Meet Your Ophthalmology Team

Dr. Nuhsbaum was born in Englewood, Colorado, and attended Dry Creek Elementary School before her family moved to northern Illinois. Her parents are immigrants from Germany and she was raised in a bilingual home. Dr. Nuhsbaum has always enjoyed meeting people and loves animals. At the University of Illinois, she graduated at the top of her undergraduate class with a Bachelor of Science, in Biology, while competing on the University of Illinois Indoor and Outdoor Women’s Track and Field Team. She participated in the heptathlon and pentathlon and celebrated with the Indoor and Outdoor Big Ten Championship Team two years in a row. After undergraduate school, Dr. Nuhsbaum returned to Colorado to earn her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, at CSU. She completed four more years of advanced training at the University of Guelph, Toronto, and Colorado State University to become a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologistTM.

At CSU, Dr. Nuhsbaum was the final resident of one of the founding fathers of veterinary ophthalmology, Dr. Glenn Severin. She was awarded the Clinical Resident Teaching Award two years in a row and went on to partner in her own veterinary ophthalmology practice in Denver, where she worked with a team of ophthalmologists for 20 years. "I am forever grateful for the opportunity to cross paths with five other veterinary ophthalmologists. I am a better surgeon and clinician for the experience."

Dr. Nuhsbaum shares her passion and expertise in veterinary ophthalmology teaching at local and national meetings.

In 2024, she was invited to open the Ophthalmology Department with Apex Veterinary Specialists. “I work best in a team and am thrilled to be a part of the largest, out-patient ophthalmology, dentistry, and dermatology practice serving Colorado. The specialty doctors in Apex Dentistry and Apex Dermatology are the best of the best. It is an honor to work alongside them every day.”

Dr. Nuhsbaum has 24 years of experience performing intraocular surgery with a special interest in cataract removal. “One of my dreams is for this practice to become the premier cataract surgical center for animals in the United States. Alongside fellow surgeons, Drs. Gearhart and Michau, this dream is becoming a reality. As I watch our business grow and see more and more blind patients find our care for cataract surgery, it reminds me how it important it is to have a dream.”

Her interests outside of work include any non-motorized activity, in beautiful Colorado, laughing and spending time with her family, friends, and pets.

Best parts of my job:

"...connecting with clients, providing options for care, and helping patients to live their best, most comfortable lives." – Dr. Nuhsbaum

"...the one-day, post-op exam... listening to tales of antics forgotten, such as "getting toys of the bin to play", "bringing the ball to [the client]","gazing off the porch at their domain". These are some of my favorite quotes about incredible patients after vision restoration with cataract removal." – Dr. Nuhsbaum

"My team. Watching each of us grow as individuals. Sharing knowledge. Training new team members. Giving and taking feedback. Having a good laugh (at ourselves) every day." – Dr. Nuhsbaum

Dr. Trish Gearhart is originally from Michigan. She and her husband and daughter moved to Colorado in 2013 and have been enjoying all that Colorado has to offer.

Trish, always an animal lover, did not feel pulled toward veterinary medicine until later in her schooling. During her undergraduate training at Michigan State University, she became fascinated with the biological sciences and earned her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology in 1986. She then earned her PhD in Molecular Cell Biology and Biochemistry from Washington University in St. Louis. Although she loved bench research, Dr. Gearhart felt strongly that she wanted to get out of the lab and interact more with animals (her first love) and with people too. This led to a course correction in her career and she returned to Michigan State University to attend veterinary school.

After obtaining her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1998, she worked in private general practice as a mixed equine and small animal practitioner in Michigan. There she developed an interest in ophthalmology and returned to Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine for a formal residency in Comparative Ophthalmology. During her residency her research interest was inherited blindness in dogs and she performed award-winning research on vision testing in dogs with inherited retinal disease.

Dr. Gearhart was board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmology in 2005. She practiced at Oakland Veterinary Referral Services in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, spent some time traveling to different areas of the country to practice, then settled in the Denver area from 2016 until last spring when she attempted an early retirement. It seems that was premature because she missed practice and missed her clients and patients. When Dr. Nuhsbaum approached her with the prospect of joining her team and creating a practice with a culture of providing superb patient and client care, she was convinced. Maybe someday she can REtire….again.

Dr. Gearhart has 3 horses, a dog and a colony of bees. In her off-work time she enjoys riding, needlework, reading, birding, camping and fishing. In her work time she most enjoys educating clients and helping them help their pets. She is constantly amazed and inspired by the dedication she sees from her clients toward their pets.

Dr. Tammy Miller Michau is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.) and combined masters (Cardiovascular Physiology and Pharmacology) degrees from The Ohio State University in 1999.

Following veterinary school, she then completed a rotating small animal medicine and surgery internship at Colorado State University. Dr. Michau completed a 3-year comparative ophthalmology residency and masters (MSpVM) program at North Carolina State University in 2003.

Following the completion of her residency, she joined the faculty at NCSU as an assistant professor of ophthalmology for 5 years. In 2008 she left to join BluePearl Veterinary Partners and served as their Director of House of Officer programs.

Teaching and education has always been a priority, and she has been awarded the Bayer Faculty Teaching Award while at NCSU and Educator of the Year at the Western Veterinary Conference.

In 2019, she joined Mars Veterinary Health as the global Vice President of Medical Affairs Operations. Tammy currently serves on the ACVO Board of Regents and is also a past-examiner on the ABVO Certifying Exam committee, Chair of the ABVO Residency committee, and President of the International Equine Ophthalmology Consortium.

As part of her commitment to quality medical education and educational outcomes, she also serves as a Board member for the North American Veterinary Community and recently completed a Health Professions Education Certificate at the University of Pennsylvania.

She has lectured at numerous national and international continuing education and scientific meetings, published widely in peer reviewed journals and authored textbook chapters., including the chapter on cataract surgery in the most recent Veterinary ophthalmology. She currently lives in Denver, CO with her Shih Tzu and Dressage horse.