General Practitioners

• Cryotherapy
  Our physicians are trained to provide the latest in-office procedures to treat a wide variety of retinal conditions, including pharmaceutical therapies, laser treatments, and cryotherapy procedures.
• Primary Care
  Many health insurance plans require referral authorization from your primary care physician prior to consultation with a specialist. In addition, most plans also require preauthorization before any type of surgical procedure or laser treatment. It is your responsibility to obtain the required referral authorization from your primary care physician.
• Infectious Diseases

Ophthalmologists

• Glaucoma
  The eye is one of the most sophisticated organs in the body. Not only is the eye socket one of the most sophisticated joints allowing a complete range of eye movement, the eye itself is the most complex structure in the body. As a result, ophthalmology has been subdivided into many subspecialties such as cornea, glaucoma, retina, and neuro-ophthalmology to name a few.
• Ophthalmology
  The two-year vitreoretinal surgery fellowship program at RVT was established in 1997 with faculty who value teaching and training future vitreoretinal surgeons. The fellowship program is currently certified by The Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO) and affiliated with the Houston Methodist Hospital, Blanton Eye Institute, and Weill Cornell School of Medicine.
• Macular Degeneration
  The center of the retina is called the macula and it is the area of the retina that has the highest density and variety of photoreceptors. This concentrated area of unique photoreceptors allows us the ability to see the finest detail and color and is the area of the retina that allows us to read, drive, recognize faces, and do most of our daily activities. Diseases such as diabetic macular edema or age related macular degeneration affects this part of the eye.
• Laser Eye Surgery
  The back of the eye. That means we don't provide Lasik eye correction, cataract, or glaucoma treatment, either. However, we are happy to refer patients to these types of specialists if needed. Learn more about diseases and treatments that our retina associates are specialized in.
• Cataracts
  The eye is an extremely advanced camera imaging system. It comprises of two lenses (the cornea and your crystalline lens) that focus the image in front of you onto the retina, the neural tissue that acts like the film to capture that image. While the cornea and crystalline lens can be replaced through a corneal transplant or cataract surgery, the retina since it is neural (brain) tissue cannot be replaced and does not have the ability to regenerate. The retina comprises of a delicate vascular blood supply, photoreceptors, and a complex neural processing system that forms a cable of approximately 1.5 million connections (known as the optic nerve) to send visual information to the brain. It has the consistency of wet tissue paper and is approximately 225 microns thick. The retina is also the most metabolically active tissue in the body and rests on a highly vascular blood supply system known as the choroid to provide nutrition as well as a monolayer of cells known as the retinal pigment epithelium which processes the metabolic waste products generated from the high metabolic activity in addition to many other functions it serves.
• Cataract Surgery
  Dr. Rao completed her internship and ophthalmology residency at William Beaumont Hospital in Michigan. She then had the privilege to do her 2- year Adult and Pediatric Vitreoretinal Surgery Fellowship at the world renowned Associated Retinal Consultants/William Beaumont Hospital in Michigan, where she trained with 11 outstanding faculty. During her fellowship, she worked closely with Dr. George Williams and the Academy of Ophthalmology on publishing several early big data research projects with the IRIS Registry, the world’s largest eye database. She received the Raymond Margherio Award at the 50th Annual Retina Society on IRIS Registry research focused on age-related macular degeneration and anti-vascular endothelial growth (Anti VEGF) therapy. After her fellowship, she worked on faculty as an assistant professor at the Emory Eye Center and Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, where she focused on telemedicine retinopathy of prematurity screening development and was awarded the Research to Prevent Blindness IRIS Grant to evaluate the rates and timing of cataract surgery after pediatric vitrectomies.

Internists

• Internal Medicine
  Dr. Tzu was born and raised in Houston, Texas. He graduated cum laude from Rice University with a Bachelors of Science in biochemistry and Bachelors of Arts in kinesiology, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He then enrolled at the renowned Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he received his medical degree. He completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Franklin Square Hospital Center in Baltimore, Maryland, and was honored with the Intern of the Year award.

Endocrinologist

• Diabetes Care
• Diabetic Retinopathy
  Dr. Tzu's clinical interest focuses on the medical and surgical treatment of retinal diseases including retinal detachment, ocular trauma, diabetic retinopathy, macular holes, epiretinal membranes, and retinal vascular diseases.

Radiologist

• Ultrasound
  RVT offers the latest diagnostic tools and services to correctly diagnose and evaluate your retinal condition, including digital photography techniques, scanning laser technologies, and ultrasound imaging.
• Chemotherapy
  During and after his training Dr. Khawly has published several scientific papers concerning both the medical and surgical aspects of retinal disease. Specifically, he was the lead author on the first paper that examined the ocular effects of chemotherapy for breast cancer and a manuscript on the interaction of silicone oil (often used in vitreoretinal surgery ) with different intraocular lenses used in cataract surgery. He delineated the problems with certain types of intraocular lenses and the use of this oil to repair complicated retinal detachments. He has presented this work at national and international meetings, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Khawly specializes in vitreoretinal diseases and surgery and has additional training in uveitis under Dr. Glenn Jaffe at Duke University Eye Center in Durham, NC.

Dermatologists

• Skin Cancer
  No matter how common a clinical condition may be, we approach each patient with the highest level of individual attention, consideration, and evaluation. Our depth of experience and collective expertise allows us to personalize the treatment techniques appropriate for each individual.
• Lesions