HELPMESEE MEDICAL OFFICERS
Van Charles Lansingh, MD, PHD, FICO (Hon)
Chief Medical Officer, HelpMeSee
Dr. Charles Lansingh is the Chief Medical Officer of HelpMeSee. He is a frequent lecturer and a prolific writer, with over 200 publications and book chapters. Dr. Lansingh’s various health-related postings include work in Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Australia and Latin America, and he served as the IAPB’s VISION 2020 regional coordinator in Latin America from 2004 until January 2015.
In 2019 he was named Voluntary Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, and in 2021 Voluntary Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences of the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami.
Dr. Lansingh received his M.D. in 1987 from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico City, Mexico, doing a residency and postgraduate work in Mexico City (APEC/UNAM). In 2005 he was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, in health sciences after fieldwork with Aboriginal communities in Central Australia. Dr. Lansingh also holds an MBA from the Quantic School of Business and Technology.
Dr. Nicoletta Fynn-Thompson
Director, Medical Training
Dr. Nicoletta Fynn-Thompson is the Director of Medical Training of HelpMeSee and committed to leading simulation-based training of eyecare specialists worldwide to reduce the burden of cataract blindness. Dr. Fynn-Thompson has over 20 years of practice experience in clinical and surgical ophthalmology. Formerly a partner at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston, a premier multispecialty ophthalmic private practice, she grew a busy consultative practice specializing in cataract surgery, complex anterior segment disorders and corneal transplantation. She served as the Medical Director of Boston Eye Surgery and Laser Center where for three years she oversaw the clinical and business operations of this ambulatory surgical center.
With an interest in global ophthalmology, Dr. Fynn-Thompson has spent time volunteering her clinical skills in Ghana and performing cataract surgery in India during her residency.
Dr. Fynn-Thompson graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology in 1995. She attended the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, receiving her Doctor of Medicine in 1999. She completed her Internship in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, in June, 2000, and her Ophthalmology Residency at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, in June, 2003. She received her fellowship training in Cornea, External Disease and Refractive Surgery at Tufts University/Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston in June, 2004.
She has been a longstanding member of international, national and local societies including the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA), Massachusetts Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons (MSEPS), Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS), and New England Ophthalmological Society (NEOS). She has served, previously and currently, on multiple committees as a member within each society, including the Digital Media Committee (AAO), the Practicing Ophthalmological Curriculum Cornea Panel (AAO), Tissue Advisory Board (New England Donor Services), Ophthalmic Services Committee (NEOS).
Dr. Fynn-Thompson has published numerous articles and written several textbook chapters, as well as spoken nationally and internationally at large scale and leading meetings throughout her career.
Dr. Akshay G. Nair
Director, Business Development, India, HMS Vision PLC
Dr. Akshay G. Nair’s areas of specialty are oculoplastic surgery and ocular oncology. He is known globally for his pioneering work on mucormycosis. Dr. Nair is featured on Stanford University’s 2022 Top 2% Scientists list based on the most-cited scientists globally. He has published over 130 peer-reviewed scientific papers and has contributed to 15 scientific textbooks.
He has been the first author on the papers on the validity of the HelpMeSee Eye Surgery Simulator published in Scientific Reports and the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology.
Dr. Nair received the American and Asia-Pacific Academies of Ophthalmology Achievement Award in 2019. Other awards include those in neuro-ophthalmology (2011) and ocular oncology (2021) from the All-India Ophthalmological Society, as well as those for his research from the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2013 and 2018.
Dr. Jean Marie Andre-Valentini
Chief Instructor, Director of Business Development for Africa and Europe
Dr. Jean Marie Andre-Valentini is HelpMeSee Chief Instructor and Director of Business Development for Africa and Europe. He joined HelpMeSee as a Medical Officer in 2013. He is an anterior segment surgeon with over 40 years of experience.
Dr. Andre-Valentini completed his medical education and received his Master of Surgery from Marseille Medical School in France. For decades, he worked on behalf of Marseille Medical School in Francophone, West Africa. In collaboration with the West African Health Organization, he educated local medical professionals on using MSICS.
