J. Edie DeNiro, MD

Partner, East Bay Eye Specialists, Oakland, volunteer faculty member, CPMC Ophthalmology Department. William College, summa cum laude, University of California, San Francisco Medical School, CPMC Ophthalmology Residency and Glaucoma Fellowship, University of California, Davis

My residency training and professional life came full circle when I took over Dr. Erich Horn’s practice in the East Bay when he relocated to Florida. It was Erich Horn who 7 years earlier had guided me as a nervous new resident thoughtfully through my first pterygium surgery. I remember that he had driven over the Bay Bridge twice, once to go over the procedure in advance, and then again, for the actual event. My surgical mentors are very special, George Tanaka generously helped me though a long evening canaloplasty and doctors Jason Bacharach and Scott So were also extremely giving with the time and surgical teaching.

Of all my mentors Dr. Susan Day especially stands out. “Getting it right” was very important to her and she was generally in her office when we arrived and still there when we went home. It was important to her that we knew our stuff in every way. I even have affectionate memories of her finding grammatical errors in my emails!

Another colleague who has a special place in my estimation is Jonathan Hernandez, who rotated through as a medical student. He examined one of my cataract patients, correctly diagnosing her with retinitis pigmentosa. He wasn’t even a resident at that point! What a sign of the quality of our program!

I chose Glaucoma as a career path due in part, because I like the lasting and close relationships that glaucoma diagnoses necessitate. Also, the surgeries are challenging and interesting and I feel most fortunate to have so many excellent glaucoma colleagues in the Bay Area.

Today I enjoy my volunteer work with the residents at Highland Hospital and CPMC because it is a way to honor those who mentored me. I served as Associate Program Director for the residency from 2015 to 2018 and for a number of years I have worked with Anne Fung to help organize the annual Barkan Symposium which has been particularly rewarding. I have two kids, now ages 6 and 8 who currently love skateboarding and Minecraft!