I was born and raised in Covington, Louisiana where I attended the local public schools and was accepted to the Louisiana State University system prematriculation program for college and medical school which meant that before graduating high school I was accepted to both college, LSU-Shreveport, and medical school at LSU Health Science Center in Shreveport. While in both high school and college I was a student athletic trainer helping in both football, baseball and basketball. I obtained a BS in Biology in 1998 from LSU-S and then my MD from LSUHSC in 2002. During medical school I was elected to the junior AOA honor society which is given to the top 5% of the medical school class.

Having done a lot of previous work with orthopedic doctors in the athletic world I considered a career in this field, but while on the ophthalmology rotation in medical school I fell in love with the speciality. After completing an internship in internal medicine at LSUHSC-S I went on to complete a residency in ophthalmology at LSUHSC-S, including serving as chief resident during that time. I then traveled to what I considered the frozen north, Detroit, Michigan to spend a year doing an oculoplastic/neuro-ophthalmology fellowship under Dr. Thomas Spoor, a pioneer in both fields. After completing all my training, I practiced in Chattanooga, Tennessee in private practice. I became board certified in ophthalmology in 2008. I joined Sarasota Retina Institute in the summer of 2011.

I specialize in both neuro-ophthalmology and oculoplastic surgery. I gave up cataract, refractive and glaucoma treatments to focus on these wonderful fields. The neuro part is a challenge to work with patients who often have not gotten help elsewhere and come in with a variety of problems that dramatically affect their lives. I get joy helping people understand what is going on in complicated situations by taking the time to explain it until the patient has a clear understanding of the condition. The oculoplastic part is wonderful in taking a very important area of the body (the eyes and surrounding area) and working with it to make it function correctly, remove lesions/cancers and rebuild damaged areas.I have a particular interest in the causes of dry eyes and tearing.