Steffen Schmitz-Valckenberg

Nishika Reddy, MD, practices comprehensive ophthalmology at the Moran Eye Center’s Midvalley Health Center location. She specializes in corneal and external eye diseases, including dry eye. Prior to joining Moran, she practiced ophthalmology in Dayton Ohio, and was instrumental in directing and organizing free eye clinics for the uninsured at the Kansas City Free Eye Clinic. Dr. Reddy completed her combined bachelor of arts/medical degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, her ophthalmology residence at Tulane University, and her cornea fellowship at The Ohio State University. Dr. Reddy is an active medical writer and editor, developing content for a wide range of patient education and therapeutic areas including surgery, pharmaceuticals, and ophthalmology. To learn more about Dr. Reddy, watch her profile video.

Mark D. Mifflin is a board-certified, fellowship trained cornea, cataract, and refractive surgeon with over 20 years of clinical experience. His specialties include complex cataract surgery, all forms of corneal transplantation, reconstructive surgery of the anterior segment of the eye, and LASIK, PRK, and intraocular lens vision correction. Dr. Mifflin directs the prestigious Cornea Fellowship at the Moran Eye Center and also serves as the Division Chief for Cornea and Refractive Surgery. Other interests include clinical research and eye banking, with a 20-year tenure as Medical Director of the Utah Lions Eye Bank. Get to know Dr. Mifflin by watching his profile video.

Ian F. Pitha, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist who specializes in cataract care and the medical and surgical management of routine and complex glaucoma patients. Dr. Pitha earned his MD and PhD from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. He completed his residency at Washington University in St. Louis and was selected for an additional year as chief resident. He then completed a clinical and surgical fellowship at The Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute Glaucoma Center of Excellence. He was a faculty member at Wilmer for 10 years, where he divided his time between patient care, teaching, and running a research lab as a core faculty member in the Center for Nanomedicine. He joined the John A. Moran Eye Center in 2024. Dr. Pitha sees patients at Moran’s University, Redwood, and Midvalley locations. Research Statement Dr. Pitha’s research focuses on improving care for glaucoma patients by developing effective and safe therapeutics that eliminate the need for using multiple prescription eye drops several times a day. He is associate director of the Alan S. Crandall Center for Glaucoma Innovation at Moran. Dr. Pitha has helped industry partners design and conduct foundational studies on novel approaches to glaucoma therapeutics and surgical implants. He has published extensively on ophthalmic drug delivery and glaucoma surgical implant design, and he has served as a reviewer for numerous journals and institutes. His lab studies the fundamental processes that underlie remodeling of the sclera — the white part of the eye — in glaucoma. Progress in this field could lead to therapies that create a protective barrier that shields the eye from high pressures in glaucoma. This novel therapeutic approach, called scleral neuroprotection, would be a paradigm shift in treatment because it could stop vision loss from glaucoma at its earliest stages. He is presently the co-principal investigator for a National Institutes of Health grant on improving glaucoma surgery: “Understanding and optimizing the influence of glaucoma drainage implant surface architecture and design to prevent post-operative fibrosis.” (R01EY035669)