Dr. Daniel Durrie is an internationally recognized refractive surgeon and has performed over 50,000 refractive procedures in his career. He is the founder of Durrie Vision, a world-class vision correction center located in Overland Park, KS that welcomes patients from around the world. Most recently, Dr. Durrie has taken his expertise from running a successful practice and has co-founded iOR Partners, a company focused on developing office-based surgery suites that provide surgeons the ability to offer more personalized patient care in a safe, comfortable surgical environment.

With more than 35 years’ experience in refractive and corneal surgery, Dr. Durrie has dedicated his career to being a pioneer in refractive surgery technology and procedures. He has been involved as an investigator or medical monitor of nearly every clinical trial that led to FDA approval of the laser technology and procedures used in laser vision correction today. Dr. Durrie has been named as one of the Top Ten Refractive Surgeons in America by Ophthalmology Times and named one of the Fifty Most Influential Ophthalmologists in the World by Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today.

Additionally, Dr. Durrie is committed to giving back to his community. He founded Focus on Independence, a not-for-profit organization that provides no charge laser vision correction to individuals who are disabled and unable to use their arms or hands to handle eyeglasses and contact lenses. To date, the organization has helped nearly 100 individuals suffering from paralysis to regain some of their independence.

Marsheila DeVan is an Independent Consultant and Communication Specialist with over twenty-five years of training experience. She is the Founder of MD Communications and specializes in coaching client to present powerfully and persuasively with confidence. Her expertise includes work within the university systems as well as the pharmaceutical and medical industries, concentrating on professional speaker development, interpersonal skills improvement, meeting moderation, media training, curriculum development and one-to-one coaching.

Marsheila holds a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of California, Irvine with a concentration in Organizational Behavior and Strategic Planning.

Her international experience includes teaching to multiple nationalities and specialties around the world. Her demeanor, humor and approach to training create an open and comfortable learning environment that results in a high level of interaction and learning.

Gary Sanchez International speaker, author, dentist and inventor who figured out WHY. He is best known for discovering the 9 WHY’s, developing the WHY.os (WHY Operating System), founder of the WHY Institute and creating the world's first WHY Discovery tool to help people accurately and quickly discover their WHY in under 5 minutes. Dr. Sanchez’s personal journey takes him from successful dentist to WHY obsessed to helping hundreds of thousands discover their WHY to creating software to impact 1 billion people. In 2021, WHY Institute launched the WHY.os Discovery which discovers your WHY, HOW and WHAT and creates your personal brand message for you.

Let’s talk today about what we want to accomplish but my experience has been if we do WHY.os first - the rest of the event is killer because people know themselves and each other at a much deeper level.

Shareef’s career has focused on helping doctors increase the value and demand for elective procedures. Deeply involved with the commercial launches of VISX and Intralase, he has since advised dozens of companies and hundreds of surgeons. His new book, Beyond Bedside Manner, offers insights on enhancing the patient experience in the modern medical practice.

Lisa Chmura graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a double major in Marketing and Finance, Investment and Banking. She was employed at a global mergers and acquisitions firm in Orange County, California for 3 years specializing in Direct Marketing Management.

Lisa began her career in the Ophthalmology industry as Marketing Director at a practice in Southern California where, for 10 years, she was instrumental in growing the refractive side of the practice by driving exceptional growth with brand recognition, word of mouth, post-op experience protocols, team building and motivation, goal setting and incentive structures, tracking and reporting standards, community outreach and event marketing, as well as promoting and hosting over 300 LASIK seminars. When she left, the practice had achieved the status of being one of the busiest LASIK practices in the United States.

Lisa moved on to work for Eyemax in 2007 as Senior Practice Consultant. Eyemax is a full-service staff coaching, marketing & consulting firm with 100% of their clientele in the eye care industry. Lisa utilizes the skills and experience she gained in building a successful LASIK practice to help her clients achieve growth and success.

Lisa also enjoys public speaking and has presented at ASOA and other events for over 12 years. With her comprehensive knowledge of the refractive industry, Lisa employs her areas of expertise - consulting, staff training, strategic marketing planning and implementation, introducing new service lines, uncovering revenue opportunities, and brand positioning - to help take clients to the next level.

Michael Isaac is CEO of Conclusn and has been delivering value with analytics for nearly 30 years. Conclusn delivers proven, cloud-based analytics to medical practices. They demolish data silos and deliver actionable insights that provide real value quickly. From Practice, Provider, Revenue Cycle, and Referral Analytics to Billing Anomalies and machine learning-based forecasting models, Conclusn is your true business intelligence partner.

Purnima S. Patel, MD is the founder of Ophthalmology and Retina Associates of Georgia (ORA). She has a unique boutique practice offering general ophthalmology and cataract surgery along with her expertise in medical retina and uveitis in the Atlanta suburbs. Dr. Patel is internationally recognized for her leadership and mentorship. She was on "The Power List" of the top 100 most influential women in ophthalmology in 2021. Previously, she served on the AAO’s Young Ophthalmologist Committee. Currently, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of the AAO’s Online Education Network and board member for AAO and Women in Ophthalmology. She is President-elect of the Georgia Society of Ophthalmology.

