Board of Directors

Michael J. Acho, MBA, CFP®

Michael J. Acho, MBA, CFP ©

Since 1993, Michael has been helping clients accumulate, preserve, protect and distribute wealth in the most tax advantageous manner. His work includes comprehensive financial, investment, estate and business succession planning. His clients are successful business owners, retirees, pre-retirees, widows/widowers and professionals. Clients choose to work with Michael because of the creative ideas he brings to the table, because he coordinates with their other advisors (attorneys and CPAs) and because he acts as their catalyst to get things done.

Mike has earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification. His other credentials include a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from University of Notre Dame, as well as various securities and insurance licenses. He is a member of the President’s Cabinet and Sagemark Consulting Private Wealth Services Group of Lincoln Financial Advisors.

Mike is a speaker/presenter/author/educator for various groups, associations and corporations.
Active in the community, Mike serves or has served as a board member of Yatooma’s Foundation For The Kids, University of Michigan Alumni Assoc., Notre Dame Alumni Assoc., and Sigma Alpha Epsilon Alumni Assoc. He is an advisor to the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation and member of the Personal Financial Planning Task Force of the Michigan Association of CPAs. For years he has volunteered as a Little League baseball coach. He’s a bit of a car guy and his other interests include fitness, exercise and nutrition, golf and hockey.
Mike is married to Renee, who runs a successful residential real estate business, and they live in Birmingham, MI with their children Alexander, Raquel and Jenna. Michael’s daughter Raquel, has been a patient of Dr. Foster since 2004. They’ve traveled to Boston regularly each year for his care and expertise. He is glad to be able to assist the foundation as a board member.

ANESI_HEADSHOT_23-200x300

Stephen Anesi, MD

Stephen Anesi, MD was born in Van Nuys, California. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles, and graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiological Science in 1999. He continued his studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, earning a Master’s Degree in Physiological Science in 2000. Dr. Anesi earned a Doctorate of Medicine in 2006 from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Upon completion of his Surgical Internship at UCLA Medical Center in 2007, he traveled east to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, New York for his Residency in Ophthalmology. After completion of his residency in 2010, where he served as Chief Resident, Dr. Anesi traveled to Cambridge for his Fellowship in Ocular Immunology and Uveitis with Dr. C. Stephen Foster. Upon his completion of his fellowship with Dr. Foster in June, 2011, he was invited to join the medical staff at MERSI as a staff physician. In 2016, he became an Associate Partner at MERSI. Dr. Anesi sees and treats patients with uveitis, scleritis, keratitis, dry eye, cataracts, glaucoma, and general ophthalmology issues.

Peter Chang, MD

Dr. Peter Chang was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. He moved to the United States at age 13 and has come to call New England his second home. He received Bachelor of Science in Biology from Brown University in 2004 and Doctor of Medicine from Tufts University School of Medicine in 2008. After medical school, Dr. Chang pursued a 2-year Clinical Research Fellowship in Uveitis and Ocular Immunology with Dr. Foster, and he served as the Chief Research Fellow from 2009 to 2010. The MERSI training helped solidify his interest in complex ocular conditions and systemic rheumatic disorders. Upon completing medical internship at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA, Dr. Chang moved to Manhattan and underwent residency training in Ophthalmology at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai. During his senior year, he held responsibilities as the Administrative Chief Resident. Dr. Chang then completed fellowship training in Vitreoretinal Surgery at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary in Chicago, where he was named Fellow of the Year. In fall of 2016, Dr. Chang returned to Boston and joined MERSI as a Partner. Dr. Chang specializes in ocular inflammatory disease and vitreoretinal surgery. Conditions he treats include uveitis, scleritis, retinal detachment, macular hole and pucker, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinal vascular diseases. Outside of work, Dr. Chang enjoys playing the piano, biking, cooking, and traveling with his family. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

Dr David Chu

David S. Chu, MD

Founder and Director, Metropolitan Eye Research and Surgery Institute of New York and New Jersey Associate Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology, Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, New Jersey Medical School of Rutgers University Newark, New Jersey David Shu-Chih Chu, MD is Founder and Director of Metropolitan Eye Research and Surgery Institute of New York and New Jersey. He is also Associate Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at the Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, New Jersey Medical School of Rutgers University, in Newark, New Jersey. Dr. Chu received his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine in 1995. He finished his internship at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center in New York City. He completed residency in ophthalmology at New York Medical College before serving a fellowship in ocular immunology and uveitis at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary of Harvard Medical School. He serves as Medical Director of Lions Eye Bank of New Jersey and Eversight International, an eyebanking network. Dr. Chu currently serves on the editorial board of Survey of Ophthalmology. He also serves on the board of Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation (OIUF). He is the current President of Foster Ocular Immunology Society. He is also a team ophthalmologist for the New York Jets.

