Aaron Webel

Affiliation

University of Missouri

Biography

Aaron is a board certified ophthalmologist and glaucoma specialist at the Mason Eye Institute at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and just completed his ophthalmic innovation fellowship at the Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University School of Medicine where he developed technologies and processes to improve eye care, primarily focused on incisional glaucoma surgery. He completed his ophthalmology residency at the University of Florida followed by a clinical glaucoma fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. He is a graduate of the MD/MBA dual degree program at the UNC School of Medicine and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. He began his career working at the cystic fibrosis center at the University of North Carolina as a research assistant managing and interpreting genomic data for an international consortium of research institutions. In 2009 he matriculated to the UNC School of Medicine, and the summer after his first year of medical school he was awarded the Summer Intern Scholarship by the American Association of Thoracic Surgeons to work with a cardiothoracic surgeon to prototype and refine cardiac and thoracic surgery simulators to be used for surgical training of resident physicians. In medical school he worked on several ophthalmology research projects encompassing a wide array of subspecialties, including diabetic retinopathy diagnostic evaluation, dry eye disease treatment management and patient education, and primary open angle glaucoma diagnosis and management. In 2012 he began his studies at the Kenan-Flagler Business School where he earned an enrichment concentration in healthcare, was a leader in the Healthcare Industry Club, a member of the MBA Ambassadors, an Honor Court member for UNC's Graduate and Professional Schools, and a Dean's Scholar at the Kenan-Flagler Business School by graduating amongst the top 5 percent of graduates with the highest academic record. Aaron was co-PI on a UF Research Opportunity Seed Fund Award to investigate novel glaucoma drainage and diagnostic device technologies. He has a keen interest in ophthalmic medical device research and development, with an aim to improve eye care through innovative ophthalmic diagnostic and surgical devices.