EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/1199001
78 | EYEWORLD | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 O UTSIDE THE OR they have a 1-year-old son and are working in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Perez-Straziota completed medical school in Venezuela but was interested in pur- suing clinical research in ophthalmology. She was directed to a variety of researchers at the Emory Eye Center after moving to the U.S., but no one had projects available —except for Dr. Randleman. "We met one morning after grand rounds, and I worked with him in clinical research for a year while I applied for internship and ophthal- mology residency," Dr. Perez-Straziota said. Between completing clinical research projects and starting an internship at Emory University, it was a year before they saw each other again. "By the time I started ophthalmol- ogy residency, we started working on projects again and got reacquainted from a different perspective," she said. Since they worked together before being in a relationship, Dr. Perez-Straziota said they had to get used to being together outside of a research setting. "We try to maximize our interactions in terms of professional conversa- tions," she said. "I've always learned from him, and I continue to learn from him. He's been my Dr. Perez-Straziota and Dr. Randleman first met working on research together and over time formed a relationship C laudia Perez-Straziota, MD, and J. Bradley Randleman, MD, first met shortly after Dr. Perez-Straziota moved from Venezuela to Atlanta, Georgia. She was pursuing a position in clinical research and looking to eventually apply for an ophthalmol- ogy residency. Now, more than 10 years later, Ophthalmologists bond over research interests For their first surgery together, Dr. Randleman and Dr. Perez-Straziota performed enucleation and lens extraction on a swordfish in Los Roques, Venezuela. Dr. Perez-Straziota kept the lens, which she said dried out into a white cataract. About the doctors Claudia Perez-Straziota, MD Cole Eye Institute Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, Ohio J. Bradley Randleman, MD Cole Eye Institute Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, Ohio Contact Perez-Straziota: perezsc@ccf.org