CHARLES RETINA INSTITUTE - Key Persons
Dr. Fingerhut, is a board certified ophthalmologist and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons specializing in medical and surgical retinal diseases. He obtained his B.A. with honors in Globalization from the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University. He has a post-baccalaureate in Biology, Physics, and Organic Chemistry from City College/City University of New York, NY. Dr. Fingerhut attended medical school at Indiana School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN. He then did his internship at New York Hospital in Queens, NY and his residency in Ophthalmology at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, NY. After residency, Dr. Fingerhut completed his two year medical and surgical fellowship in retina at Eye Specialty Group/Vitreoretinal Foundation in Memphis, TN. Dr. Fingerhut is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Retinal Surgeons, and a fellow with the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Fingerhut has several publications, including Photodynamic Therapy With or Without Intravitreal Bevacizumab for Polypoidal Chroroidal Vasculopath: Two Years of Follow Up. American Journal of Ophthalmology 2013. Cognitive Impairment in AMD, Ophthalmology 2013. Vitreomacular Adhesion and Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Survey of Ophthalomology, 2014.
Dr. Fingerhut was in private practice in Raleigh, NC before returning to Memphis. He now resides in Memphis with his wife and daughter.
Dr. Jessica Haynes was born and raised in Manchester, Tennessee. She attended college at Middle Tennessee State University where she earned her degree in chemistry with a minor in biology in 2011. She then began her optometric career at Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, graduating in 2015.
After completion of optometry school, Dr. Haynes spent a year at the Memphis VA Hospital in a primary care optometry residency. Post residency, she began her optometric fellowship at Charles Retina Institute.
In her spare time, Dr. Haynes enjoys outdoor activities and sports such as kayaking, disc golf, and tennis, as well as spending time with friends and family, especially her husband, Jonathan.
Dr. Kyle Vinson grew up in central Ohio before completing his undergraduate and medical education in South Carolina. He graduated summa cum laude from Furman University with a degree in Psychology, receiving Phi Beta Kappa honors. After working as an ophthalmic technician, an experience that inspired him to become an ophthalmologist, he earned his medical degree at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. He graduated first in his class, was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society, and received the Dean's Award, the highest honor for a graduating USC medical student.
Dr. Vinson went on to complete his internal medicine internship and ophthalmology residency at the University of Virginia. During residency he won several awards in research and academic excellence. In his final year, he served as chief resident and was voted resident teacher of the year by his co-residents.
Dr. Vinson and his wife, Julie, have a young daughter, Florence. In addition to spending time with his family, he enjoys exercising, hiking and camping, and being involved in his church.
Dr. Mohammad Rafieetary is a consultative optometric physician who has been in practice at the Charles Retina Institute (CRI) since 1996. Dr. Rafieetary is a graduate of Boston University and received his Doctor of Optometry from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He completed a residency in Primary Care Optometry and Ocular Disease at the Southern College of Optometry (SCO) and the Memphis Health Center. Upon completion of his residency in 1989, Dr. Rafieetary joined SCO's faculty and served as an Associate Professor and the Chief of Advanced Ocular Disease Service and at the Southern College of Optometry until he joined CRI.
Dr. Rachel Steele was born and raised in Nashville, TN. She moved to Cleveland, Tennessee where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from Lee University and graduated with high honors in 2018. She then earned her Doctor of Optometry degree from Southern College of Optometry and graduated with highest honors in 2022. During her time in optometry school, she completed a student research fellowship and received multiple awards for academic excellence. After optometry school, she completed her residency in ocular disease at the Memphis VA. She began her optometric fellowship at Charles Retina Institute in 2023. Dr. Steele is currently licensed in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas.
Outside of work, she enjoys reading, traveling, spending time outdoors, and spending time with friends and family.
Job Titles:
- Psychiatrist at Memphis Mental Health Institute
Dr. Salar Rafieetary was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee and graduated from Briarcrest Christian School. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience from Rhodes College, where he graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors. During his time at Rhodes College, Salar served as student government president and received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for service and leadership. He was voted by his peers as "Mr. Rhodes College" and was inducted into the Rhodes College Hall of Fame.
