Leadership Team

Sara Barbatano

Sr. Director of Marketing & Operations

Sara has led strategic growth initiatives at Retina Consultants of Texas since joining the team in 2018. She is responsible for statewide marketing efforts and referral management. She’s involved in physician recruitment, integration efforts and serves on the RCTX Real Estate Committee. Sara also collaborates and leads national marketing strategies on the Retina Consultants of America marketing subcommittee.

Prior to RCTX, Sara was the Director of Marketing for Houston Fertility Specialists (now Aspire HFI). A former entrepreneur, she co-founded and published West U Connections Magazine and worked in the West University Place and Bellaire communities as a journalist for several years.

A proud Michigan “Yooper,” Sara received her BA in Communications from Western Michigan University.

Dallas Cooper

Director of Financial Planning & Analysis

Dallas Cooper joined Retina Consultants of Texas in August of 2023. Dallas is from Stephenville, Texas, and attended college in Utah where he obtained his Master of Accountancy. Dallas is a CPA and has spent the last 14 years working in Public Accounting providing assurance services to both public and private companies primarily in the health care industry.

His experience includes significant technical experience in financial planning/analysis and accounting, including financial budgeting, financial statement reporting, debt offerings, internal controls over financial reporting, valuation matters, and revenue recognition matters.

He enjoys spending time at home, helping on his family farm, road tripping, and discovering new fun activities with his five children.

Kurt Defenbaugh

COO

Kurt comes to Retina Consultants of Texas most recently from McKesson where he worked directly with private Oncology practices and practice leadership. Kurt's goal was to drive critical initiatives to strengthen operations and sustain profitability in a rapidly changing business climate.

Kurt’s background began in leadership having served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force and then on to management consulting and business development. He attended Texas State University and the Bauer College of Business, University of Houston for his MBA. Kurt looks forward to joining our great people, helping improve cohesiveness as we grow and continuing to build towards the best culture.

On a personal note, Kurt has a wife (Bo), son (Palmer 8yo) and daughter (Wren 3yo). Family time is #1 but he enjoys building LEGOS with Palmer the most and reading time with Wren above all.

Jazzarie Fejeran

Director of Human Resources

Jazzarie joined Retina Consultants of Texas in April 2024. She has her undergraduate degree from the University of North Texas in Organizational Behavior and her Masters degree from Penn State University in Human Resources and Employment Relations. She is certified with her SHRM-SCP and GPHR.

She offers over 14 years of diverse expertise across industries, including manufacturing and medical devices. She has overseen a variety of multi-state workforces and managed domestic and global HR teams in both startups and fortune 500 corporations.

In her role as Director of Human Resources, Jazzarie is accountable for fostering a thriving company culture, driving employee engagement and ensuring compliance with labor laws. Her leadership aligns HR practices with company goals to enhance organizational performance.

Jazzarie was born on the island of Guam and grew up in the state of Colorado. She enjoys personal development, fitness, and spending time with her family.

Glenea Licona

Director of Third-Party Revenue Cycle Operations

Glenea joined Retina Consultants of Texas in June of 2017 and brings more than 18 years of revenue cycle management within multi specialties to Retina Consultants of Texas (RCTX). Prior to joining RCTX, Glenea was responsible for building relationships for a full-service revenue cycle management company with multi-specialty clients in a multi-state territory encompassing Texas, Ohio, and Kansas.

In her role as Director, Third-Party Revenue Cycle Ops, Glenea is responsible for managing outsourced RCM Policies and Procedures by ensuring requirements are updated and implemented into the practice workflow to improve operational efficiency and revenue. She is driven by revenue analytics by identifying trends and takes pride in providing the best revenue cycle reengineering solutions for (RCTX). Her goals are to stay abreast of the Healthcare industry changes and challenges and excel along with the industry growth while preserving vision.

Glenea is a native Texan born and raised, and she currently resides in Galveston, Texas, and enjoys the beach and spending time with her family/friends.

