Bluffton Parkway Location:
109 Persimmon Street
Bluffton, SC
29910
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Savannah Location:
4720 Waters Avenue
Savannah, Georgia
31404
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Pooler Location:
1000 Towne Center, Unit 806
Pooler, GA 31322
912-450-3500
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Statesboro Location:
420 Gentilly Place
Statesboro, Georgia
30458
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Dr. Thomas Kandl is a board-certified and fellowship-trained ophthalmologist specializing in ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery.

Dr. Kandl grew up in Charleston, SC, though he spent time in multiple states and countries as his father was active duty Air Force. He completed his undergraduate studies at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC where he received both academic and athletic scholarships as a member of the men’s varsity soccer team. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in biology. He then attended medical school at the Medical University of South Carolina where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Society and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Dr. Kandl completed his internship in internal medicine at Boston University and his residency in ophthalmology at Rutgers University. Following residency, he completed a fellowship in Global Blindness Prevention through the University of Nebraska spending time in developing countries seeing patients, performing surgeries and teaching local ophthalmologists. He then completed his 2-year ASOPRS fellowship in ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Throughout his career, Dr. Kandl has actively participated in research projects with publications in peer reviewed scientific journals, book chapters and has given presentations at multiple national meetings.

Specialty trained in a prestigious American Society of Oculoplastic Surgery (ASOPRS) accredited 2-year fellowship program at MD Anderson Cancer Center with 6 months at Texas Oculoplastic Consultants, Dr. Kandl’s functional and cosmetic areas of expertise include medical and surgical care of abnormalities of the eyelids, tear-drainage system, orbit and upper and mid-face.

Outside of the office Dr. Kandl enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife and their 2 dogs. They enjoy playing and watching sports, outdoor activities, cooking, and traveling.

Education

MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Fellowship in Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

University of Nebraska
Fellowship in Global Blindness Prevention

Rutgers University – New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ
Ophthalmology Residency

Boston University School of Medicine
Internal Medicine Internship

Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
Doctor of Medicine

Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC
Bachelor of Science

Research

Published Articles:

1. Ding S, Sagiv O, Guo Y, Kandl TJ, Thakar SD, Esmaeli B. Change in Eyelid Carcinoma T Category With Use of the 8th Versus 7th Edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer: Cancer Staging Manual. Ophthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg. 2018 Jun 5.
2. Sagiv O, Thakar SD, Kandl TJ, Kontoyiannis DP, Debnam JM, Esmaeli B. Clinical Course of Preseptal and Orbital Cellulitis in 50 Immunocompromised Patients with Cancer. Ophthalmology. 2018 Feb;125(2):318-320.
3. Thakar S, Kandl T, Sagiv O, Tripathy D, Tetzlaff MT, Kapur S, Myers J, Hwu WJ, Esmaeli B, Jaber BMY. Desmoplastic Melanoma of the Periorbital Region. Ophthal Plast Reconstr Surg. 2017 Nov 27.
4. Thakar SD, Sagiv O, Tetzlaff MT, El-Naggar A, Debnam JM, Kandl TJ, Esmaeli B. A 60-year-old woman with an asymptomatic left lacrimal gland mass found incidentally. Digit J Ophthalmol. 2017 Oct 18;23(4):27-29.
5. Thomas J. Kandl#, Oded Sagiv#, Jonathan L. Curry, Jing Ning, Junsheng Ma, Courtney W. Hudgens, Diana Bell, Bita Esmaeli, Michael T. Tetzlaff. (#, equal contribution). PD-1 expression by tumor-associated T cells and PD-L1 expression by tumor cells in ocular adnexal sebaceous carcinoma. Accepted to: Oncoimmunology.
6. Oded Sagiv, Thomas J Kandl, Sudip D Thakar, Bradley A Thuro, Naifa L Busaidy, Maria Cabanillas, Camilo Jimenez, Ramona Dadu, Paul H Graham, J. Matthew Debnam, Bita Esmaeli. Thyroid Eye Disease and Orbital Inflammation Associated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy in Cancer Patients. Accepted to: Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
7. Michael T. Tetzlaff, Jonathan L. Curry, Oded Sagiv, Thomas Kandl, Diana Bell, Courtney W. Hudgens, Jing Ning, Bo Peng, Anna Yemelyanova, Karina Eterovic, Kenna Shaw, Victor G. Prieto, Doina Ivan, and Bita Esmaeli. Distinct biological subtypes of ocular adnexal sebaceous carcinoma: HPV-driven and virus-negative subtypes share abrogation of TP53 and RB through distinct, non-overlapping molecular-genetic alterations. Accepted to: Clinical Cancer Research.
8. Oded Sagiv, Sudip D. Thakar, Thomas J. Kandl, Joshua Ford, Matthew C. Sniegowski, Wen-Jen Hwu, Bita Esmaeli. Immunotherapy with PD-1 Inhibitors for Patients with Conjunctival Melanoma. Accepted to JAMA Ophthalmology.

