Our Optometrists
Michael Kennedy, O.D.
Dr. Michael Kennedy did his undergraduate work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he received a Bachelor of Sciences in Biology. He then received his Doctor of Optometry degree from The Ohio State University College of Optometry, where he graduated with Beta Sigma Kappa honors.
During his optometric training, he served as a class representative and Executive President of Student Council, and had the honor of being named to the Gold Key Optometric honor society. At Ohio State, he was named Student Leader of the Year, Junior of the Year, and Senior of the Year. At his graduation commencement, he had the honor of receiving the Lyle A. Gassmann Memorial Award.
Prior to joining Elgin Family Eye Care in 2008, Dr. Kennedy gained invaluable experience working for years as an optometric technician in Naperville, IL as well as during optometry school in Columbus, OH. Dr. Kennedy is an active member of both the American Optometric Association and Illinois Optometric Association. He is an alumnus of the Epsilon Psi Epsilon optometric fraternity.
Dr Kennedy practices full-scope optometry, but has a particular interest in contact lenses and eye disease, especially dry eye and corneal disease. He also manages glaucoma, keratoconus, and retinal disease. He takes pride in spending time with his patients, so that together they can find successful treatment options that may not have been considered in the past. Dr Kennedy enjoys making personal connections with his patients and watching families grow year after year.
Toshio Nakajima, O.D.
Dr. Toshio Nakajima received his Doctor of Optometry degree from Indiana University in 1987. A native of Japan, Dr. Nakajima also completed an optometry and ophthalmic optics program in Japan prior to optometry school in the United States.
After graduation from Indiana University, Dr. Nakajima returned to Japan to teach clinical optometry and optics. After one year, he returned to practice full-scope optometry in the United States. He and Dr. Penner opened Elgin Family Eye Care in 1989. For over 30 years, he has been seeing patients and managing the day-to-day operations of the practice.
Dr. Nakajima is a decades-long member of the American Optometric Association and the Illinois Optometric Association. In his free time, Dr. Nakajima enjoys spending time with his children as well as jogging, tennis, and computer programming.
Andrew J. Brauer, O.D.
Dr. Brauer focuses on contact lenses and myopia control. He was among the first doctors in the country to obtain advanced fitting certifications for several specialty contact lenses. He has also been fitting scleral lenses for keratoconus and other conditions for years, including designs with aberration control and decentered optics for the most precise vision possible, even for challenging patients with corneal disease.
One of Dr. Brauer’s core practice beliefs is that way too many people put up with lackluster vision or comfort in their contact lenses (or worse, drop out altogether) because they have come to think these problems are normal and unavoidable. With the right tools and the right expertise, virtually anyone can experience clear, comfortable vision in contact lenses.
Another of Dr. Brauer’s fundamental values is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Nowhere is this more applicable than myopia control. Myopia control is one of the most powerful preventative treatments in eye care, in which specialized lenses or eye drop medications are prescribed to slow or stop the eyes from getting worse. In contrast to the “old way” of simply getting thicker and thicker glasses each year as the eyes get worse and worse, myopia control is a childhood preventative treatment that provides dramatically better vision (with and without glasses), reduces risk of many blinding eye diseases, and improves quality of life relating to vision- all benefits that literally last a lifetime, even after their myopia control treatment is over!
Mubashra Tahir, O.D.
Mubashra Tahir received her Doctor of Optometry from the Illinois College of Optometry in 1993. In 1989, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry and her Bachelor of Art in Psychology from The University of Illinois at Chicago.
Dr. Tahir specializes in primary eye care, treating red eye, ocular diseases, and dry eye. She became an optometrist to help people with their basic needs to achieve a clear vision. Dr. Tahir said that the moment someone receives their first pair of glasses or contacts and looks around, there is amazement in their eyes and face, which is genuinely rewarding.
Dr. Tahir enjoys going to the theater, reading, knitting, biking, and traveling when not seeing patients.