2024 Congress Speaker Profiles
October 17 - 20, 2024
The Hyatt Regency | Portland, OR

REGISTRATION NOW CLOSED
If you still wish to register to attend 2024 GWCO Congress, please visit the registration desk on-site.

 Click the speaker names below to view speaker schedules and learn about their professional experience.

Dr. Paul Chous

Dr. Paul Chous has a private practice specializing in diabetes eye care and education in Tacoma, WA and is Adjunct Professor of Optometry at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, CA. He completed his undergraduate education at Brown and UC Irvine, and then received his Masters and Doctorate of Optometry degrees from UC Berkeley. He is the author of Diabetic Eye Disease: Lessons From a Diabetic Eye Doctor, which was included in the “Top 12 Diabetes Books” by Diabetes Update magazine in 2004. He is editorial advisor to Review of Optometry and Optometry Times, AOA representative to the National Diabetes Education Program, Primary Investigator for the Diabetes Visual Function Supplement Study (DiVFuSS), and was named one of the 250 most influential optometrists in 2017. Dr. Chous has had type 1 diabetes since 1968.

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Dr. Anthony DeWilde

Dr. Anthony DeWilde, OD, FAAO is a graduate of the University of Missouri – St. Louis, College of Optometry. In 2008, he completed a residency at the VA Medical Center in Kansas City, where he trained in ocular disease and low vision rehabilitation.
Dr. DeWilde is passionate about education and has taught in a variety of settings including educating residents at the VA, students at University of Missouri – St. Louis, College of Optometry, and optometrists at state, national, and international meetings.

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Dr. Mila Ioussifova

Dr. Mila Ioussifova is the proud owner of South Waterfront Eye Care, a boutique-style private practice she founded in 2013 in Portland, OR. She is recognized for her expertise in advanced dry eye treatments, nutritional counseling, and aesthetic services.   
Dr. Ioussifova graduated with honors from the New England College of Optometry and completed a residency program in community health and ocular disease in Boston, Massachusetts. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry (AAO) and a lecturer at the academy and other national meetings. Dr. Ioussifova is on the board of directors as the education chair for the Oregon Optometric Physicians Association. She is also involved in state advocacy and leadership in the AAO Anterior Segment Section. She served as an adjunct clinical faculty member at the Pacific University College of Optometry and an examiner for the National Board of Examiners in Optometry. She is also a Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS) accredited by the American Nutrition Association (ANA) and a fellow of the Ocular Nutrition and Wellness Society (OWNS).

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Dr. Cecelia Koetting

Dr. Koetting practices at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in the Department of Ophthalmology in Denver, CO.  Her primary focus is in anterior segment and ocular surface disease, neuro-optometry, and peri-operative care. She partakes in clinical research and has served Externship Director and adjunct faculty for several schools and colleges of optometry.
Dr. Koetting is a member of Intrepid, a fellow in the American Academy of Optometry, a diplomate of the American Board of Optometry, an active member of AOA and has served as both local and state officers within AOA. She was named young Optometrist of the year by the state of Virginia.  Dr. Koetting lectures locally, nationally and internationally at conferences, continually contributes articles to and serves on editorial board for multiple publications. 

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Dr. Nathan Lighthizer

Born and raised in Bismarck, North Dakota, Dr. Nate Lighthizer, O.D., F.A.A.O., is a graduate of Pacific University College of Optometry.  Upon graduation, he completed a residency in Family Practice Optometry with an emphasis in Ocular Disease through Northeastern State University Oklahoma College of Optometry (NSUOCO).  Dr. Lighthizer has since joined the faculty at the Oklahoma College of Optometry and serves as the Chief of Specialty Care Clinics and the Chief of Electrodiagnostics Clinic.   In 2014, he founded and now heads the Dry Eye Clinic at the College of Optometry.  Also in 2014, he was named the Director of Continuing Education as well as the Assistant Dean for Clinical Care Services at the Oklahoma College of Optometry.  Starting in 2020, he was named the Associate Dean of the NSU Oklahoma College of Optometry.  He is a founding member, and currently serves as Immediate Past President, of the Intrepid Eye Society which is a group of emerging thought leaders in optometry.  He was named a member of PCON 250 – A list of the top 250 optometrists in the country who practice progressively, provide innovative patient care, conduct optometric research or excel in academia and share what they have learned with other optometrists to advance the profession.  Dr. Lighthizer lectures nationally and internationally on numerous topics, most notably advanced ophthalmic procedures, electrodiagnostics, and ocular disease.   