Jennifer Lunceford

Controller

Jennifer was born and raised in Houston, Texas where she graduated from University of Houston-Downtown with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance.

Jennifer joined Retina Consultants of Texas in June 2016 and has over 10 years of accounting and finance experience within the healthcare industry.

Outside of the office, Jennifer enjoys yard work, live country music, and spending time with her husband and their three dogs, Major, Remi, and Ruger.

Hung Nguyen

Director of IT

Hung brings more than 22 years of information technology experience in healthcare to Retina Consultants of Texas. Since joining the team in 2017, he’s stabilized infrastructure, supported new and emerging technologies, and maintained equipment that is essential to the daily operations of the organization. Hung is also a member of the RCTX Real Estate Committee, which is responsible for identifying, designing, and building new and existing spaces to meet the needs of our patients and team.

Originally from Cam Ranh, Vietnam, Hung grew up in the suburbs of New Orleans and eventually settled in Houston. In his spare time, he enjoys the occasional round of golf.

Dale Pirkle

Director of Clinical Operations

During his 16-year tenure as a United States Navy Hospital Corpsman, he had the privilege of serving alongside Marines and Sailors through providing essential tactical field medicine and managing various military medical clinics. Additionally, he holds a BS in Clinical Biology from North Greenville University and a Master of Health Administration from Louisiana State University Shreveport. His background combines clinical knowledge from his education and experience as a Corpsman with administrative and leadership capabilities honed through managing healthcare operations.

In his spare time, he enjoys playing bass and guitar at his local church, working out, and playing ultimate frisbee. And few things beat taking his family to baseball games or going fishing with his son.

Chris Ombrog

Director of Revenue Cycle

Chris Ombrog joins RCTX as the Director of Revenue Cycle bringing 17+ years of healthcare experience. He graduated with a BA in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin and obtained an MBA from the University of Houston Clear Lake.

His knowledge of managed care, strong analytical skills, and unique positive leadership style helps to empower his staff to succeed both in the workplace and in life. Chris brings a hard work ethic and sense of humor that motivates others to put forth their best effort.

As a Houston native, he enthusiastically supports the Astros, Rockets, and Texans in addition to the Texas Longhorns. He enjoys spending time with his family, grilling, bike riding, fishing, and watching movies.

Marina Samaniego

Practice Director, San Antonio

Marina grew up in Corpus Christi, TX and graduated from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, TX with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Multinational Organization Studies. She then went on to earn her Master’s degree in Business Administration from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

Marina joined Retina Consultants of Texas in May 2022 and has over 19 years of business management experience in the healthcare industry. Her areas of focus are Operations Management, Strategy, Budget Planning, and Implementations. Her core values revolve around creating a positive team culture and providing the best patient experience and quality care.

In her free time, Marina enjoys spending time with her family and trips to the beach.

Deneva Zamora

VP of RCA Research

Deneva brings more than 17 years of clinical research experience in retina to RCA Research. Prior to joining RCA Research, Deneva was responsible for building the largest retinal research center in the United States at Retina Consultants of Texas (now a key member of RCA Research).

In her role as Vice President of Research Operations, Deneva has spearheaded the centralization of budget and contracting, Quality Assurance, Training and SOP development. She is responsible for the operations for all RCA clinical research sites and leads the integration of new research practices that join the RCA network.

During her tenure as Research Director at Retina Consultants of Texas, Deneva successfully coordinated trials for the industry’s first FDA approved drugs for retinal diseases, Lucentis and Eylea. She has the honor and privilege of working alongside David M. Brown, MD and Charles C. Wykoff, MD, PhD to grow a top international research facility for vitreoretinal diseases. Her 90+ member research team at RCTX coordinates more than 125 trials at six research centers throughout Texas.

Deneva holds a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Houston-DT. She is a Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP) with SOCRA.