Dr. Avery received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University and took his ophthalmology training there at the highly regarded Wilmer Eye Institute. He completed a vitreoretinal fellowship at Duke University working with Dr. Robert Machemer, who invented the first vitrectomy machine and is considered the father of modern vitreous surgery.
Dr. Avery returned to Johns Hopkins as Assistant Chief of Service and head of the trauma unit. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the Heed Fellowship, and was the first recipient of the prestigious Ronald G. Michels Fellowship for his contribution to vitreous surgery. Dr. Avery is an examiner for American Board of Ophthalmology, is a member of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and American Society of Retina Specialists(ASRS) where he serves on the US federal Affairs Committee.
He has been the principal investigator for 12 national clinical trials at California Retinal Consultants. His research interests include; macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and surgery for complex vitreoretinal conditions. He has published numerous articles on these subjects in journals such as Ophthalmology, Retina, New England Journal of Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, American Journal of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmic Surgery, and Archives of Ophthalmology.
He is on the editorial board of Retina Today. He and his colleagues at CRC helped usher in the use of Avastin for eye diseases by publishing 6 peer reviewed articles and a book chapter on intraocular Avastin in 2006. He recently won an award from the ASRS for his video demonstrating a safer surgical technique for sutureless vitrectomy.
He lectures internationally on retinal diseases. His basic science research continues at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he holds an appointment in the Neuroscience Research Institute. He is a founder of the California Retina Research Foundation.