Emil Chynn

Early life and education

Emil Chynn was born in New York City to Kuo York (York) and Marie Noelle (Noelle) Chynn, a neuroradiologist and social worker, respectively, who had emigrated separately from Shanghai, China, and met in New York City. Chynn then grew up in Tenafly, NJ and graduated from Tenafly High School.

In 1987 he received his B.A. degree in Biological Sciences at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH and graduated cum laude. He received his MD with honors in numerous rotations, including General Surgery from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in 1992. He completed his transitional internship at Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center in Greenwich Village, where he helped treat the victims of the 1st World Trade Center bombing in 1993. Chynn completed his residency in ophthalmology at Harvard University’s Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary in 1996, and his fellowship in Corneal Transplantation and Refractive Surgery at Emory University in 1997 under the world-famous surgeons George Waring III, MD, the "father of American refractive surgery" who headed the influential PERK study, the 1st FDA-sponsored study about laser vision correction, and Doyle Stulting, MD, PhD, a future President of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS). He received his MBA in management with a Certificate in Entrepreneurship from New York University's Stern School of Business in 2004, when it's part-time program was ranked #1 in the country by US News and World Report.

Career

Chynn was Director of Refractive Surgery at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan, and then Director of Refractive Surgery and an Assistant Professor of ophthalmology at SUNY Brooklyn/Long Island College Hospital. In the late 1990s he worked as a LASIK surgeon for TLC Manhattan, part of the TLC Laser Eye Centers, which was then the largest laser chain in North America, and listed in NASDAQ. In 1999, he became the 1st LASIK surgeon in New York City to get LASIK himself. In 2000, he opened his own laser vision correction center, IWANT2020.com, Inc. He was a Resident Instructor and on the clinical faculty of Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital, and New York Eye & Ear Infirmary.

He served as an expert in ophthalmology, cornea, and visual science for Coleman Research Group and Gerson Lehrman Group, which are "expert networks" and as an equities analyst for various Wall Street firms. He hosted his own cable TV show about refractive surgery on Manhattan Neighborhood Network, as well as a live call-in AM radio show on WEVD in New York City.

In 2001, Chynn was the 1st MD to arrive at Ground Zero on 9/11, where he troaset up the 1st emergency room and triage center at a Burger King across the street from the former World Trade Center.

In 2005, Chynn became the 1st laser vision correction surgeon in the New York Tri-State area to adopt exclusively Advanced Surface Ablation (ASA), which is an advancement on the older photorefractive keratectomy or PRK procedure, involving the non-cutting techniques LASEK and epi-LASEK, which have faster healing and recovery than PRK, but by avoiding cutting into the cornea, are safer than LASIK. In 2010, Dr. Chynn successfully performed the highest ASA procedure ever performed in the US, -22.00, on a patient from China.

In April 2017 Dr. Chynn has given several lectures in Ukraine to ophthalmologists in order to share the experience and provide a scholarship. The scholarship has been provided by The Chynn Family Foundation. Dr. Chynn visited a few medical institutions and medical centers in the following cities of Ukraine: Lviv, Kiev, Kharkiv and Sumy. Lectures were given to ophthalmologists, MBA students, English school teachers and post graduates. The winner of the scholarship was able to join the Park Avenue Lasek Center of Dr. Chynn for 1-2 month and had a great experience in a leading eye center of the world.

Media coverage

Chynn was interviewed about consolidation in the laser vision correction industry and how that may impact future research by the combined companies by the Wall Street Journal, and about how today's physicians and surgeons are adopting social media and other alternative marketing techniques to communicate directly with the consumer by the New York Times.

In 2013, Chynn was featured on CNN and the Howard Stern Show, where he discussed both laser vision correction and his single dating life, and offered his $100,000 Ferrari to any matchmaker, amateur or professional, who introduced him to a "nice girl if she became his wife. He was also featured as one of the single millionaires on Bravo TV’s Millionaire Matchmaker with Patti Stanger in March 2014.

Chynn has been interviewed on CNN, ABC, and NBC, and was featured on CBS news as the only center they visited in New York City which did not use "tiered pricing" (which is also known as "bait-and-switch" pricing, where the center or doctor advertises "LASIK for $399/eye" when that price only holds true for people with prescriptions so low that they might not even wear glasses). In 2016, Chynn was featured on Discovery Channel and Fox News as the first eye surgeon in the Americas to insert a cosmetic platinum implant into the eye, known as "eye jewelry".

Authorship and research

Chynn is the co-author of over a dozen papers in peer reviewed journals about laser vision correction, including first-author articles in Ophthalmology, Archives of Ophthalmology, the American Journal of Ophthalmology, and the British Journal of Ophthalmology. He is also author of over 100 non-peer-reviewed articles about a wide variety of ophthalmology topics. He has authored book chapters and is a peer-reviewer for the journal Ophthalmology and American Journal of Ophthalmology.

Chynn was Principal Investigator for the FDA trial for the 1st solid state excimer laser in the world, by the company Novatec. He has presented his research on LASIK, PRK, and the Advanced Surface Ablation (ASA) techniques LASEK and epi-LASEK both in the US and internationally, including in China, Russia, Spain, The Netherlands, Slovenia, Mexico, and Egypt, and is a co-investigator at the Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy in Ukraine.

