Spring CE Speakers
Roya Attar, OD, MBA, FAAO
Dr. Roya Attar is an Assistant Professor and Director of Optometric Services at the University of Mississippi Medical Center located in Jackson, MS. She is the first optometrist to be hired by the department of ophthalmology in the state’s only medical school. In her current role, she provides comprehensive clinical patient care, lectures to ophthalmology residents, and manages the department’s optical services. A 2013 graduate of the UIW Rosenberg School of Optometry, she also has a Master’s in Business Administration, and is currently working on her Doctorate in Healthcare Administration. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry (AAO) where she also serves on the executive committee for the AAO Retina SIG. In addition, she is also a member of the AOA Leadership Development Committee and president of her local optometric society. In 2019, she was selected as Mississippi’s Young OD of the Year. In 2020, she was the recipient of the SECO Young OD of the Year Award and the AOA Young OD of the Year.
Frances Bynum, OD
Dr. Frances Bynum received her Doctorate of Optometry degree from Southern College of Optometry in Memphis. As the owner of Northwest TN Eye Clinic, Dr. Bynum's technical expertise has contributed much to bringing the latest state-of-the-art procedures and technology into the practice. Dr. Bynum has a strong background in contact lenses, ocular disease, and pathology, as well as refractive surgical care and co-management of cataract and glaucoma procedures.
Dr. Bynum is a National Board of Optometry Examiner and an active member of the American Optometric Association, Tennessee Association of Optometric Physicians, and the Northwest Tennessee Association of Optometric Physicians. She has also completed the Leadership Weakley County Program. Dr. Bynum is also a fellow of the Tennessee Academy of Optometrists. Dr. Bynum serves as a Vision Source Administrator. and as a preceptor for Southern College of Optometry.
Jason Duncan, OD, FAAO
Associate Professor
Dr. Jason Duncan is a graduate of Southern College of Optometry and completed a fellowship in ocular disease and neuro-optometry at the Vitreo-Retinal Foundation in Memphis, Tennessee. He is laser certified and a Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry. As an Associate Professor, Dr. Duncan provides patient care in The Eye Center at Southern College of Optometry and has taught both the Anterior and Posterior Segment Disease classes. He has been named the founding Coordinator of Optometric Surgical Procedures program at The Eye Center.
Scott Ensor, OD, MS
Associate Professor
Dr. Scott Ensor received his Doctor of Optometry degree in 2001 from Southern College of Optometry. He completed a postgraduate residency in Primary Care Optometry at the Memphis VAMC, which is affiliated with Southern College of Optometry. He also received a Master’s degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Michigan State University in 2013.
Prior to joining the SCO faculty, Dr. Ensor served as Assistant Center Director at Eye Health Partners of Middle Tennessee, a multi-location optometric referral center in Nashville. In addition to serving a large patient base, Dr. Ensor presented lectures on ocular disease and surgical co-management, and he served as the supervisor of the Ocular Disease residency program. His professional areas of interest include glaucoma, anterior segment laser and surgical procedures, surgical co-management, and the promotion of optometric residency programs. Dr. Ensor has lectured both nationally and internationally on the subject of drug diversion and narcotic prescribing. He currently serves as lead instructor for Systemic Pharmacology I and II, as well as Ocular Pharmacology and Anterior Segment Disease.
Michael Gerstner, OD, FAAO
Professor
Chief of Advanced Care Ocular Disease Services
A 1997 graduate of Southern College of Optometry, Dr. Michael Gerstner completed his Residency in Ocular Disease at Southern Eye Associates in Memphis, Tennessee. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Indiana University in 1993. He is currently a professor at Southern College of Optometry, and serves as the Chief of Advanced Care Ocular Disease in The Eye Center at Southern College of Optometry. He is also a partner at Midtown Eye Care, a private practice located in Memphis. Dr. Gerstner is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, a Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry, and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the American Board of Optometry. His professional areas of interest include cornea disease, retina disease, glaucoma, and surgical co-management. Dr. Gerstner enjoys road cycling, competitive trail and mountain biking, and is a self-proclaimed grill master.