Dr. Andre-Valentini is a member of the Malagasy Society of Ophthalmology, the French Society of Ophthalmology and the European Society of Ophthalmology.
Dr. Kimaya Chavan
Lead Instructor, India, HMS Vision PLC
Dr. Kimaya Chavan is the HMS Vision PLC Lead Instructor in Mumbai, India. She has served as a consultant ophthalmologist at the Chavan Hospital in Mumbai, where she has been in private practice since 2001.
Dr. Chavan has worked as an MSICS and PHACO trainer at Lions NAB Hospital, Miraj, and has conducted many SICS camps on behalf of the Chavan Charitable Trust. In addition, she regularly presents research papers at MOS and AIOC conferences.
Dr. Chavan received her DOMS from Rajiv Gandhi University, Bangalore, and her DNB from Lions NAB Hospital, Miraj. She completed her Observership at Minto Hospital, Bangalore.
Dr. Chetan Ahiwalay
Subject Matter Expert & Chief Instructor, India, HMS Vision PLC
Dr. Chetan Ahiwalay is a Subject Matter Expert and Chief Instructor of HMS Vision PLC in India. He leads the HelpMeSee Indian training delivery team and plays a vital role in developing courseware materials.
As an integral part of the simulation development team, Dr. Ahiwalay has contributed immensely to training resources, including the HelpMeSee e-book, training modules, SOPs and analytics. He has been a cataract surgeon since 2008, working with several leading eye hospital chains in India.
Dr. Ahiwalay completed his Master of Ophthalmology from Government Medical College in Aurangabad, India. He completed fellowships in phacoemulsification at the Sankara Nethralaya eye hospital in Chennai, India, and medical retina studies at Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India.
Dr. Ashish Bacchav
Director of Product Management, India, HMS Vision PLC
Dr. Ashish Bacchav is HMS Vision PLC Director of Product Management in Mumbai, India. He is also the Medical Director at his own hospital – Eknath Eye Hospital and Laser Centre. He specializes in cornea, cataract and refractive surgeries. He draws on this expertise to contribute to simulation development and training programs.
Dr. Bacchav is involved in training and serving underprivileged patients at Grant Government Medical College and the Sir JJ Group of Hospitals in Mumbai, where he is an Honorary Associate Professor of Ophthalmology. His experience includes over 20,000 complicated and advanced ophthalmic surgeries.
Dr. Bacchav attended Grant Medical College in Mumbai and did postgraduate DNB surgical training in ophthalmology at Aravind Eye Hospital. After training, he completed a long-term fellowship there and later taught surgeries to Indian and international students.
Dr. Hinaben Patel, Ph.D.
Director of Grants and Development
Dr. Hinaben Patel is the Director of Grants and Development at HelpMeSee. She provides companywide leadership to develop strategies for revenue generation to support HelpMeSee’s mission. Her work involves forging partnerships with corporations, foundations and governments.
Dr. Patel received her undergraduate degree in microbiology from South Gujarat University in India. She obtained her M.Sc. in biotechnology from the University of Baroda, India, and her Ph.D. in genetics from Barkatullah University, India. Her experiences include working with Columbia University (USA), the Indian Institute of Technology and Cadila Pharmaceuticals (India).
Dr. Patel is a member of the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society and is trained in regulatory affairs for both medical devices and pharmaceuticals. She has also been a certified professional with the Association of Clinical Research (2018-22).
Dr. Minal ShahBaldota
Chief Instructor, Americas
Dr. Minal ShahBaldota is Chief Instructor, Americas, for HelpMeSee. She leads the delivery of training operations for the Americas and oversees training the trainers in the entire region. She is also a core member of the innovation and technology development team, playing a key role developing new surgical training modules with rigorous quality assurance. She is known worldwide as a tireless advocate for using simulation technology to strengthen ophthalmology surgical education.
Dr. ShahBaldota has over twenty years of experience in ophthalmic surgery and mentoring and is a lifetime member of the AIOC (All India Ophthalmological Society) and BOA (Bombay Ophthalmologists Association).
Dr. ShahBaldota received a degree in medicine from the MS University of Baroda, India. She completed fellowships in advanced cataract surgery, phacoemulsification, LASIK and glaucoma.