He is Medical Director for the only pure Refractive Fellowship program in the US that is affiliated with the San Francisco Match Program.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Chynn EW. In Response to “Epi-LASIK: Discarding the Epithelial Flap versus LASIK for Myopia and Myopic Astigmatism”. Asia-Pac J Ophthalmol. 1: 387, 2012

Chynn EW, Puri J, Villaroel P, Almeida E. Back to the surface? J Cataract Refract Surg. 2012 May;38(5):922;

Wang XJ, Wong SH, Givernis R, Chynn EW. Evaluation of analgesic efficacy of bromfenac sodium ophthalmic solution 0.09% versus ketorolac tromethamine ophthalmic solution 0.5% following LASEK or Epi-LASIK. Clin Ophthalmol. 5:1451-1457, 2011.

Bansal J, Chynn, EW, Rubinfeld RS. Aberrations After the Treatment of a Corneal Scar: Refractive Surgery Complex Case Management. Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today. July: 35-37, 2008.

Reddy S, Finger P, Chynn E, Iacob C. Reactive lymphoid hyperplasia 1 month after LASIK surgery. Graef’s Arch Chin Exp Ophthalmol. 244: 262-264, 2006.

Chynn, EW, Wesson, J, Azkasi, Z. Improving postoperative emmetropia results by modifying the manufacturer’s A-constant. Investig. Ophthalmol. Visual Science. (supplement) 40(4): S139, 1999.

Shang, B, Chynn, EW. A statistical comparison between epithelial removal techniques in PRK for high myopia. Investig. Ophthalmol. Visual Science. (supplement) 40(4): S325, 1999.

Chynn EW. Topographic detection of photorefractive keratectomy. Ophthalmology. 105(9): 1583-1584, 1998.

Chynn EW, Talamo JH, Seligman MS. Acanthamoeba keratitis: is water exposure a true risk factor? CLAO. 23(1): 55-56, 1997. First article published on CLAO’s inaugural home page.

Chynn EW, Rubin, PAD. Metastatic Ewing's cell sarcoma of the sinus and osteoid osteoma of the orbit. American Journal of Ophthalmology. 123(4): 565-567, 1997.

Chynn EW, Dryja TP, Walton DS. Norrie disease: diagnosis of a simplex case by DNA analysis. Archives of Ophthalmology. 114: 1136-1138, 1996.

Chynn EW, Jakobiec FA. Cogan’s syndrome: ophthalmic, audiovestibular, and systemic manifestations and therapy. Int Ophthalmol Clin. 36(1): 61-72; Review.

Chynn EW, Lopez MA, Pavan-Langston D, Talamo JH. Acanthamoeba keratitis: contact lens and non-contact lens characteristics. Ophthalmology. 102: 1369-1373, 1995.

Chynn EW, Patalano VJ. The diagnostic yield and therapeutic implications of the routine eye exam. Investig. Ophthalmol. Visual Science. (supplement) 36(4): S429, 1995.

Kaiser PK, Pineda R, and the Corneal Abrasion Patching Study Group (including Chynn EW). A comparison of pressure patching vs. no patching for corneal abrasions due to trauma or foreign body removal. Ophthalmology. 102: 1936-42, 1995.

Chynn EW. Rigor of research methods in studies of the effectiveness and safety of cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation (letter). Archives of Ophthalmology. 112(7): 875, 1994.

Chynn EW, Chynn KY, DiGiacinto G. Cystic lumbar meningioma presenting as a ring-enhancing lesion on MRI. Neuroradiology. 36(6): 460-461, 1994.

Chynn EW, Kao KP, Liu RS. Hepatitis B transmission by neurologic pin testing. Neurology. 43(8): 1618.

Leib ML, Chynn EW, Michalos P, Schubert HD, Leib EJ. Neurilemmoma of the anterior ethmoidal nerve encroaching upon the nasolacrimal duct. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 76(12): 750-752, 1992.

Chynn EW, Garrod A, Demick J, DeVos E. Correlations among field dependence-independence, sex, sex-role stereotype, and age of preschoolers. Perceptual & Motor Skills. 73: 747-756, 1991.

Book Chapters

Chynn EW, Femtodynamics, A Guide to Laser Settings and Procedure Techniques to Optimize Outcomes with Femtosecond Lasers, Thorofare, New Jersey (2009) ISBN 978-1-55642-862-3 226

Chynn EW, Shavers, C. Diagnostic Instrumentation (Chap. 13; pp. 225–248), in Cornea Handbook, by Trattler WB, Majmudar PA, Luchs JI, Swartz, TS (editors), Slack, Inc., Thorofare, NJ: 2010.

Chynn EW (editor), et al. Pocket Pharmacopoeia. Section Editor for Ophthalmology for the leading pocket and electronic drug reference for MDs. Tarascon Publishing. Published and updated yearly. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002.

Chynn EW, Jakobiec FA. Cogan's syndrome: ophthalmic, audiovestibular, and systemic manifestations and therapy. International Ophthalmology Clinics. 36(1): Chapter 5: 61-72, 1996.

Chynn, EW (editor), Chap. 15, The Eye and Smoking, in Cigarettes: What the Warning Label Doesn’t Tell You, by E. Whelan & W. London (editors), ACSH, New York: 1996.

Chynn, EW. Diagnosis and treatment of ocular trauma. Emergency Eye Care Insight, Vol. 1, Issue 4, 1994.

Patents

Chynn EW, Vaccination and Immunotherapy as New Therapeutic Modalities in the Treatment of Glaucoma. US8076060 B2

Chynn EW, Ophthalmic composition. US6218428 B1

Chynn EW, Oxygenated ophthalmic composition. US20080057023 A1