Sonny Goel, MD is a cataract and refractive surgeon in Baltimore, Maryland. After completing an accelerated 6 year medical program at Lehigh University and Medical College of Pennsylvania, he completed his residency training at Greater Baltimore Medical Center where he was selected as Chief Resident of the year by his colleagues. He stayed on staff at GBMC for 2 years before departing for a private practice opportunity.

Matthew Boudreau:My career in the refractive surgery space began 24 years ago when LASIK had just been FDA approved. Having undergone the procedure myself, my results sparked a passion to assist others in having this life-changing procedure, while being focused on delivering an exceptional patient journey.

My work in the industry includes being a patient counselor, clinic and OR technician, and as having assisted in over 35,000 refractive procedures. I have been honored to fulfill roles as a corporate national trainer, while assisting in opening centers of excellence across the United States for two major chains. I have been a Clinic Director, Regional Director, and Practice Administrator- all while keeping patient care and service, clinic procedural growth, and staff and physician development a part of my core values.

I sincerely believe my journey prepared me for my role with ZEISS. It brings me great joy to pass on the knowledge and expertise I’ve gained over the years, while assisting clinics to reach new success in the areas of patient attraction, patient conversion, and building referral networks.

Mitra Silva is the Founder and CEO of Simour Design, a medical interior design firm. She leads a specialized team of designers to serve clients through creating intentional and transformational medical spaces. Simour Design specializes in medspas, plastic surgery centers, and all areas of the medical field, designing for clients from Beverly Hills to New York City, Washington DC to Chicago, and everywhere in-between. She was named by Ariana Huffington’s Thrive Global as an accomplished C-Suite executive, and was lined up as a Speaker for The Medical Spa Show 2021 and 2022. She was also a Guest Speaker in the The Medical Spa Insider Podcast and was featured in EverTalkTV.

Al Goel is a certified facilitator focused on developing Leaders at every level. Brings more than 30 years of combined practical experience in Management Consulting, Consumer Retail, Financial Services and Big Pharma.

Beth Gordon: Accelerate Team Performance is my passion and my company’s name. Engaging teams in a creative process to challenge their status quo, identify their unique value proposition and achieve greater results together is my motivation. I look forward to bringing InsightsTM to The Outliers Meeting so that you can communicate, motivate and inspire your team to do the important work they do every single day.

Robert Melendez was raised in California and met his wife while visiting family in New Mexico where he met his wife of 30 years. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2000 and then He completed his ophthalmology training at his number one choice at The University of Texas Health Sciences Center where he was chosen as Chief Resident and voted resident eye surgeon of the year in 2004. Dr. Melendez worked for 16 year performing high volume cataract and refractive surgery with over 2000 cataracts per year and learned LASIK/PRK in 2006. After his surgery training, he completed his MBA at UNM Anderson School of Management where he held many leadership positions both nationally and at the state level. Dr. Melendez served as the Secretary for Online Education of the American Academy of Ophthalmology where he helped create the first education app for eye surgeons. He was on the Young Ophthalmologist (YO) committee where he served for 9 years, 3 years of which were as chair. Dr. Melendez also served in the U.S. Air Force where he served as a Flight Surgeon and completed his term of service in 2020 as a Lieutenant Colonel. He also started The Juliette RP Vision Foundation (JulietteFoundation.org) in 2008, named after his mother who went blind, where they raise money for blind college students and for research grants. Dr. Melendez started his own practice, Juliette Eye Institute (JulietteEye.com) in 2020 where his focus is on Refractive Surgery performing cornea and lens based surgeries including SMILE, LASIK, PRK, ICL, RLE, and Laser Cataract Surgery with a majority of premium IOLs using the most sophisticated technologies in New Mexico. He also created his own business magazine called Ophthalmology Business Minute that is distributed to 4000 ophthalmologists in the U.S. and started the Outliers Ophthalmology Meeting in 2022. He is also publishing his first leadership book, Focus on Your Passion, not the Position later in 2022. He is passionate about education and mentoring the next generations. He was just promoted to full Clinical Professor at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine where he teaches medical students about ophthalmology and the business side.

First in Albuquerque to implant the Light Adjustable Lens, First in Albuquerque to implant the Alcon Clareon Vivity lens, and Staar Surgical EVO VISIAN Implantable Contact Lens.

Dr. Dagny Zhu is a nationally acclaimed, board-certified ophthalmologist and fellowship-trained specialist in cornea, cataract, and refractive surgery. As a key opinion leader in laser vision correction and premium cataract surgery, Dr. Zhu serves as medical advisor to multiple ophthalmic companies and has published, lectured, and been featured in over 100 scientific journal articles, book chapters, national conferences, and press features including the Today Show, Huffington Post, InStyle, Yahoo News, NBC News, and CNN. Dr. Zhu graduated top of her class from UCLA and received her M.D. from Harvard Medical School. She completed her residency at the prestigious Doheny Eye Institute/University of Southern California (USC) and completed her fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, consistently ranked the #1 eye hospital in the world.

