She helps people who qualify as legally blind see again

For Miami native Vanessa Marino, a part-time filing job in the months before she started college two decades ago has led to a career as an optometrist that is rewarding in ways well beyond financial.

Marino, who owns Marino Eye Care in southwest Miami-Dade, has established a niche in specialty scleral contact lenses for patients who have degenerative conditions such as keratoconus or who have corneal or ocular trauma.

Patients who suffer from progressive myopia or have a severely high prescription require time at Marino’s office, which she shares with fellow doctor Carolina Pedroletti and three other women.

“These are not routine exams,” Marino said. “These patients need to be followed very closely.”

Marino typically schedules her toughest cases for 4:30 p.m. — the last appointment of her work day — and she will stay for hours if that’s what it takes for her patients to get fitted for scleral lenses.

Treating patients who are legally blind

It’s not unusual for Marino to treat patients with vision that qualifies them as legally blind — 20/200 or worse. With the scleral lens, Marino can often improve her patients’ vision to 20/20 or 20/30.

Alfred Fonseca, a free-lance photographer who lives in Kendall, is one of the many patients Marino has helped.

Fonseca, 32, was a premature baby and said he was wearing “coke-bottle glasses” by age 2. More recently, he had a cross-linking procedure and a corneal transplant.

Yet Fonseca was still having trouble seeing, especially at night, where he found himself having to guess if the traffic light ahead of him was red or yellow.

He was wearing soft contact lenses and glasses over the lenses at the time. That’s when his doctor at Baptist Hospital, Dr. William Trattler, referred him to Marino, who fitted Fonseca with scleral lenses.

“Holy (crap), I can see!” Fonseca said after getting the lenses. “It was life-changing.”

From high school intern to optometrist

Marino, 39, was at the end of her senior year at Southwest High when her own life changed. Through a family friend, she landed a part-time job at the optometry office of Dr. Pablo Suarez.

Her role was to put patients’ files in alphabetical order, but she was also paying attention to how Suarez treated people.

“(Suarez) really liked to teach, and he saw that I was interested in learning,” Marino said. “The more he taught me about each patient, the more I liked the field.”

After Marino enrolled at the University of Miami, she continued to work in Suarez’s office while also volunteering at Baptist Hospital and Doctors Hospital.

“I met amazing doctors,” Marino said, “but nothing sparked my interest as much as optometry.”

After three years at UM, she was accepted into Nova Southeastern University’s School of Optometry.

Marino graduated in 2007, but in 2011 — before she was able to open her own practice — Suarez passed away due to ALS.

“He never got to see the end result of me having my own practice, but I had always told him how I wanted to live up to his legacy,” Marino said. “He was a big inspiration.”

By 2013, Marino had put the word out that she was looking for an office to open her practice. Six months later, she got a call from Dr. Robert Grand, who had an office in Kendall and was getting ready for retirement.

Marino didn’t know Grand, but his office was 10 minutes from her home, and the way he practiced — taking his time with patients — was a perfect match for her sensibilities.

She also liked that his office, at 8353 SW 124 St., is a “hidden gem” and patients usually only get there by referrals.

Marino moved in on a Friday in January 2014, and — after a weekend spent remodeling — she opened the following Monday.

Her husband, her brother and brother-in-law were among those who replaced the floors, painted the walls and carried in new optical furniture.

“Every male in the family was part of the ordeal,” Marino joked.

in 2018, Marino acquired the suite next door.

Mentoring others

Marino continues to learn, shadowing Dr. Edward Boshnick, an expert on specialty lenses.

Marino also mentors Angelica Cifuentes, who is expected to join the team when she graduates from NSU in 2022.

Cifuentes, 29, met Marino 11 years ago when her brother, Oscar, had an eye irritation. Cifuentes found Marino online, read positive reviews and booked an appointment.

“She alleviated Oscar’s pain right away,” Cifuentes said. “I was so impressed that I asked (Marino) if I could shadow her for a day.”

When Marino said yes, Cifuentes was at her office on the next business day. Cifuentes beat Marino to the office at 8:45 a.m., and she showed up with a notepad, ready to learn.

“I was there until 5 p.m.,” Cifuentes said, “and I learned so much in that one day.”

That began a mentorship/friendship that is now in its second decade.

“She’s like family to me,” Cifuentes said of Marino. “Maybe a lot of doctors have stopped learning. But she still has that hunger. I call her my angel.”

Walter Villa has had his vision corrected by Dr. Marino.