Your Tampa Palms Optometrist

Dr. Sylvester AKA “Dr. S.” was born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  She earned both her Bachelor of Science in Biology (2002) and her Doctorate of Optometry (2006) at Indiana University, located in Bloomington, IN.  Go Hoosiers!!

After graduation, Dr. S. joined the staff at LaserVue in Orlando, where she primarily cared for pre- and post- operative cataract and LASIK patients.  In 2013, her husband’s job relocated their family to the Virginia Beach area, where she proudly spent 10 years on staff as a civilian optometrist in Naval Medical Center Portsmouth’s Ophthalmology Department.  There, her focus was primarily on refractive surgery pre- and post- operative management for the men and women of the United States military.  Florida life was calling though, and her husband’s job returned the family back to Florida where they plan to stay indefinitely.  

Dr. Sylvester joined the team at Bright Eyes Family Vision Care in 2023.  She is a member of the Florida Optometric Association and the American Optometric Association.  She is married to her husband Tom, and they have two children, Isabella and Blake.  In her free time, she loves to experiment with new recipes and work on home improvement projects. 

AKA "Dr. Beth" - Dr. Knighton received her Doctor of Optometry degree from the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago. She completed a Pediatric Optometry residency at the University of Houston College of Optometry, where she was trained in pediatric eye disease and working with patients who have special needs. She joined the faculty at University of Houston College of Optometry and enjoyed working with students and residents in the pediatric clinics. While in Houston, Dr. Knighton treated patients at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR), a rehabilitation hospital for patients with severe brain injuries. In 2012, Dr. Knighton earned her fellowship of the American Academy of Optometry.

Dr. Knighton grew up in Clearwater and currently lives in Tampa with her husband, 2 children and their two Labradors. She enjoys cycling, sailing and scuba diving.

AKA "Dr. Nate" - Dr. Bonilla-Warford received his Doctorate of Optometry from Illinois College of Optometry, located in Chicago, Illinois, in 2004. The following year he completed a residency program specializing in Pediatric and Binocular Vision at the Illinois College of Optometry. During his Optometric Internships, he studied developmental vision in Denver, Colorado and contact lenses and ocular disease in Chicago, Illinois. Owing to his passion for improving the vision of children, Dr. Bonilla-Warford has published articles on such topics as the use of vision therapy to improve reading skills and has lectured to Optometry students and paraprofessionals as well as the general public on visual care of children, the importance of vision in personal development, and options for controlling nearsightedness.

He has been featured on news such as Fox 13, NBC8, Bay News 9, The Tampa Bay Times, but eye care publications such as Review Optometry, Invision Magazine and others. Dr. Bonilla-Warford is very active in professional organizations and is a member of the American Optometric Association. He is a Fellow of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), an organization dedicated to pediatric vision and vision therapy, as well as a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, an organization dedicated to vision research and education. Additionally, he is Past President of the Hillsborough Society of Optometry and is chair of the Children’s Vision Committee of the Florida Optometric Association.

Not only does Dr. Bonilla-Warford care for the patients that come to his practice, but to all those in need. He has volunteered his time at the Special Olympics, Junior Olympics, and numerous school and community vision screenings. He traveled to Diriamba, Nicaragua as a member of Volunteers in Optometric Service to Humanity and helped examine and distribute glasses to over 2,000 people. Dr. Nate love to read and talk about books, especially in the areas of science fiction and health science. You can see what he is reading right now. He is a bit silly as you can see on his Tiktok.