Leilanie Perez Ramirez, MD, MS

Dr. Richard Hertle is an investigator in the areas of nystagmus and eye movement disorder. His current titles include, Professor of Ophthalmology, Northeast Ohio Medical College, SUMMA Medical Center Department of Ophthalmology, Director, The Children’s Vision Center and Chief of Ophthalmology, Akron Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Akron, Ohio, USA. Dr. Hertle received his Bachelor’s Degree from The Ohio State University and his Medical Degree from Northeast Ohio Universities College of Medicine. Following medical school, Dr. Hertle completed fellowships and residencies in Ocular Motility, Emergency Medicine, Ophthalmology, and Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus at a variety of medical centers around the country. Dr. Hertle came to Akron in 2010 to grow the Pediatric Ophthalmology service after six years as Chief of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and Professor of Ophthalmology and Bioengineering at The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He has been principal investigator on a number of NIH-funded research projects, including ongoing studies on the treatment of strabismus, nystagmus and amblyopia. An avid researcher and publisher, Dr. Hertle has over 200 referred publications and almost as many abstracts, editorials, reviews and invited lectures. He currently serves as a reviewer for multiple journals and has been a recipient of over a million dollars of research funding.

Arika is an orthopedic nurse practitioner at Akron Children’s. She’s been a practicing nurse since 2014 and a nurse practitioner since 2021. Arika earned her bachelor’s degree from Kent State Stark in North Canton, Ohio and her master’s degree from The University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. She has a special interest in sports medicine.

Dr. Potoka earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. He completed his residency in general surgery at the University Health Center of Pittsburgh and a fellowship in pediatric surgery at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. He also has a bachelor's degree in biological sciences from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Before joining Akron Children's, Dr. Potoka was an attending surgeon at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. He has also been an associate professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.