LEADERS & LEGENDS ORAL HISTORY SERIES

First-hand stories from leaders with unique retina insights of historical significance 

Audina M. Berrocal, MD, FASRS

Audina Berrocal, MD, FASRS, is one of the world’s leading experts in the surgical management of retinopathy of prematurity and pediatric vitreoretinal disorders. She is also the youngest daughter of Jose Berrocal, MD, who was the first retina fellow at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in 1963 and went on to be the first retina surgeon in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. In this Leaders & Legends segment, Dr. Berrocal shares details about her extraordinary upbringing during which she and her sister Maria, also an internationally recognized retina surgeon, mingled with a who’s who of retina giants. She discusses her early pursuit of a career in politics before finding her true calling in retina where she has served as a powerful role model and mentor for women and minorities. Hear the story behind how she became the first retina specialist to treat a pediatric patient with anti-VEGF and the first to treat the youngest pediatric patient with the first FDA-approved gene therapy.

Podcast

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(Interview published 2022)