J. Daniel Twelker, O.D. completed his undergraduate degree in Spanish at the University of California, Davis (as well as the prerequisites for optometry school) and is fluent in Spanish. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley School of Optometry in 1992 and now is a licensed optometrist working both in general practice and research. While working in the Mission District of San Francisco and in La Clinica de la Raza in Oakland, California. Dr. Twelker observed, that many of his patients suffered from pterygium, a triangular growth of abnormal tissue which grows from the conjunctiva onto the cornea, often causing blurred vision, irritation, and poor cosmesis. His goal is to become a clinically-based vision researcher in order to study pterygium, as well as other ocular disorders, which affect the Hispanic community and broader populations. Dr. Twelker was recently accepted into the Graduate Program in Vision Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He will complete coursework in vision science, biostatistics, and epidemiology. He will work under the primary mentorship of Ian L. Bailey, O.D., M.S. who developed the Bailey-Lovie visual acuity measurement chart and assisted in the development of the Lens Opacities Classification System (LOCS) III. Mark Mannis, M.D., F.A.C.S. and William A. Satariano, Ph.D. will also mentor the candidate. Dr. Mannis is a corneal surgeon and Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California, Davis and Dr. Satariano is a Professor of Epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health. In order to better conduct epidemiological and clinical studies of pterygium, there needs to be a reliable, standardized photodocumentation, measurement, and grading method. The Pterygium Evaluation Project will the develop, describe, and implement such a method.
