Out of the Blindspot

In the last episode of the podcast, we heard from several attendees of the 2025 NANOS meeting in Tucson, Arizona. One meeting session in particular resonated with many attendees, sparking, deep, personal reflections on their approach to this important topic. Co-created and co-led by Drs. Melissa Ko and Guy Jirawuthiworavong,  the sessions was titled The Science and Clinical Practice of Supporting Patients Through Vision Loss: Therapy When There is No Cure. This unique symposium tackled a question nearly every physician has faced: what to do when you’ve done all you can to heal, but can do no more? Today, we’re taking a deep dive into an important conversation—one that helps put things into perspective and challenges us to think beyond tests, prescriptions, and procedures, and remember the full person behind the patient.  Dr. Melissa Ko [https://medicine.iu.edu/faculty/44789/ko-melissa] Dr. Guy Jirawuthiworavong [https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/southern-california/physicians/guy-jirawuthiworavong-6762513] Dr. Agnes Wong [https://ophthalmology.utoronto.ca/faculty/agnes-wong] Dr. Benzi Kluger [https://www.inpcs.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3536] The International Neuropalliative Care Society [https://www.inpcs.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1] Palliative Care to support the needs of Adults with Neurological Disease [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ldf4yt2wj7thy1is7trcw/Palliative-care-to-support-the-needs-of-adults-with-neurological-disease.pdf?rlkey=s3x5lydk7o61fbppv1at0rxbh&st=gftnoe05&dl=0] Clinical Guidance in Neuropalliative Care [https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000200063]  - A position statement from the Americal Academy of Neurology

The NANOS 2025 annual meeting in Tucson Arizona was as informative, exciting, fun, and impactful as ever.  In this episode, I bring you a unique taste of the meeting through a conversation with a wonderful neuro-ophthalmologist and through reflections of meeting attendees from Tucson during the event. In the first part, I speak with Dr. Susan Mollan who is a world-renowned Neuro-ophthalmologist practicing in Birmingham, England. Her group is at the forefront of IIH research and we spoke about her background and interests in Neuro-ophthalmology, the latest in IIH and GLP-1 agonists, her reflections on the NANOS meeting, and more. In the second part of the episode we hear from a diverse group of meeting attendees about their favorite highlights and experiences from NANOS, a new and fun event debuting at this year’s meeting, and an impactful symposium we’ll hear more about in future podcast episodes. The IIH Intervention Leadership Group [https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/metabolism-systems/translational-brain-science/iih/meet-our-leadership-team] NANOS 2025 Resources [https://www.nanosweb.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4434]

In the last episode, we began a conversation with Dr. Howard Krauss, founding partner of the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Southern California and a pioneering surgical Neuro-ophthalmologist. In this episode, we continue our conversation, learning more about his experience training to become a surgical Neuro-ophthalmologist, his experience as a co-founder of the Pacific Neuroscience Institute, and r. Krauss offers some of his thoughts on the current state of our healthcare system, and sage advice to the next generation of aspiring physicians and Neuro-ophthalmologists.

Dr. Krauss is a pioneering surgical Neuro-ophthalmologist specializing in minimally invasive orbital and oculoplastic surgery and adult strabismus.  A leader in ophthalmology and medicine,  he has blazed the trail for many of us who followed his footsteps into this specialty as surgeons. In this episode, we’ll learn about his formative years including his journey from rocket scientist to Neuro-ophthalmologist. Dr. Howard Krauss [https://www.pacificneuroscienceinstitute.org/people/howard-krauss/]

In this episode, I’m honored to bring you my conversation with Dr. Lenworth Johnson, a true pioneer in neuro-ophthalmology. As one of the first African American neuro-ophthalmologists, Dr. Johnson paved the way for future generations, breaking barriers and making an indelible mark on our field.  Beyond his significant clinical expertise and technical contributions to ophthalmology, Dr. Johnson is also a historian of our profession. His book, Breaking the Color Line in Medicine: African Americans in Ophthalmology, is the definitive account of the African American experience in our field, chronicling the challenges, triumphs, and the ongoing endeavors to increase representation in ophthalmology. Dr. Johnson’s storytelling is as compelling as his insights, and in this episode, we explore his remarkable journey, the importance of representation in medicine, and the future of our field through his unique perspective. Dr. Lenworth Johnson [https://ophthalmology.med.brown.edu/people/lenworth-n-johnson-md] Dr. Howard P. Venable [https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/deseg_hist/13/] Dr. Maurice Rabb [https://ohc.library.louisville.edu/ohms/viewer.php?cachefile=404-405_rabb.xml] Breaking the Color Line in Medicine: African Americans in Ophthalmology [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/fullarticle/415209] Black Pioneers in Ophthalmology [https://www.ajo.com/article/S0002-9394(24)00218-6/fulltext] Rabb Venable Excellence in Ophthalmology Program [https://www.rabbvenable.com/about-overview] The National Medical Association Ophthalmology Section [https://ophthalnma.org/page/AboutUs]