Jessica Haynes, OD, FAAO
Dr. Haynes is a consultative optometrist at Charles Retina Institute in Germantown, TN and serves as consulting faculty in the Advanced Care Ocular Disease clinic at Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, TN. She attended Southern College of Optometry and completed a primary care residency at the Memphis VA Medical Center followed by an optometric fellowship in vitreoretinal disease at Charles Retina Institute.
She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry, a Fellow in the Optometric Retina Society, and a Fellow in the American Academy of Optometry. She currently serves as president of the West Tennessee Optometric Physician’s Society, Treasurer for the Retina Special Interest group of the AAO, and chair of the region 3c Admittance committee of the AAO.
She enjoys writing and speaking on any topic of retina disease and has a particular love for educating on the subject of various posterior segment diagnostic imaging strategies.
Jennifer Sanderson, OD, FAAO
Associate Professor
Assistant Director of Residency Programs
Dr. Sanderson, a London, Ontario native, is an associate professor at the Southern College of Optometry where she supervises the primary care examinations of patients in the affiliated eye center. She assists in the second year anterior and posterior segment laboratories, teaches in a theory and method lab and is the instructor of record in a class that focuses on various diseases in a clinically relevant manner. She is the Assistant Director of Residency Programs.
Dr. Sanderson is a member of the American Optometric Association, Tennessee Association of Optometric Physicians and West Tennessee Optometric Physicians Society. She is a consultant to the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, and is a regular instructor of the Injections Workshop held at the annual meeting.
Marc Taub, OD, MS, FAAO, FCOVD
Professor
Chief of Vision Therapy and Rehabilitation Services
Dr. Marc Taub is a professor and Chief of Vision Therapy and Rehabilitation Services at Southern College of Optometry. He teaches in the vision therapy and pediatric clinics. He is also the co-supervisor for the Pediatric and Vision Therapy Residency.
Dr. Taub is the Editor-in-Chief of the Optometry & Visual Performance and serves on the review board of Optometry Times. He has written numerous peer reviewed articles and has lectured and presented posters at international, national, and local conferences. He is the lead editor and a multiple chapter author on Visual Diagnosis and Care of the Patient with Special Needs and editor and chapter author on Visual Development, Treatment, and Diagnosis of the Pediatric Patient.
Dr. Taub is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and the College of Optometrist in Vision Development and is active in the Optometric Extension Program Foundation.
Melissa Zarn Urankar, OD, FAAO
Associate Professor
Director of Interprofessional Education
Melissa Zarn Urankar is an Assistant Professor of Optometry at Southern College of Optometry (SCO). She attained a BS in Engineering Science and Mechanics from Virginia Tech and an OD from Illinois College of Optometry. After completing residency training in Vision Therapy, Rehabilitation, and Pediatrics at Pacific University College of Optometry, she worked at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center where she helped to establish Optometry and Vision Therapy services in the multidisciplinary traumatic brain injury clinic.
Dr. Zarn evaluates and manages patients with traumatic and acquired brain injuries (TBI/ABI) at the SCO clinics as well as at local rehabilitation hospitals. She has been a member of NORA since 2008 and is working toward her FNORA. She is the faculty advisor for SCO’s Student NORA Chapter and has coordinated the NORA poster session during the annual meeting since 2012. She has presented workshops on evaluating and managing TBI/ABI at the American Academy of Optometry meetings since 2015. At SCO, she is the Director of Interprofessional Education (IPE). She is the lead instructor for the Interprofessional Education series and is engaged in curriculum development to enhance IPE and collaborative practice opportunities for students at SCO. Through this work, she has helped create a network of health professions educators in the Memphis, TN area who are developing unique opportunities in health professions education. She is a member of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) IPE and Collaborative Practice (IPECP) Committee and chair of ASCO’s IPECP Special Interest Group, the Midsouth Interprofessional Health Education Collaborative, Co-Chair of Tennessee Interprofessional Practice and Education Consortium’s (TIPEC’s) Membership and Communications Working Group, and Co-Chair of the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative Program Committee’s Mentoring Program Workgroup.