Mitchell A Jackson, MD is a board-certified ophthalmologist recognized as one of America’s top ophthalmologists. Dr. Jackson is a highly skilled surgeon, whose experience spans over almost three decades. He specializes in Refractive Lens Exchange, Refractive Cataract Surgery, and laser vision correction procedures to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia. A true innovator in his field, Dr. Jackson utilizes the newest technology and processes to ensure optimal patient outcomes. Dr. Jackson is the Founder/CEO of Jacksoneye, an ophthalmology practice and is also a clinical assistant at the University of Chicago Hospitals. Dr. Jackson is a leading expert in his field and not only lectures globally on the care and treatment of the eye, but he also maintains his own by-line in a monthly column featured in one of the most esteemed ophthalmology publications. Dr. Jackson has been continuously recognized as a ‘Top Doctor’ by Ingram’s magazine., as well as numerous additional industry respected publications.

Christine Scarlett is a results-driven, people-oriented marketing professional who believes that patient experience is the bedrock of growth and the validating embodiment of your brand. Christine joined private practice eight years ago and immediately created remarkable new strategies and processes to apply the expertise she developed in her 17-year background in sales, marketing and customer service to healthcare.

Prior to her current healthcare position, Christine launched and grew her private marketing firm from zero to 250 small businesses in three years, working with each client to turn their passion into a thriving business. One thing she found essential to the success of each project: happy, satisfied customers. Perfectly branded campaigns and businesses are non-sustainable without the real-life experience to back it up. Passionate about healthcare, she then formed a division for clinics and applied these same (but even more vital!) strategies to the healthcare world, speaking at conventions and conferences across the U.S., offering training for practices to apply her principles internally.

Over the past eight years, Christine has applied her strategies in marketing and the refractive patient experience, exploding her practice refractive cash pay program with an average 60% growth rate per year. She knows how to understand, support and love people who just happen to be patients, creating processes and workflows that are intentional but simple in their approach – and really WORK!

Lauren Weaver embodies the next generation marketing guru, fully immersed in the virtual world of patient engagement. Her relentless passion for dominating the ever-changing patterns of online behavior and algorithms behind social media platform trends set her apart.

Her natural creative eye, coupled with her superior knowledge of current visual media strategies make her perspective invaluable in fresh brand campaign strategies that appeal to cash pay patients in the marketplace.

Lauren first encountered private practice as a patient, approaching them as a potential LASIK brand ambassador to her loyal social media following as Miss Arkansas USA. She presented an extensive marketing plan to project the potential benefit of performing her procedure, leveraging the power of patient experience. It was clear she understood the immeasurable weight of real patient engagement and referrals through social media.

After graduating from the University of Arkansas Sam Walton School of Business, Lauren joined her current practice on the marketing team. In a short amount of time, her impact earned a leadership role as the Director of Brand Development.

Lauren’s strategies have exploded their social media growth over to 14,000 followers in less than two years. Their large social media base has organically contributed to their bottom line and provides them with an effective and powerful avenue to reach their target demographic. She created a distinct and cohesive brand image from web and social, to print and digital touchpoint patient marketing including specialty service magazines.

Lauren knows how to reach people through the platforms they use, the content they connect with and imagery that moves them into action.

Sidney Gicheru MD is a Refractive surgeon from Dallas. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University. This was followed by Medical School and Residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center. His Medical Internship was at the Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Medical School program.

In 2000, Dr. Gicheru founded LaserCare Eye Center, a practice focused primarily on Refractive Surgery. The practice offers LASIK, PRK, SMILE, ICL, Cataract surgery and Refractive Lens Exchange. He has offered LASIK and PRK since 2000. In 2014, he took over the practice assets of Dr. Bill Boothe, one of the highest volume LASIK surgeons in the world. Dr. Gicheru was also the first SMILE surgeon in Dallas in 2016. He has offered Laser Assisted cataract surgery since 2015 and became an exclusive Laser Assisted Cataract surgeon in 2017.

Dr. Gicheru has a keen interest in Ophthalmology advocacy. He is a past President of the Texas Ophthalmological Association. He has served on numerous American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) committees and has been awarded three AAO Secretariat awards. He currently serves as Chair of the AAO Communications Advisory Committee. He is a 2012 graduate of the AAO’s Leadership Development Program (LDP) and co-founded the African Ophthalmology Council LDP in 2015.

Gary Wörtz, MD is a board-certified ophthalmologist at Commonwealth Eye Surgery and is among the highest volume refractive cataract surgeons in the United States. He is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at his alma mater, the University of Kentucky, where he lectures and instructs residents on refractive techniques. His accomplishments have been recognized globally through inclusion on both the Power List and the OSN Premier Surgeon 300 list. Additionally, he is the cofounder and CMO of Omega Ophthalmics.