Dr. Rafieetary received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) in 2017. He was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) honor society, which recognizes students who excelled academically and have shown promise of becoming leaders in the profession. He was also inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS), which recognizes and supports the values of humanism and professionalism in medicine. He served as president of his medical school class for four years. Salar was awarded the "Robert L. Summitt M.D. Distinguished Student Achievement Award", which honors a graduating senior who has shown distinction in scholarship, leadership, service, and character during period of medical education.
Steve Charles, MD has developed many of the techniques and devices used by vitreoretinal surgeons worldwide. He has performed over 38,000 vitreoretinal surgeries, lectured in 51 countries and operated in 25, delivered 18 named lectures, and well over 1000 speaking trips. He authored a leading textbook in the field which is now in the 5th edition and in 6 languages and authored over 174 articles in the medical literature and over 50 book chapters. He is a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons and International College of Surgeons and a member of the Retina Society, Macular Society, American Society of Retinal Specialists, Club Jules Gonin, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, American Academy of Ophthalmology, American-European College of Ophthalmic Surgery, Euro-Lam, and the Dowling Society. He is on the Board of Governors of the ARVO Foundation for Eye Research He is on the editorial board of Retina and a reviewer for Ophthalmology, Archives of Ophthalmology, American Journal of Ophthalmology, and British Journal of Ophthalmology. He has received the Laurate honor from the AAO, gave the Schepens lecture at the Retina Society and the Kelman lecture at the ASCRS, received the Wacker Medal from the Club Jules Gonin, the first Founders Medal from the Vitreous Society, was inducted into the University of Miami School of Medicine Medical Alumni Association Hall of Fame, and was named by Ocular Surgery News as one of the top ten innovators in the past 25 years. He is consistently listed in Best Doctors in America and Becker's Top 34 Ophthalmologists in America. He is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Tennessee.
After four years in engineering school, he completed medical school at the University of Miami Leonard Miller School of Medicine. He did research all four medical school years at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. After a medical internship at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami he completed a residency at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute followed by a two year Clinical Associate appointment at the National Eye Institute (NIH); focused on vitreoretinal surgery, angiogenesis research, and medical device engineering.
He is a mechanical and electrical engineer and has well over 100 issued or pending patents. He is a consultant for Alcon Laboratories and the principal architect of the Alcon Accurus and Alcon Constellation Vision System.
He is the Founder of MicroDexterity Systems, which developed robots for dexterity enhancement for minimally invasive knee and hip replacement, spine surgery, and skull base neurosurgery. Stryker, Inc. acquired MicroDexterity Systems, in December 2009. He is a cofounder, systems engineer, and Chairman of CamPlex Inc, developing advanced visualization technology for MIS spine, neurosurgery and trans-oral approaches to head and neck cancer.
Steve Charles is an Airline Transport Pilot, Multi-Engine, Instrument rated pilot with Type Ratings in Citation 500, 560, 650, Falcon 50and Sabre 65 jets and currently owns and flies a Sabre 65.
Dr Charles has three daughters and four grandchildren. The oldest daughter is a gyn surgeon, the middle daughter is a family physician and the youngest is a team building/ropes course/climbing wall/zipline expert.
Dr. Wesley Gillette was born and raised in San Luis Obispo, California. He then moved to Greenville, South Carolina to complete his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry at Furman University where he received Phi Beta Kappa honors. During his undergraduate studies, he traveled extensively throughout Central America and Southern Africa studying global health inequalities as part of his university curriculum.
Dr. Gillette remained in the Southeast at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine (USCSOM) in Greenville where he received his Doctor of Medicine degree and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) honor medical society and the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS).
