Meet the AAOE Board

Ravi D. Goel, MD

Senior Secretary for Ophthalmic Practice — American Academy of Ophthalmology
Clinical Instructor, Wills Eye Hospital — Comprehensive Ophthalmologist, Cherry Hill, N.J.

Chair — Academy's Delegation to the American Medical Association House of Delegates
Chair — Ophthalmology Section 
Member — American Medical Association’s Council on Medical Service
Dr. Ravi D. Goel is a clinical instructor at Wills Eye Hospital and a comprehensive ophthalmologist in Cherry Hill, N.J. He served on the Academy's Young Ophthalmologist Committee and EyeNet^® editorial advisory board. A graduate of the Academy's Leadership Development program, he currently serves on the Academy's Communications Secretariat and the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Ophthalmology Section Council. Dr. Goel is a past chair of the AMA's Young Physician Section, past president of the New Jersey Academy of Ophthalmology and recipient of top doc awards from South Jersey Magazine and SJ Magazine.

Stephanie Collins Mangham, MBA, COA, OCSR

AAOE Board Chair
Chief Executive Officer — Austin Retina Associates
Stephanie Collins is the chief executive officer for Austin Retina Associates in Austin, Texas. She has been with the practice over 20 years and her tenure with Austin Retina has provided her the opportunity to work in almost every job within the organization, and also allows her a real insight into the needs of the patients and employees she encounters every day. Her stated focus for the group is innovation, increased efficiency, and to provide unparalleled patient and employee satisfaction.

Joanne Mansour, OCSR

Past AAOE Board Chair
Practice Administrator — The Virginia Retina Center
Joanne Mansour began her career in ophthalmology in 1988 in Toronto, Canada. She is the executive director of a small non-profit. Ms. Mansour has managed the Virginia Retina Center, since 2004. Under her management, the Virginia Retina Center has grown to three locations and four physicians.

Alexandra Acabá, MSW

Director of Operations — Drs. Berrocal & Associate
Alexandra Acabá has been the Director of Operations at Drs. Berrocal & Associates in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the past three years and is currently enrolled in the Master of Healthcare Administration program at Boston College. Prior to this, she received her Master's in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania in which she focused on geriatric social work and palliative care and worked as a clinical social worker at the Penn Neurology and Penn Memory Center. She is a certified clinical research coordinator who has been involved in multiple research projects in the fields of ophthalmology and neurology.

In her role as Director of Operations, Ms. Acabá has led the practice into lean and modernization efforts with the implementation of technology and analytics and has used her social work background to incorporate employee motivation and engagement techniques into the practice. She also serves on the scholarship committee for the Puerto Rico chapter of the American Cancer Society and in her free time she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, painting and playing tennis. 

Rahul Bhola, MD, MBA

Children’s Health of Orange County (CHOC) Specialists Ophthalmology
Dr. Rahul Bhola is an internationally recognized expert in pediatric ophthalmology. He is currently the Chair and Medical Director of Ophthalmology at Children’s Hospital of Orange County and serves as the division chief of Pediatric Ophthalmology at CHOC Children’s Specialists and associate clinical professor at University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. Dr. Bhola serves as a member of AAOE’s Content Committee.

Alan E. Kimura, MD, MPH

Past President — Colorado Retina 
Dr. Alan E. Kimura brings a diverse portfolio of experiences to bear as past president and managing partner of Colorado Retina Associates in Denver, Colorado.

Formerly a tenured faculty at the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and director of the Vitreoretinal Fellowship, Dr. Kimura began the second phase of his career in private practice in Denver in 1996. Starting as a three-physician vitreoretinal practice, through a friendly-merger of like-minded retina doctors, the practice grew organically to 13 physicians practicing vitreoretinal diseases and surgery, later adding physicians with subspecialty fellowship-training in uveitis, oncology and inherited retinal disease.

While practicing full-time, Dr. Kimura earned his master’s degree in public health (MPH) from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, focusing upon health care policy. With subsequent roles in the Academy’s OPHTHPAC, earning the Secretariat Award, as well as serving on multiple healthcare committees in the Colorado Medical Society and Denver Medical Society, he understands the need to transition to value-based care. Colorado Retina learned how to create their practice’s unique “value-proposition” and earn higher reimbursements from payers, through their selection to join the CMMI’s Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative — the only ophthalmology practice in this four-year, $700 million project.

In recent years, he has taken Colorado Retina through a successful lean culture and process transformation, while developing a cadre of high-performing lean practitioners throughout his management team. Dr. Kimura states that “it is an honor to serve on the AAOE board and learn from the best administrators in ophthalmology.”