Scott Evans

Scott Evans

Scott Evans is Chief Operating Officer for Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution (MERSI), located in Cambridge, MA, where he has been employed since 2005. Mr. Evans has worked in health care practice management positions for over nineteen years with a focus on business development, operational efficiency and customer service. Mr. Evans holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Business Administration degree from Framingham State University. Mr. Evans has served on the Board of Directors of the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation (OIUF) since 2007 and has filled the role of Treasurer and Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee. In addition to his work with OIUF, Mr. Evans has contributed his time and effort to The Massachusetts 9/11 Fund, Relay for Life, and several organizations supporting Massachusetts public schools. Mr. Evans enjoys spending time with his family, coaching baseball, basketball and soccer, travel and playing the guitar.

DR.FOSTER_HEADSHOT_23-199x300

C. Stephen Foster, MD, FACS, FACR
Founder and President, Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation

Dr. Foster was born and raised in West Virginia, received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry at Duke University, with Distinction and Phi Beta Kappa in 1965, and received his Doctor of Medicine Degree at Duke University Medical Center, in 1969, being elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. He trained in Internal Medicine at Duke University Hospital from 1969-1970, and at the National Heart and Lung Institute, at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, from 1970 to 1972, during which time he also taught Internal Medicine, with an appointment as Instructor in Medicine at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC. In 1972, Dr. Foster entered his Ophthalmology Residency training program at Washington University (Barnes Hospital), in St. Louis, Missouri, and having completed that in 1975, traveled to Boston to do two additional Fellowship trainings in Cornea and External Diseases, and in Ocular Immunology. He completed this training in 1977 and was invited to join the full-time faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology of Harvard Medical School, where he was a member of the Cornea Service and Director of the Residency Training Program at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He began his independent research in 1977 and has since been continuously funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health. After 30 years on the full time faculty of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, he established his own private practice – The Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution, a state of the art 12,000 square foot practice with its own chemotherapy infusion suite and phlebotomy lab. Dr. Foster continues to direct a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution (MERSI), through the support of his research foundation, the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation, and continues his teaching activities and training fellows as a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. He has also authored over 600 published papers and 5 textbooks.

Sharon Gitelle

Sharon Gitelle

Sharon Gitelle is an expert when it comes to growing audiences. Throughout her impressive career in digital media at companies including Forbes.com and Spanfeller Media Group, Gitelle has proven time and time again that she has a special ability to build community and supercharge audience growth and engagement. An early adopter of social media and emerging technology, she can spot a great opportunity a mile away – and then build effective strategies to take advantage of that opportunity. As the stepmother to someone with Uveitis, Gitelle is proud to be involved with the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation and excited to help.

Luis Gonzales

Luis Gonzalez, MD

Dr. Luis A. Gonzalez is a uveitis specialist and a vitreoretinal surgeon at NJRetina in Northern Jersey. He earned his medical degree from the School of Medicine at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Monterrey, Mexico where he graduated summa cum laude.

He trained in uveitis and ocular immunology with Dr. Stephen Foster at the Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution during two years working in diverse projects including the symposia in birdshot chorioretinitis and childhood uveitis, as well as in diagnostic and therapeutic approach of scleritis.

In 2012, Dr. Gonzalez earned a Master of Public Health degree in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from Harvard University. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, followed by a two-year fellowship in medical and surgical vitreoretinal diseases at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

Dr. Gonzalez has held several leadership and academic appointments, serving as an Instructor in Ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medical College, and as Chief Ophthalmology Resident at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Gonzalez has received numerous honors and awards, including the Peer Recognition Award from the University of Pittsburgh and the Harvard Presidential Scholar Award.

He has presented in national and international meetings including the Atlantic Coast Retinal Club and Macula 20/20 Meeting, the Annual Retina and Uveitis Symposium in New York City, as well as the Annual Meeting of the Mexican Retina Association. Dr. Gonzalez has authored book chapters and original papers in numerous peer-reviewed journals.

He is board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and a member of the American Society of Retina Specialists, The Association for Research and Vision in Ophthalmology, the Foister Ocular Immunology Society, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

In his spare time, Dr. Gonzalez enjoys skiing, running, and traveling with his wife and two children.

Dr. Netland

Peter A. Netland, MD, PhD

Peter Andreas Netland, MD, PhD completed his undergraduate education at Princeton University, his medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco, and his PhD degree at Harvard University. Following a surgical internship at the UCSF, he undertook his residency in ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and a clinical fellowship in glaucoma at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School. His research interests have focused primarily on pharmacologic effects and surgical techniques in glaucoma, and he is an active clinician caring for glaucoma patients.