Dr. Gillette then completed his internship in Internal Medicine and Residency in Ophthalmology at Texas A&M/Baylor Scott & White Eye Institute, where he also served as Chief Resident and had additional opportunities to travel to Honduras, Guatemala, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates.
Dr. Gillette and his wife, Sarah, have a 3-year-old son and one-year-old twin girls. He and his family enjoy traveling, international community development, language learning, and medical mission work.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Investigator for: Alcon
Dr. Huddleston was born in Houston, Texas August 24, 1982 where he attended River Oaks Baptist then The John Cooper School. In high school, he helped found and oversee John Cooper's inaugural Habitat for Humanity project resulting in the construction of two homes. After graduating high school, he moved to College Station, TX in 2001 to attend Texas A&M University where he graduated early with a degree in Biology.
After graduating college in 2004, he spent a year working for Habitat for Humanity, through the AmeriCorps VISTA program. Through the VISTA program, he expanded Habitat for Humanity's ReStore program in Bryan TX and facilitated volunteer recruitment and participation. He started medical school a month after finishing his year with Habitat for Humanity in August of 2006.
In medical school, he developed a love for Ophthalmology where he spent substantial time researching failure modalities for specific glaucoma surgeries. In his second year of medical school, he began dating his now wife, Renee Minirth. After graduating in 2010, he moved to Memphis, TN where he spent his intern year at Methodist University Hospital. Afterwards, he spent the next three years completing an Ophthalmology residency at the University of Tennessee Hamilton Eye Institute.
Following residency, he began his fellowship with Dr. Steve Charles at the Charles Retina Institute. He completed his fellowship in 2016 and became a partner at Charles Retina Institute in 2018. He shares ownership of Charles Retina Institute with its founder Dr. Steve Charles. Dr. Huddleston serves as the President and managing partner at Charles Retina Institute. He is also the Fellowship Director, Director of Retinopathy of Prematurity Services, and Director of Clinical Research at Charles Retina Institute.
As Director of Retinopathy of Prematurity Services at Charles Retina, Dr. Huddleston oversees the busiest retinopathy of prematurity service in the United States. This includes 6 neonatal intensive care units. Charles Retina provides retinopathy of prematurity care to: Baptist Women's Hospital, Regional One, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, Methodist Germantown, St. Bernards Medical Center, and North Mississippi Medical Center. No child has ever lost vision from retinopathy of prematurity since Dr. Huddleston took over this service in early 2019.
In addition to his work preventing blindness in premature infants, Dr. Huddleston provides surgical services to St. Jude patients with pediatric cancers in cooperation with ocular oncologist Dr. Matt Wilson. Charles Retina never sends a bill to St. Jude or its patients, a policy that has been in force since its founding.
Clinical trials are the key to advancing new treatments for retinal diseases. Dr. Huddleston serves as a clinical investigator for: Alcon, Allergan, Genentech, Regenxbio, Regeneron, and many other companies developing new therapies for retinal disease. Dr. Huddleston oversees the more than one hundred patients currently enrolled in clinical trials at Charles Retina Institute and serves as a principal investigator in over two dozen active studies. Each trial is carefully selected based on the strength of the underlying science and the potential benefit to Charles Retina Institute patients. Eylea, Beovu, Lucentis, Vabysmo, and Susvimo were all developed with Dr. Huddleston serving as a principal investigator.
Following the legacy of his mentor Dr. Steve Charles, Dr. Huddleston is committed to excellence and innovation in the field of retina surgery. He has performed over 4,000 retinal surgeries with over 600 performed yearly. He performs more vitreoretinal surgeries yearly than all but one other surgeon in the United States, with that surgeon being his mentor, Dr. Steve Charles. He is the co-author with Dr. Charles on the latest edition of Vitreous Microsurgery, a textbook which has been in publication for almost forty years and is considered by most to be the authoritative book for advanced retinal surgical techniques.
He is married to Dr. Renee Minirth, a psychiatrist at Memphis Mental Health Institute. They have a son, Theodore Huddleston, and a daughter, Sophia Huddleston.