Dr. Kamran M. Riaz
Kamran M. Riaz, MD, is a Clinical Professor, the Thelma Gaylord Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology, Vice-Chair for Clinical Research, and Director of the Stephenson Refractive Surgery Center at the Dean McGee Eye Institute, University of Oklahoma. His clinical and surgical practice focuses on cornea, cataract, and refractive surgery, with particular expertise in managing complications from cataract surgery, secondary intraocular lens (IOL) surgery, and innovative corneal procedures.
Dr. Riaz earned dual bachelor’s degrees in economics and history from the University of Illinois at Chicago, graduating magna cum laude from the Guaranteed Professional Program Admissions (GPPA) Honors College. He received his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine and completed his ophthalmology residency at Northwestern University, where he served as Chief Resident. He then pursued fellowship training in Cornea, External Disease, and Refractive Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
His academic career began at the University of Chicago, where he revitalized the refractive surgery service, launched a region-wide optics curriculum, and introduced several advanced corneal and refractive surgical procedures. He was twice recognized by residents for his exceptional teaching, receiving both the Best Teacher Award (2018) and the Chicago Area Teacher of the Year Award (2019). He was also honored by hospital leadership for restoring sight to a patient who had been blind for 38 years.
Since joining the Dean McGee Eye Institute in 2019, Dr. Riaz has developed a regional and national referral practice for complex anterior segment surgery. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and 22 book chapters, and has delivered more than 120 presentations at national and international meetings. He has been invited to lecture to trainees and colleagues, teach surgical wet labs, and serve as a visiting professor at numerous institutions, both nationally and internationally, including programs for veterinary ophthalmologists. He currently serves as Chair of the BCSC Optics textbook, serves on multiple journals’ editorial boards, and co-developed the Cooke-Riaz-Wendelstein (CRW1) Index, a novel algorithm designed to improve cataract surgery outcomes in post-laser vision correction eyes. He is active in multiple ophthalmology societies, including the AAO and ASCRS, where he serves on review committees and working groups.
Dr. Riaz’s academic interests center on education and surgical innovation. He is the Chief Editor of Optics for the New Millennium (2022) and Associate Editor of Clinical Atlas of Anterior Segment OCT (2024), and serves as optics education director for the leading online resource used by ophthalmology trainees worldwide. In addition to his educational leadership, Dr. Riaz has developed multiple surgical instruments—including the Rabiyah Microforceps, Nabeel Forceps, and Zaynab Scissors—each named after one of his three children. His dedication to teaching has been recognized with multiple honors, including the OU College of Medicine Aesculapian Teaching Award (2022)—the first ophthalmology faculty member to receive it since the award’s inception in 1962—and the Dewayne Andrews, MD Excellence in Teaching Award (2025). He also received an Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (2023) and the Surgical Teacher of the Year Award (2025) from the Dean McGee residents. He has been recognized by Castle Connolly as one of the top AAPI doctors in the nation (2023–2024).
Outside of medicine, he enjoys history documentaries, football, basketball, and jazz. He and his wife, a physician and neurosurgery researcher, have their hands full with their three children.