After completion of his training, he was appointed Instructor, promoted to Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, and served as Associate Director of the GlaucomaService at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee Department of Ophthalmology as Associate Professor and Director of the Glaucoma Service. He was awarded tenure in 1999, and promoted to Professor of Ophthalmology in 2002. During the same year, he was named the Siegal Endowed Professor of Ophthalmology. In 2009, he was appointed DuPont Guerry, III Professor of Ophthalmology and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.

Dr. Netland has been elected to the American Ophthalmological Society. He has received both the Achievement Award and the Senior Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He is a Special Associate Examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology and has served on numerous AAO Committees. He has served in Departmental administrative positions, and served as an officer for the Chandler-Grant Society. He served as President and Chair of the Board of Directors for the Memphis Eye Society, and served on the Board of Directors and as President-Elect of the Tennessee Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Netland has given numerous international, national, and regional presentations. In the peer-reviewed literature, he has written over 300 original scientific articles, reviews, and published abstracts. He has published five textbooks, most recently the second edition of Glaucoma Medical Therapy, published by the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Oxford University Press.

Andrea Patisteas

Andrea Patisteas

Andrea Patisteas became involved with OIUF after her daughter Mia was diagnosed with uveitis in December, 2010 at the age of 12. Andrea is the mother of three children Benjamin, Samuel, and Mia, and is an adoptive “parent” to Lewis, a 62 year old man with Down Syndrome. Andrea is a Senior Executive Vice President at STD Med, Inc, a medical deivice company in Stoughton, MA. She resides in Rochester, MA with her children and husband Tony Resendes.

Rajiv Shah

Rajiv Shah, MD

Dr. Shah is an ophthalmology specialist in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Specializing in age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and epiretinal membranes. He graduated from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 2005 and then went on to complete his residency In Ophthalmology at State University of New York. Dr. Shah has also completed fellowships in vitreoretinal surgery, uveitis and ocular immunology, as well as vitreoretinal surgery. Dr. Shah also currently serves as an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Dr. Albert T. Vitale

Dr. Albert T. Vitale

Founder and Director, Metropolitan Eye Research and Surgery Institute of New York and New Jersey Dr. Albert T. Vitale is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Member of the Vitreoretinal Division, and Director of the Uveitis Division at the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. Prior to coming to the University of Utah, Dr. Vitale served as Chief of the Uveitis Division and Senior Consultant Ophthalmologist in the Vitreoretinal Division at the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Saudi Arabia where he established the first uveitis service at this institution.

At the Moran Eye Center, Dr. Vitale’s clinical practice encompasses the medical and surgical treatment of patients with complex ocular inflammatory disease and vitreoretinal pathology. He is chief of the only Uveitis service with such dual training and expertise in the Intermountain West, which is continuing to grow with the recent addition of two other Uveitis Specialists to that division. Dr. Vitale is involved in the delivery of comprehensive and sustainable retinal care in the developing world through the Division of International Ophthalmology at the Moran Eye Center and ORBIS and for the indigent and underserved in Salt Lake City, serving as Medical Director for the Moran Eye Clinic at the Fourth Street Homeless Clinic. Dr. Vitale is committed to education, not only among residents and fellows at the Moran Eye Center, but nationally and internationally as well, committing to international humanitarian work and education with the Moran Eye Center and Doctors Without Borders. Locally, Dr. Vitale is the Co-Director a newly formed Uveitis and Intraocular Inflammatory Disease Fellowship at the Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah. Associate Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology, Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, New Jersey Medical School of Rutgers University Newark, New Jersey David Shu-Chih Chu, MD is Founder and Director of Metropolitan Eye Research and Surgery Institute of New York and New Jersey. He is also Associate Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at the Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, New Jersey Medical School of Rutgers University, in Newark, New Jersey. Dr. Chu received his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine in 1995. He finished his internship at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center in New York City. He completed residency in ophthalmology at New York Medical College before serving a fellowship in ocular immunology and uveitis at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary of Harvard Medical School. He serves as Medical Director of Lions Eye Bank of New Jersey and Eversight International, an eyebanking network. Dr. Chu currently serves on the editorial board of Survey of Ophthalmology. He also serves on the board of Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation (OIUF). He is the current President of Foster Ocular Immunology Society. He is also a team ophthalmologist for the New York Jets.

  • Educational Audio

    Click here to listen to
     Uveitis and Steroid-Sparing Therapy

    Presented by C. Stephen Foster, MD, FACS, FACR

    Audio-Digest Ophthalmology Volume 56, Issue 15

  • Mia Resendes

  • Twitter Feed

  • Registration

    Click on Register

    Click on the Register link

    password email

    In the email you receive, click on the change password link.

    change password

    Change your password