| Dragons | Presenters |
| Iqbal Ike K. Ahmed Sherif El-Defrawy Francis Law Chris Rudnisky |
Steven Arshinoff Ronan Conlon Darren Albert |
Iqbal Ike K. Ahmed, MD, FRCSC
Iqbal Ike K. Ahmed, MD, FRCSC
Assistant professor, University of Toronto
Clinical Professor, University of Utah
Fellowship Director, Glaucoma & Anterior Segment Surgery (GAASS) Fellowship, University of Toronto
Research Director, Kensington Eye Institute, University of Toronto
Division Head, Ophthalmology, Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga
Medical Director, Prism Eye Institute, Mississauga
Co-Medical Director, TLC Mississauga
Ike Ahmed is a fellowship-trained glaucoma, cataract, and anterior segment surgeon with a practice focus on the surgical management of glaucoma, complex cataract and intraocular lens complications. He is board certified in ophthalmology in Canada and the USA, and is an active member of numerous national and international societies.
Dr. Ahmed has become world renowned for his skills and groundbreaking work in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of highly complex eye diseases including glaucoma and surgical complications. He is recognized as being one of the msot experienced complex eye surgeons in the world and has trained numerous surgeons in innovative surgical techniques. Furthermore, he has been at the leading edge of novel treatments for glaucoma, cataract and lens implant surgery. He has been invited to perform surgery in four continents across the globe. In 2010, Dr. Ahmed was selected as one of Canada’s “Top 40 under 40” – a prestigious national award recognizing significant achievements at a young age. In 2014, Dr. Ahmed was selected to receive the prestigious Binkhorst medal at ASCRS, which has been awarded to the world’s most prominent ophthalmologists whose careers have made significant contributions to the science and practice of ophthalmology.
Dr. Ahmed has a keen interest in teh development of advanced microsurgical devices and techniques in glaucoma surgery and complicated cataract extraction. He has received research grants to study glauscoma medications, glaucoma laser and surgucial devices/techniques, angle closure glaucoma, anterior segment and retinal/optic nerve imaging in glaucoma, cataract surgical techniques and devices, and intraocular lens designs. Dr. Ahmed has designed innovative glaucoma diamond scalpels for surgery, microsurgical instrumentation, and devices, implants, and techniques for the management of the dislocated cataract, iris reconstruction, and glaucoma implant devices. He has done pioneering work in innovative glaucoma surgery, developing and coining the term “Micro-Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS)” as a new genre of surgical approaches and devices. He also performed the first laser cataract surgery in Canada.
He founded and directs the Toronto Cataract Course and the COS Surgical Teaching Series, as well as a number of AAO and ASCRS Courses. He is currently an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, and a clinical professor at the University of Utah. He is the Director of the Glaucoma and Advanced Anterior Segment Surgery fellowship at the University of Toronto, and Director of Research at the Kensinton Eye Institute, University of Toronto. Dr. Ahmed has a large tertiary glaucoma/cataract practice at Credit Valley EyeCare and Osler EyeCare in the Greater Toronto Area, and primarily performs surgery at the Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ontario, the Kensington Eye Institute, University of Toronto, and TLC Mississauga.
Darren Albert, MD, FRCSC
Darren Albert, MD, FRCSC
Stephen Arshinoff, MD, FRCSC
Stephen Arshinoff, MD, FRCSC
Dr. Arshinoff received his MD from Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas), and ophthalmology residency at The University of Toronto. He is Associate Professor, DOVS, University of Toronto, Canada, has authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications and 30 medical textbook chapters, and has given more than 900 academic lectures worldwide. Dr. Arshinoff is the designer of the OMA-CNIB (Ontario Medical Association – Canadian National Institute for the Blind) Mobile Medical Eye Care Unit (MECU), and is the medical director of the program, with which he has spent 1-3 weeks per year in remote northern Ontario, Canada, for over 35 years. He is the Founding President of the Eye Foundation of Canada, and the International Society of Bilateral Cataract Surgeons (iSBCS), and is immediate Past President of the International Intra-ocular Implant Club, the parent society of ASCRS and ESCRS. His areas of research interest include ophthalmic viscosurgical devices, phacoemulsification machine design, bilateral cataract surgery, and endophthalmitis prophylaxis.
Ronan Conlon, MD, FRCSC
Ronan Conlon, MD, FRCSC
Dr. Conlon is the founder and medical director at the Conlon Eye Institute. He is also the medical director of Horizon Laser Vision Center, Saskatoon. Dr. Conlon has been practising ophthalmology in Saskatoon since 1994. His special interests in ophthalmology include laser refractive surgery, refractive cataract surgery, cosmetic eyelid surgery, and oculoplastic surgery.
He completed his residency training in ophthalmology at the University of Western Ontario in 1991. Dr. Conlon has completed 3 years of fellowship training in ophthalmology; one year at Harvard University (1991-1992) and two years at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics (1992-1994).
Dr. Conlon first began performing PRK and LASIK surgery in 1995, and was one of the founding refractive surgeons at Horizon Laser Vision Center.
Sherif El-Defrawy, MD, PhD, FRCSC
Sherif El-Defrawy, MD, PhD, FRCSC
Dr. El-Defrawy is Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences at the University of Toronto and the Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at Kensington Eye Institute. He is a Past President of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society and the Association of Canadian University Professors of Ophthalmology; and most recently was co-chair of the Eye Health Council of Ontario.
Dr. El-Defrawy received his Medical Degree from the University of Calgary in 1989 and residency in ophthalmology at the University of Ottawa. He joined the University of Ottawa Eye Institute in 1995 and was residency program director there from 1999 until 2004. He was professor and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Queen’s University, and ophthalmologist-in-chief at the University Hospitals in Kingston, Ontario from 2004 to 2012.
Dr. El-Defrawy has volunteered many times, travelling with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind’s “Eye Van” providing eye health care in remote northern Canadian communities; and also on the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital to, among other countries, underserved areas of Mongolia, Syria and Ethiopia.
Francis Law, MD, FRCSC
Francis C.H. Law, MD, FACS, FRSM(UK), FRCSC
Areas of interest: Cataract and refractive surgery. Glaucoma
Christopher J. Rudnisky, MD, MPH, FRCSC
Christopher J. Rudnisky, MD, MPH, FRCSC
Dr. Rudnisky is an associate professor with the University of Alberta, Department of Ophthalmology. He completed both his MD (with distinction) and a residency in ophthalmology at the University of Alberta. In 2009, he completed a master of public health at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. He is co-Director of the University of Alberta Teleophthalmology Reading Centre, and chair of the Ophthalmology Undergraduate Medical Education Committee. He has published 51 peer-reviewed articles and was awarded “Best Surgical Teacher” for 5 years in a row: 2011-2015. He was also named “Teacher of the Year” in 2013.