Kamran Riaz, MD

Dr. Kamran Riaz is a Clinical Professor, the Thelma Gaylord Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology, and Vice-Chair of Clinical Research at the Dean McGee Eye Institute (University of Oklahoma). Dr. Riaz completed his ophthalmology residency at Northwestern University and an additional year of fellowship training in Cornea, External Disease, and Refractive Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Dr. Riaz’s career in academic ophthalmology began at the University of Chicago, where he served as assistant professor and director of refractive surgery in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science. During his time there, he restarted the refractive surgery service, inaugurated a region-wide optics course, and brought many new surgical procedures to the department, including femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery, “dropless cataract surgery,” micro-invasive glaucoma surgery, and advanced technology IOL surgery.

For his efforts, Dr. Riaz was recognized by the hospital administration in May 2018 at the “Best Practices Forum” for restoring vision in a patient who had been blind for 38 years. He was also awarded the “Best Teacher Award” in 2018 by the University of Chicago ophthalmology residents and the “Teacher of the Year” award in 2019, as voted by residents from all six programs in the Chicago area.

Since arriving at Dean McGee in 2019, he has had a regional referral base for managing a spectrum of cornea, refractive, and anterior segment pathology. His clinical practice especially focuses on managing complications from cataract surgery, secondary IOL surgery, and complex corneal surgery. In April 2022, he was awarded the Aesculapian Teaching Award from the OU College of Medicine – the first ophthalmology faculty to ever receive this award since its inception in 1962. In 2023 and 2024, he was recognized by Castle Connolly as one of the top AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage) Doctors nationally.

Dr. Riaz has also authored over 90 peer-reviewed publications, 20 book chapters, and 100 podium presentations at national and international ophthalmology meetings. He has been an invited lecturer and surgical wet lab instructor at numerous conferences (including veterinary ophthalmologists) and an invited visiting professor at several academic institutions, both nationally and internationally. He has several leadership positions, including serving on the ASCRS Young Eye Surgeon (YES) Clinical Committee, Chair of the BCSC Optics textbook, and the Editorial Board for several ophthalmology journals.

Dr. Riaz is passionate about resident and fellow education, especially optics and refractive surgery. He is the Chief Editor of a popular Optics textbook, Optics for the New Millennium (Sept 2022), a comprehensive resource combining optics information needed for exams, clinical practice, and surgical preparation, presented in an engaging style. He is also an Associate Editor for Clinical Atlas of Anterior Segment OCT: Optical Coherence Tomography (May 2024).

Outside of his professional life, Dr. Riaz has many diverse interests. He enjoys history documentaries, football, basketball, and jazz music. He and his wife are blessed with three beautiful children.