Background
After graduating the Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute and New York
Medical College, Dr. Engel interned at the State University of New York
at Stony Brook and completed residency training in ophthalmology at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He then served as a research
fellow in ophthalmic pathology at Johns Hopkins University and as a
clinical fellow in vitreo-retinal surgery at Barnes Hospital of
Washington University.
Following the post-graduate
fellowships, Dr. Engel was appointed
Chairman of Ophthalmology at the University Hospital in Jacksonville
Florida, a satellite graduate medical education program of the
University of Florida (1982-1984). After 18 months, he moved to
Gainesville, Florida, to direct the retina service at the University of
Florida and serve as Chief of Ophthalmology at the Gainesville Veterans
Hospital. He was recruited to Montefiore and Albert Einstein in 1988.
Dr. Engel served as Director of Residency Training in Ophthalmology at
the Albert Einstein College of Medicine from 1989 to 2007.
As Interim Chairman of
Ophthalmology and Director of the Retina Service
at the Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of
Medicine from 2000-2007, Dr. Engel carried the responsibility for the
Department's highly-regarded clinical, educational and research
programs. Over the years, he has trained some of the country's most
highly respected retinal surgeons and ophthalmologists.
National Recognition
Dr. Engel has participated in
regional and national seminars sponsored
by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Retina Society, the New
York Society of Clinical Ophthalmology, and the Association for
Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). He has been an Associate
Examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology since 1990 and has
served as a scientific reviewer for the journals Investigative
Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Ophthalmology, Archives of
Ophthalmology, and Retinal Cases and Brief Reports. Dr. Engel has been
listed as one of the Best Doctors in America.
Surgical Experience
Dr. Engel brings considerable
experience in ophthalmic surgery to the
West Side Retinal & Ophthalmic Surgery Center. He is often
called in to assist or perform the most complicated procedures to
repair and rehabilitate eyes that have failed procedures with their
original surgeons.
Dr. Engel's expertise extends
beyond retinal disease, and includes
surgery of the lens and the repair of traumatic lacerations of the
eyelids, lacrimal system and globe. This breadth of experience is
rarely found in today's world of ophthalmic specialization. In his
role as Chief of Ophthalmology at the Montefiore Medical Center and
Weiler Hospital, he supported and assisted junior faculty in all manner
of ophthalmic surgery.
Dr. Engel has pioneered repair of
scleral lacerations with imbricated
closure and tissue adhesives. Two recent manuscripts (one in print in
Retina) and one under review, underscore his major contributions in the
field of scleral wound repair.
Dr. Engel remains a clinical
resource for the entire faculty of the
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, with extraordinary knowledge of
retinal conditions and the diagnosis and management of ocular disease,
infection and trauma.
Research
Dr. Engel has made substantial
contributions to the fund of ophthalmic
knowledge. As a research fellow in ophthalmic pathology, he advanced
the field of diagnostic vitrectomy, the diagnosis of disease through
the application of cytological techniques to vitreous specimens. His
publications in cytology and macular holes remain landmark
contributions. At the University of Florida, he investigated the
development of macular degeneration in the rhesus monkey as part of a
core grant to the University of Puerto Rico, in an attempt to establish
and evaluate an animal model for this condition. Dr. Engel was a
principal site investigator for the study of LucentsŪ, the drug of
choice for age-related macular degeneration.
In recent years, Dr. Engel launched
several research initiatives: 1)
the evaluation of visual memory in patients with impaired vision, 2)
the repair of scleral lacerations with tissue adhesive and imbricated
suture, 3) the treatment of external ocular infection with
bacteriophages, 4) the evaluation of the vitreo-retinal interface by
ophthalmic computed tomography, 5) the evaluation of the ophthalmic
competence of medical house-officers, 6) the quality assurance project
as a method to promote and evaluate resident competencies and 7) the
study of manpower considerations in pediatric ophthalmology. The
scientific out-put has been formidable: Dr. Engel submitted or made
significant contributions to ten projects and manuscripts in 2007. Four
are in print, five are under review at major journals and one is
nearing submission. Much of this work was presented in part at the
spring Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting
(ARVO) in May 2007.