What happens when two systemic diseases collide? In this episode of New Retina Radio Journal Club with VBS, moderator Lediana Goduni, MD, is joined by Alexis Warren, MD, and Joshua Uhr, MD, to discuss a new retrospective cohort study by Rahimy et al. The panel explores how obstructive sleep apnea impacts the progression of diabetic retinopathy and elevates the risk for systemic vascular events such as stroke, heart attack, and death. With nearly 24,000 patients analyzed, the study sheds light on the importance of screening and managing comorbidities in patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy—and raises critical questions about what role retina specialists should play in addressing them.

Anat Loewenstein, MD; Paulo Eduardo Stanga, MD; Patricio G. Schlottmann, MD and Daniel Ting, MD, PhD, pick up where they left off in our previous episode, further exploring the value of setting expectations for patients with GA in nations without wide access to complement inhibitors. They also comment on which therapeutic approaches can be employed now and look toward possible forthcoming treatments. This podcast is part 2 of 2. 

The State of Geographic Atrophy Around the Globe: Part 1 of 2
 DES: For what pathophysiologic reasons is targeting the complement pathway a viable therapeutic route for treating geographic atrophy? And which pipeline therapeutic approaches could be useful to patients in the future? Anat Loewenstein, MD is joined by a world-class trio of retina specialists—Daniel Ting, MD, PhD; Paulo Eduardo Stanga, MD; and Patricio G. Schlottmann, MD—for a discussion exploring the state of play in GA from a global perspective. This podcast is part 1 of 2. 

Are patients from lower-income households more likely to present with severe diabetic retinopathy (DR)? Ben Young, MD, moderates a discussion with Phoebe Mellen, MD, and Jordan Deaner, MD, about a new retrospective cohort study from the Duke Eye Center than examines differences in DR severity at presentation between patients from the lowest- and highest-income ZIP codes, explores how income-based barriers to care may impact disease progression, and discusses how this data might affect clinical care, screening strategies, and public health priorities.

What do you do when a patient with GA also has wet AMD? And how do you encourage patients on anti-complement therapy to stick with treatment? In part 2 of this 2-part series, moderator Judy Kim, MD, and panelists Rishi Singh, MD; Deepak Sambhara, MD, and Sunir Garg, MD, examine answers to these questions. 

How tightly should you stick to a GA therapy’s label? Which complement inhibitor do you pick and why? And which candidates are best suited for treatment? In part 1 of this 2-part series, moderator Judy Kim, MD, and panelists Sunir Garg, MD; Deepak Sambhara, MD, and Rishi Singh, MD, explore these questions in a brief (but enlightening) discussion. 

 What conclusions can be drawn from the LIGHTSITE III study examining photobiomodulation for dry AMD? Moderator Barton Blackorby, MD, sits down with panelists Hong-Uyen Hua, MD, and Louis Cai, MD, to examine a recent opinion piece published in JAMA Ophthalmology exploring what researchers can (and cannot) confidently conclude based on the study’s data. 

Duke faculty interview key lecturers from the 2025 Duke AVS Course about their podium talks. Jason Hsu, MD, discusses the best ways to manage proliferative vitreoretinopathy, Majda Hadziahmetovic, MD, shares new data on the effect of GLP-1 receptor agonists on diabetic retinopathy, Aleksandra V. Rachitskaya, MD, explains the value of multimodal Imaging in adults with a history of prematurity, and Gavin Tan, MD, PhD, FRCSed, discusses management approaches for myopic tractional maculopathy and macular holes.

Faculty from the 2025 Duke AVS Course ask key lecturers to share pearls from their presentations. Lejla Vajzovic, MD, discusses various pediatric retinal conditions that can manifest later in life, Jason Fan, MD, explains trends in anesthesia use for open-globe surgery, and Glenn J. Jaffe, MD, examines the role of AI in retina clinical trials.

During the 2025 Duke AVS Course, Duke faculty sat down with several key lecturers to discuss their presentations. Avni P. Finn, MD, MBA, discussed her experiences delivering subretinal gene therapy, David Zacks, MD, PhD, explored important factors in retinal detachment repair, Xi Chen, MD, PhD, highlighted the various surgical approaches for young patients who present without a posterior vitreous detachment, and Yannek I. Leiderman, MD, PhD, provided pearls for scleral fixation of secondary IOLs.