ECS Member Spotlight: Aleksandra V. Rachitskaya, MD, FASRS
We’re kicking off the new year with an ECS Spotlight on Aleksandra V. Rachitskaya, MD, FASRS, an Associate Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at Case Western Reserve University’s Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and a member of the vitreoretinal faculty at Cleveland Clinic’s Cole Eye Institute. Prior to her appointment at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Rachitskaya served as Chief Resident and Director of Ocular Trauma at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida.
“Aleksandra’s energy and charisma are obvious, but what most impresses me is that she gets things done,” said ASRS Immediate Past President, Carl C. Awh, MD, FASRS. “Her chairman (and my former co-fellow) Dan Martin tells me that she has excelled at the Cole Eye Institute, which is no surprise.”
Dr. Rachitskaya is very involved in the ASRS, serving on several committees, as well as Associate Editor in Chief of the Retina Atlas and as a core member of the ASRS Updates from the Field reporting team, delivering interviews about cutting-edge research and recent presentations at ophthalmology conferences.
Dr. Rachitskaya has just completed a 2-year term on the ASRS Board serving as Co-chair of the Early Career Section. During her term she focused on issues affecting fellows in training and retina specialists in their first years of practice. She worked to develop a variety of valuable programs, including job search webinars, Grand Rounds discussions and timely and informative Retina Times articles on such topics as finding a research niche and starting a solo retina practice. She remains on the ASRS Board as a Representative at Large.
“Aleksandra was a marvelous leader of our Early Career Section and will bring the same excellence to her new role as Representative at Large. I hope she will continue to contribute to the ASRS as her busy career progresses. We are lucky to have her,” said Dr. Awh.
Outside of ASRS, Dr. Rachitskaya is a vital and varied researcher. She is involved in numerous clinical trials, including studies on diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and gene therapy. In June of 2015, Dr. Rachitskaya and her colleagues at the Cole Eye Institute completed the first successful Argus II implant in the state of Ohio. She regularly publishes on her research and has presented both nationally and internationally.
Dr. Rachitskaya’s extraordinary drive and positive energy are admired by her colleagues and mentors. “I remember being impressed by Aleksandra in my first interaction with her during residency interviews and she has simply continued to impress me,” said Audina M. Berrocal, MD, FASRS. “I had the great pleasure of training her in surgery and had to constantly remind her that perfect is the enemy of good. Aleksandra is a beautiful person with an amazing inner strength,” said Dr. Berrocal. “It has been wonderful watching her create the life and career that she wanted and I can’t wait to see where she goes.”
Dr. Rachitskaya earned her medical degree at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. During medical school, she spent a year at the National Eye Institute as a National Institutes of Health-Howard Hughes Institute Research Fellow and earned an induction into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. In 2016 Dr. Rachitskaya won the prestigious Case Western Reserve University Young Alumni Award.
In addition to ASRS, she is a member of American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the Retina Society, and the VBS Society. She has received an ASRS Senior Honor Award and the American Academy of Ophthalmology 2018 Achievement Award.
(Published 1.2022)