After medical school, Dr. Culotta completed his residency training in ophthalmology at Louisiana State University. During his residency, Louisiana was devastated by hurricane Katrina. Dr. Culotta was one of the first responders. He was uniquely qualified to help address the thousands of ocular injuries that were seen in the aftermath. Following this dramatic experience, he chose again to help the people of New Orleans by completing a vitreoretinal surgery fellowship in the area with renowned retina pioneer, Dr. Kurt Gitter. Dr. Culotta became board-certified in ophthalmology in 2009. Dr. Culotta has special interest in macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachment, and vitreoretinal interface abnormalities, such as epiretinal membranes and macular holes. Dr. Culotta is a pioneer in the treatment of advanced diabetic macular edema and complex macular degeneration. He has worked extensively at developing novel algorithms for layering laser photocoagulation into treatment paradigms of intravitreal Avastin injections for patients with recalcitrant diabetic edema. At the Retina Institute, Dr. Culotta is the head of the advanced laser therapeutics lab investigating new treatment protocols for neovascular diseases.