Dr. Nasar Mohammed
Instructor, HelpMeSee SIMLab (Jersey City, New Jersey)
Dr. Nasar Mohammed is an Instructor at the HelpMeSee SIMLab in New Jersey. He has over 30 years of experience as an anterior segment and refractive surgeon. In 2022, he joined HelpMeSee to work on its simulation-based microsurgery training program.
Dr. Mohammed’s experience includes extensive volunteer work with NGOs and charitable nonprofit organizations. He organized eye camps and performed thousands of cataract surgeries with the help of Lions and Rotary clubs. For the last three decades, he was the Founder and Director of Roshan Eye Center – a center of excellence for LASIK, cataract and refractive surgeries in Bangalore, India.
Dr. Mohammed received his medical degree from Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, India. He was an Anterior Segment Fellow at the Royal Free Hospital, University of London, UK, following which he completed a fellowship at Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India.
Later, Dr. Mohammed served as teaching faculty at Dr. BR Ambedkar Medical College in Bangalore and worked as a Consulting Ophthalmologist at his alma mater, Manipal Hospital in Bangalore.
Dr. Kayode Odusote
Assistant Director, Business Development, Africa
Dr. Kayode Odusote is the HelpMeSee Assistant Director of Business Development for Africa. After graduating with his degree in medicine in 1971, he quickly rose to the rank of Professor of Medicine (Neurology) at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He has long been a champion of eye health in the region.
In 1993, Dr. Odusote joined the West African Health Community. He became actively involved in the development of human resources for eye health, apart from his primary role of coordinating the training of medical specialists for the five Anglophone countries in the region.
In 2001, Dr. Odusote took on the Director of Human Resources Development role at the West African Health Organization. There, he spearheaded the establishment of the Vision2020 Forum for West Africa, a platform that facilitated collaboration and coordination among National Prevention of Blindness Program Managers and NGOs in the region. Dr. Odusote also championed expanding the training program for eye health professionals, extending it to Francophone West Africa with the support of organizations such as Sightsavers and CBM.
Throughout his career, Dr. Odusote has focused on developing human resources for eye health, particularly in the West African region. His efforts included coordinating the training of medical specialists and establishing programs to reduce the cataract burden in the area. Dr. Odusote also played a pivotal role in curriculum development, training ophthalmologists and implementing electronic medical records systems to monitor cataract surgical outcomes.
Yang Xiao (Shaw), MD
Consultant – Beijing, China
Dr. Yang Xiao (Shaw) is a Consultant in China. He has played a pivotal role in training and mentoring cataract surgeons in China using HelpMeSee simulation-based training.
Dr. Xiao successfully supported a partnership with HelpMeSee and the Eye Hospital at the Wenzhou Medical University, where more than 520 cataract surgeons in East China have been trained in MSICS.
A collaboration with the He Eye Specialist Hospital Group spearheaded by Dr. Xiao has resulted in training an additional 200 cataract surgeons in North China. These successes have sparked a partnership with Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center Sun Yat-Sen University, the top-ranked ophthalmology hospital and training institute in the country — and the world.
Dr. Xiao obtained his medical degree from the Capital Medical University in Beijing, China, and has since conducted over 25,000 successful ophthalmic procedures. Today he serves as an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at his alma mater. In 28 years, Dr. Xiao has trained and guided numerous ophthalmic surgeons. He has over 30 published peer-reviewed articles and five textbook chapters, and he received two Chinese patents for his surgical instrument inventions.
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HelpMeSee is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization registered in the United States.
The HelpMeSee mission is to eradicate preventable cataract blindness globally. We achieve this through an innovative, scalable simulation-based cataract surgical training program. Our program covers Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (MSICS), Phacoemulsification Simulation-based Training Course (PSTC), Suturing Simulation-based Training Course (SSTC), Complications Management Course (CMC), Phacoemulsification to MSICS Differences Course (PMDC), and MSICS to Phacoemulsification Differences Course (MPDC). These offerings empower eye care professionals to refine their skills, master vital procedures, and excel in ophthalmology. We are dedicated to restoring vision for those with severe visual impairment and cataract-induced blindness worldwide.
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