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Dr. Blair Lonsberry

Dr. Lonsberry grew up in Rossburn, Manitoba (Canada).  He obtained his Optometry degree from the University of Waterloo in 1996 after completing a Master of Science in Physiology from the University of Manitoba. He completed his residency in Primary Care Optometry from the Illinois College of Optometry in 1997, then joined the faculty at Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, TN. During his time at SCO, he completed a Masters in Education degree with an emphasis in adult learning.
Currently, Dr. Lonsberry is a Full Professor with Pacific University College of Optometry in Oregon where his primary teaching responsibilities are supervising interns and overseeing a specialty "lumps and bumps" clinic. In his spare time, he goes to Anchorage, Alaska where he sees patients in a private practice, and he has two White German Shepherd dogs named Beau and Bennett who keep him sane(ish).
Dr. Lonsberry is a Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry, a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, the Optometric Retinal Society, and the Optometric Glaucoma Society.

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Dr. Leonard Messner

Leonard V. Messner, OD, is the Vice President for Strategy & Institutional Advancement at the Illinois College of Optometry.  He holds the rank of Professor of Optometry at ICO.   
Dr. Messner is the immediate past Chair of the Neuro-ophthalmic Disorders Special Interest Group of the American Academy of Optometry.  He is a member of the steering committee of the Fellows Doing Research Special Interest Group of the American Academy of Optometry and is a member of the advisory board of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, Heidelberg Engineering, and Horizon Therapeutics. 
His predominant research interests include ocular structure and visual motor abnormalities with concussion, eye movements associated with the physical act of reading, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, psychophysical characteristics of optic neuritis, wide-field retinal angiography and low contrast color acuity characteristics of macular disease.  He is the author of over 150 peer-reviewed publications, textbook chapters, and scientific meeting presentation abstracts.
He is a two-time recipient of the American Academy of Optometry’s Service Appreciation award, the 2012 recipient of the Illinois College of Optometry’s Alumni Council Educator of the Year and was recognized as the Optometrist of the Year in Illinois in 2013.  In 2019, Dr. Messner received the Presidential Medal of Honor from Salus University.  In 2021, he was named in Newsweek America’s Best Eye Doctors 2021.  He is a 24-time recipient of the “Teacher of the Year” award at the Illinois College of Optometry. 

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 Dr. Reena Patel

Dr. Reena Patel earned her Doctor of Optometry degree from the Southern California College of Optometry at Marshall B. Ketchum University and completed a residency in Pediatric Optometry at the State University of New York, State College of Optometry. After residency, Dr. Patel worked at various locations in New York, including the State University of New York, Helen Keller International, New York University and Dr. Andrea Thau and Associates private practice in Manhattan. Dr. Patel is currently an Associate Professor at the Southern California College of Optometry and has clinical and laboratory teaching responsibilities in the Vision Therapy and Pediatric services. In addition, she is a clinical investigator with the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group and conducts research in the areas of amblyopia, strabismus, binocular vision disorders and myopia control. Dr. Patel is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and is Vice Chair of the Academy’s Communications Committee. Dr. Patel serves on the California Optometric Association’s Children Vision Committee and the American Optometric Association’s InfantSEE and Children’s Vision Committee. Dr. Patel is extremely passionate about advocating for children’s vision to other professions, especially school nurses and pediatricians.

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