOON!

Hotel Accommodations:    Click here to reserve your room at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans Hotel  (601 Loyola Avenue,  New Orleans, LA), or call either (877) 803-7534 (toll-free) or (504) 561-1234 and ask for the room block under the NOAO. Rooms are $189 (single) and $214 (double) per night, and it is recommended that reservations should be made well in advance, as there will be limited room availability after April 2, 2020.

This course will be submitted to JCAHPO for consideration of CE credit. 

 

 

Attendees Say:

“Excellent; look forward to coming back next year”

“Program improves every year.  Thanks for your hard work and dedication”

“The program was very informative; Learned something from every lecture”