Julia Lee, JD

Practice Administrator — Lee Vision Associates, LLC
Principal Consultant — NorthStar Vision Partners, LLC
Julia Lee is the practice administrator for Lee Vision Associates, LLC, a solo practice she launched for her husband, Dr. Stephen Y. Lee, in 2021. She is also the Principal Consultant of her own firm, NorthStar Vision Partners, LLC, which supports health care clients in multiple settings. During her prior 15 years in health care administration, Ms. Lee managed large, multi-subspecialty ophthalmology groups exclusively along with a high-volume ASC doing approximately 8,000 cases annually. Most recently, she was instrumental in consolidating 16 private practices in the Metro Philadelphia region into a single, physician-owned group called Vantage EyeCare, LLC, where she served as CEO until the end of 2020.

Ms. Lee earned her BA from Brown University and JD from Northeastern University School of Law. She has previously served on AAOE’s EHR Subcommittee and Content Committee. She is a recipient of the Secretariat Award and the Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology for her contributions to practice management.

Heather Modjesky, COE

Chief Administrative and Financial Officer — Conestoga Eye
Heather Modjesky began her career as an administrator in ophthalmology in 2015, leading and growing a practice that specializes in oculoplastic and pediatric ophthalmology and comprehensive optometry. Under her management, the practice has grown from a small, one doctor practice to a medium-sized, multi-location, multi-specialty practice with 6 doctors and 30 employees. She has been an active member of AAOE since 2015 and was part of the AAOE's first Ophthalmic Practice Administrators Leadership Program (OPAL) class in 2019.

In addition to practice management, Ms. Modjesky has extensive background in marketing and digital communications, as well as national and regional media relations experience. She serves as a member of AAOE’s Content Committee.

Lisa M. Nijm, MD, JD

Founder — Warrenville EyeCare & LASIK
Assistant Clinical Professor — UIC Eye and Ear Infirmary 
Dr. Lisa Nijm is a board certified, corneal, cataract and refractive surgeon at Warrenville EyeCare & LASIK, a licensed attorney, and an assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology at the University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. She also advises leading medical device and pharmaceutical companies on new innovations and serves as CEO of Women in Ophthalmology, where she has led the organization to exponential growth.

Dr. Nijm is an invited international lecturer, a published, peer-reviewed author, and has received numerous awards, including the Academy Secretariat Award, Academy Senior Achievement Award and has been named one of the most influential ophthalmologists in the world on The Ophthalmologist’s Power List.

Dr. Nijm has created two highly acclaimed educational resources for physicians, MD Negotiation and Real World Ophthalmology. Believing negotiation skills are paramount to success, she launched MDNegotiation.com to provide specialized negotiation coaching and has conducted over 40 training workshops across the country.

During the pandemic, she recognized a need to help navigate the changing landscape of ophthalmology and took the initiative to create a free, peer to peer, educational resource to help young ophthalmologists learn everything they need to know to succeed in early practice, RealWorldOphthalmology.com. The inaugural meeting, “Top Ten Things I Wish I Knew Sooner,” drew over 1,200 participants and received wide acclaim for its knowledgeable faculty, engaging format and timely topics. Dr. Nijm is thrilled to usher in the next phase of Real World Ophthalmology with an upcoming podcast and virtual meetings in spring and fall 2022.

Jessica Schroeder, MPH, CPC

Practice Administrator — Cape Fear Retinal Associates
Jessica Schroeder began working in ophthalmology in 2010 at The Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins. After eight years at Wilmer Eye, she and her family moved to the coast of North Carolina. Cape Fear Retinal Associates is growing to four doctors and adding a second full-time location in 2022, in addition to establishing their clinical trial program in 2021. 

During her tenure with the practice, she has been diligent in creating culture, integrating new technology and building a team who prioritizes patient care and satisfaction.

Ankoor R. Shah, MD

Ex-officio Member
AAOE Medical Director for Coding Products
Retina Consultants of Texas
Dr. Ankoor R. Shah is a board-certified medical and surgical retina specialist with Retina Consultants of Texas. Dr. Shah has authored over 100 combined peer-reviewed scientific papers, book chapters, and presentations at national meetings. In addition to his medical and surgical research interests, he has an additional interest in the advocacy and the business of retina. He has been involved nationally as the coding/compliance committee co-chair of Retina Consultants of America, a member of the Health Economics Committee of the ASRS, and an Academy RUC Advisor, Health Policy Committee member and AAOE Medical Director for coding products.

Brittney W. Wachter, CPC, COE, MBA, OCS

Chief Executive Officer — Excel Eye Center
Located in Utah, Excel Eye Center has 14 ophthalmologists and three optometrists, seven locations in Utah County and seven satellite sites in rural Utah.

Brittney Wachter oversees all aspects of the business including: practice management, EHR, strategic planning, marketing, finance, human resources, acquisitions and construction, as well as process improvements. She provides direction on procedures including development and implementation of compliance, including best practices.

Ms. Wachter has been with Excel Eye Center for over 15 years during which time she has implemented the practice management and EHR systems, as well as revenue cycle management and coding compliance. She has served on the previous AAOE EHR committee, volunteered at the annual meeting to provide MIPS education and taught courses.