Our Investigators

Carol Aune, OD is the President and Director of Clinical Operations as well as a principal investigator for Oculus Research. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University of Houston College of Optometry (summa cum laude). Dr. Aune has been published in the Review of Optometry and the New England Journal of Medicine.  She has been in practice for 12 years and has been the Principal Investigator for over 40 research studies, with 7-8 active studies at any given time. As Director of Clinical Operations, Dr. Aune is responsible for overseeing staff and sub investigators. She has years of experience diagnosing and treating a wide variety of eye diseases as well fitting specialty contact lenses. She has been fully trained in clinical research including current GCP training. She also receives ongoing training to ensure that she is up to date with the latest research, technology, practices, and techniques in clinical research and optometry.

Preeya Gupta, MD earned her medical degree at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and graduated with Alpha Omega Alpha honors.  She fulfilled her residency in ophthalmology at Duke University Eye Center in Durham, North Carolina, where she earned the K. Alexander Dastgheib Surgical Excellence Award, and then completed a fellowship in Cornea and Refractive Surgery at Minnesota Eye Consultants in Minneapolis. She served on the faculty at Duke University Eye Center in Durham, North Carolina as a Tenured Associate Professor of Ophthalmology from 2011-2021.

Dr. Gupta has authored many articles in the peer-reviewed literature and serves as an invited reviewer to journals such as Ophthalmology, American Journal of Ophthalmology, and Journal of Refractive Surgery. She has also written several book chapters about corneal disease and ophthalmic surgery, as well as served as an editor of the well-known series, Curbside Consultation in Cataract Surgery.  She also holds several editorial board positions.

Dr. Gupta serves as an elected member of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Refractive Surgery clinical committee, and is also is the Past-President of the Vanguard Ophthalmology Society. She gives presentations both nationally and internationally, and has been awarded the National Millennial Eye Outstanding Female in Ophthalmology Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Achievement Award, and selected to the Ophthalmologist Power List.

 Bupathi Dissanayake, OD earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Then she attended Nova Southeastern University – College of Optometry. She is a member of the Gold Key International Optometric Honor Society, the American Optometric Association, North Carolina Optometric Society and  the Eastern District Optometric Society. Dr. Dissanayake has been a part of various civic organizations and medical mission trips. She practices all facets of comprehensive eye care. She is GCP/ICH certified and has Clinical Research experience in Dry Eye, Myopia, and Contact Lens trials. She loves ensuring the happiness and satisfaction of all patients and research participants. 

  Tonica Johnson, MD is a board certified, fellowship trained ophthalmologist. She specializes in cataract surgery and is certified in a wide variety of advanced vision correction procedures including laser cataract surgery to reduce patients’ dependence on glasses. In addition to cataract surgery she also specializes in the care and treatment of patients with dry eyes, cornea diseases, glaucoma and diabetes. Dr. Johnson has practiced in the Durham and Roxboro areas for the past 14 years and has performed over 7,000 cataract surgeries for patients during that time. Education and Training Dr. Johnson graduated from MIT with a BS in electrical engineering. She then went on to complete a Master’s Degree in electrical engineering at Stanford University. After her engineering training she worked as an engineer at Bellcore (formerly, Bell Labs), but had a change of heart and felt drawn to the medical field while participating in volunteer work. A graduate from Emory University School of Medicine, where she attended as a Full Dean Scholar, she completed her ophthalmology residency at Case Western Reserve University and her cornea fellowship training at Doheny Eye Institute of the University of Southern California.

 Amanda Steele, OD earned her undergraduate degree at Meredith College in  Raleigh, NC followed by her Doctor of Optometry degree from Southern  College of Optometry in Memphis, TN graduating with top clinician awards in both her final years. Dr. Steele completed a fellowship in  refractive surgery co-management at LaserVue in Orlando, FL.

Dr. Steele returned to Raleigh in 2001 where she practiced all facets of comprehensive eye care at Eye Care Associates/MyEyeDr and received  the Optometrist of the Year Award in 2008. She was invited to join the  faculty of Duke University Eye Center in Durham as Assistant Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology in 2018 where she specialized in ocular surface diseases such as meibomian gland dysfunction and dry eye  disease. She worked collaboratively with the surgeons and provided  post-operative care in addition to comprehensive eye care.

Dr. Steele has had the privilege of mentoring many Triangle-area  optometrists throughout the last several years in clinic as well as in  local continuing education lectures. She is an active member of the American Optometric Association, North Carolina Optometric Society and  the Eastern District Optometric Society. Dr. Steele has dedicated her career to the research and management of ocular surface disease and is very passionate about educating patients about their visual system as  well as diagnosing and treating their ocular conditions. She is  particularly passionate about treating dry eye disease.