Overview
Dr. Postel was born in Philadelphia, PA and grew up in Princeton, NJ. He graduated from Harvard College in 1987 with an AB (honors) in Biological Anthropology. He received his MD degree from Jefferson Medical College in 1991. This was followed by an internship at The Miriam Hospital (Brown University) and then a residency in ophthalmology at Duke, finishing in 1995. Asked to return to Duke as Chief Resident, he first completed a fellowship in Vitreoretinal Surgery and Disease at The Eye Institute at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Postel then returned to Duke to serve as the last VR-trained Chief Resident and Clinical Associate from 1996-97. He continued on the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology in 1997.
Dr. Postel is currently a Professor of Ophthalmology, the Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs of the Department of Ophthalmology, and the Chief of Ambulatory Surgery (Ophthalmology) for the Duke University Health System. He was previously the Medical Director for Perioperative Services at the Duke Eye Center and Duke University Health System. Dr. Postel has trained over 42 vitreoretinal fellows and over 100 residents.
Dr. Postel has participated in the development of surgical instrumentation (US patent) and made groundbreaking genetic discoveries (US patent), including CFH and others, and identified genotype-phenotype relationships and gene-environment interactions in AMD. He has published on novel therapeutic approaches in complex vitreoretinal disease, and lectured across the United States and Europe. He has published more than 75 articles and chapters, served as a reviewer for major ophthalmic journals and an examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology, and received the American Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement Award in 2011.
Although considered an expert on many aspects of Vitreoretinal Surgery and Disease, and though he has worked tirelessly to advance and improve the delivery of care and patient safety at the Duke Eye Center and Duke University Health System, Dr. Postel is probably best known for his easy teaching style and mentoring of vitreoretinal trainees and others at Duke.