Melinda Chang, MD
Melinda Chang, MD, is a pediatric neuro-ophthalmologist whose research focuses on assessing visual function in children with cortical/cerebral visual impairment (CVI) and other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). She currently serves as the co-chair of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) CVI Registry Expert Panel. Additional roles include Director of the Consortium for Pediatric Neuro-Ophthalmologists (CPNO) and Chair of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) Low Vision Committee. She also serves on the Board of the Pediatric Cortical Visual Impairment Society (PCVIS). At CHLA, she is the founder and Director of the Autism/NDD Research Interest Group and serves as Associate Director of the Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Fellowship.
Mark Borchert, MD
Mark Borchert, MD, is a pediatric neuro-ophthalmologist with over 30 years of experience conducting research and caring for children with neurologic conditions that affect the visual system. His main areas of research include optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH), CVI and autism. Dr. Borchert previously served as the Director of the Vision Center at CHLA and Chief of the Division of Ophthalmology. He has invented numerous diagnostic tools for ophthalmologists, and is best known for his work on neurodevelopmental and endocrine disorders associated with ONH.
Dilshad Contractor
Dilshad Contractor is a Clinical Research Coordinator at The Vision Center, with over 10 years of clinical research experience. She works with Dr. Chang and Dr. Borchert to advance the CVI research program at CHLA. This includes multiple studies exploring functional vision assessment in children with CVI and other NDDs using techniques like eye tracking, sweep visual evoked potential and CVI Range assessment, and correlating results with clinical and neuroimaging outcomes.
Hillary Schwartz, MS
Hillary Schwartz is a Program Specialist at The Vision Center. She has 7 years of clinical research experience and works with Dr. Chang primarily on her eye tracking research studies in children with CVI and in children with autism.
Katherine Granger
Katherine Granger is a Clinical Research Assistant at the Vision Center who joined our team in 2023. She is primarily responsible for the VISiON-15q study, but also assists with performing eye tracking and visual-evoked potentials in children with CVI and autism.