Submitted manuscripts, under revision:

1. Oded Sagiv, Thomas J Kandl, Sudip D Thakar, Bradley A Thuro, Maria E Cabanillas,  Naifa L Busaidy, Ramona Dadu, Camilo Jimenez, Paul H Graham, J. Matthew Debnam, Bita Esmaeli. Thyroid Eye Disease as the Harbinger of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma.
2. Oded Sagiv, Priyadharsini Nagarajan, Renata Ferrarotto, Thomas J Kandl, Sudip D Thakar, Bonnie S Glisson, Mehmet Altan, Bita Esmaeli. Ocular Preservation with Neoadjuvant Vismodegib in Patients with Locally Advanced Periocular Basal Cell Carcinoma.
3. Oded Sagiv, Sudip D. Thakar, John T. Manning, Thomas J. Kandl, Luis E. Fayad, Nathan Fowler, Fredrick B. Hagemeister, Michelle A. Fanale, Chelsea C. Pinnix, Felipe Samaniego, Bita Esmaeli. Downgraded lymphoma in patients with ocular adnexal lymphoma.
4. Ho-Seok Sa, Maria Laura Rubin, Shiqiong Xu, Jing Ning, Michael Tetzlaff, Oded Sagiv, Thomas J. Kandl, Bita Esmaeli. T and N Categories of the American Joint Committee on Cancer 8th-Edition Classification are Predictive of Metastasis and Survival in Patients with Eyelid Sebaceous Carcinoma.

Book Chapters:

1. Sagiv O, Kandl T, Thakar S, Ding S, Esmaeli B. Eyelid Neoplasms: Evaluation and Management. Editors: Prajna V., Jaypee Brothers: New Delhi, India.

 Papers presented at scientific meetings

1. Thomas Kandl, Oded Sagiv, Shiqiong Xu, Ho-Seok Sa, Bita Esmaeli. 3-D Printed Custom Implant for Orbital Roof Reconstruction. American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery spring meeting, Austin TX.
2. Thomas Kandl, Oded Sagiv, Bita Esmaeli. Severe Enophthalmos and Corneal Exposure after Maxillectomy. American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery spring meeting, Austin TX.
3. Thomas Kandl, Sudip Thakar, Oded Sagiv, Michael Tetzlaff, Courtney Hudgins, John Van Arnam, Bita Esmaeli. PD-L1 Expression in Sebaceous Carcinoma of Eyelid: Potential for Immune Checkpoint Blockade as a Treatment Strategy. American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery fall meeting, New Orleans.
4. Oded Sagiv, Filip Janku, Thomas Kandl, Sudip Thakar, Omar Ozgur, Bita Esmaeli. Targeting MEK in Patients with Erdheim-Chester Disease of Orbit and Ocular Adnexa. American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery fall meeting, New Orleans.
5. Oded Sagiv, Thomas Kandl, Sudip Thakar, Stephanie Ding, William William, Merrill Kies, Bita Esmaeli. Neoadjuvant use of Vismodegib for Locally Advanced Orbital and Periorbital Basal Cell Carcinoma. American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery fall meeting.
6. Sudip Thakar, Thomas Kandl, Oded Sagiv, Joshua Ford, Matthew Sneigowski, Wen-Jen Hwu, Bita Esmaeli. Immune Check Point Inhibitors for Patients with Orbital and Ocular Adnexal Melanoma. American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery fall meeting, New Orleans.
7. Bita Esmaeli, Sudip Thakar, Thomas Kandl, Oded Sagiv. Sonic Hedgehog Inhibitors for Treatment of Locally Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma of Periocular Region. International society of ocular oncology (ISOO) biennial conference 2017, Sydney, Australia.
8. Thomas Kandl, Oded Sagiv, Bita Esmaeli. Asymptomatic Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Lacrimal Gland Diagnosed after Orbital Trauma. American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery spring meeting, Vancouver BC.

Posters presented at scientific meetings:

1. Oded Sagiv, Thomas Kandl, Sudip Thakar, Bradley Thuro, Maria Cabanillas, Naifa Busaidy, Ramona Dadu, Jimenez Camilo, Paul Graham, Bita Esmaeli. Papillary Thyroid Eye Disease as the Harbinger of Thyroid Carcinoma. American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery fall meeting, New Orleans.
2. Sudip Thakar, Thomas Kandl, Oded Sagiv, Michael Tetzlaff, Bita Esmaeli. Desmoplastic Melanoma of the Periocular Region. ARVO 2017 Annual Meeting.
3. Oded Sagiv, Thomas J Kandl, Sudip D Thakar, Bogdan A Czerniak, Michael T Tetzlaff, Shirley Y Su, Bita Esmaeli. Clinical Outcomes and Histopathologic Features of Orbital Hemangiopericytoma/ Solitary fibrous Tumoes. North American Skull Base Society Annual Meeting.
4. Thomas Kandl, Huang L, Szirth B, Khouri A, Telepresence with Multimedia Solutions, ARVO.
5. Thomas Kandl, Kolomyer A, Sirkin M, Langer P, Turbin R, Intraorbital Antibiotic Eluting Cement Implant: Review of 3 Cases, American Society of Oculoplastic and Reconstructive Surgery Fall Scientific Meeting.