Ophthalmology

Dr. McCole is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, and recently served as Chair of the department. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and her medical degree at Loyola University in Chicago. In 2018 Dr. McCole was named a Health Care Hero in Ophthalmology by Inside Business.

Peter A. Netland, M.D., Ph.D. joins EVMS as Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology. He comes from the University of Virginia School of Medicine where he was the DuPont Guerry III Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology since 2009.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Netland has established expertise in the clinical management and surgical treatment of glaucoma. He is well regarded as an industrious and innovative researcher. The author of more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Netland has published six textbooks — including the third edition of “Glaucoma Medical Therapy”— and has delivered lectures at national and international meetings on topics ranging from the clinical and surgical management of glaucoma to research and education. In addition, while at UVa , Dr. Netland served as Director of a prestigious clinical glaucoma fellowship program, certified by the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).

In 2001, the AAO awarded Dr. Netland its Achievement Award. Six years later the group presented him with its Senior Achievement Award, and in 2018, Dr. Netland received the academy’s Life Achievement Honor Award. He has served on numerous AAO and American Glaucoma Society committees and been recognized with many regional best-doctors awards.

While Giovanni DiSandro Jr., MD (MD ’09, Ophthalmology Residency ’13, Ophthalmology Fellowship ’14), Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, has participated in mission trips to the Appalachian region of Virginia and internationally to India and Peru, it is his commitment to the community where he was a student which drives the quality of his patient care. In June of this year, he was honored at the 2023 annual Healthcare Hero awards ceremony sponsored by the Hampton Roads publication Inside Business.

Dr. DiSandro also devotes his time and expertise at EVMS' HOPES (Health Outreach Partnership of EVMS Students), a student-run free clinic in Norfolk.