We are pleased to announce the appointment of Ninani Kombo, MD and Alden Mead, MD as Associate Directors of International Ophthalmology and Global Eye Health in our department. Dr. Kombo and Alden are currently working with Dr. James Martone to secure a partnership with LV Prasad Institute in Hyderabad, India, and will play a key role in securing opportunities for medical students, residents, and other trainees to work in other international settings.
Dr. Kombo received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and her M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine, where she also completed her ophthalmology residency. She completed fellowship training in Uveitis and Ocular Immunology at The Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution (MERSI) under the mentorship of Dr. C. Stephen Foster where she was the Chief Clinical Fellow.
Dr. Kombo has served on the faculty at the Yale School of Medicine in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences since 2014. She is Director of the Uveitis Service and is a comprehensive ophthalmologist. Dr. Kombo is the Director of Medical Student Education in Ophthalmology. She volunteered in Nassau, Bahamas, at Princess Margaret Hospital for 6 years, providing resident teaching and helping in the care of the underinsured and underserved Bahamian population. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Kombo on this appointment!
Alden Mead has been affiliated with our department for more than fifty years. He was a full-time clinical and basic science researcher and technologist from 1972 to 1999 and has been a member of the part-time faculty since that time. He is an author or coauthor of numerous scientific and clinical articles and papers in peer-reviewed ophthalmology journals, mostly in glaucoma.
Alden has a diverse and comprehensive background in the international and business arenas of ophthalmology. He served as the Director of Technology Resources and Clinical Engineering of ORBIS International, a global nongovernmental organization dedicated to fighting blindness worldwide, working with numerous ophthalmologists, organizations, and governments around the globe. He has significant on-the-ground ophthalmology-related experience in countries that include Myanmar, Mongolia, India, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Cuba, El Salvador, China, among others.
As an intern during law school, he personally handling numerous refugee and immigration cases for the Chairman (Bruce Morrison) of the Immigration Committee of the United States House of Representatives. For some years following Yale, Alden was the CEO of a very successful local ophthalmology group, overseeing much growth and success. He has been a member of the Advisory Committee for Outpatient Surgical Facilities to the Commissioner of Health, and currently serves the Connecticut Department of Health as a board member of the Connecticut State Board of Examiners of Opticians. He has been a member of several professional societies, both in and outside of ophthalmology, as well as a founding member of the Connecticut Glaucoma Society.
Alden received a J.D. degree from the University of Connecticut and attended the Yale Law School, Yale School of Management, and Yale School of Public Health as well. He is a combat veteran who served with distinction in Vietnam. As an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University, he currently teaches undergraduate courses in Global Health, Healthcare Business, and Engineering. Please join me in congratulating Alden on this appointment!