ALEX DASTGHEIB, MD

West Coast Cataract Institute

As a board-certified and fellowship-trained eye surgeon, Dr. Alex Dastgheib (pronounced DAST-GABE) serves as medical Director of the West Coast Cataract Institute where he specializes in complex cataract cases.

Dr. Dastgheib has obtained a first in the world in cataract surgery results. A recognized leader and innovator, Dr. Dastgheib has performed over 30,000 eye procedures and has cured a large number of patients from cataract blindness. In April 2022, at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, Dr. Dastgheib and his Duke University co-authors presented the largest case series ever of consecutive phaco cataract surgeries in blinding cataracts; all surgeries were performed by Dr. Dastgheib. These are some of the most complex and surgically challenging cases. “Every case was successful. So, these 325 consecutive patients went from blindness to near perfect vision. I have been doing this for over 20 years and I know this is not common,” Dr. Dastgheib explained in an interview with Bausch & Lomb Surgical. In fact, this outcome was considered a first in the medical world. “This is a unique achievement that captures the imagination” noted Thomas Mitro, a 30-year veteran eye company executive.

Dr. Dastgheib is most excited about offering his patients who are not satisfied with their current vision the latest FDA-approved technology: the Light Adjustable Lens (LAL). Dr. Dastgheib uses the LAL to adjust and customize a patient’s final vision after surgery, in the office, based on the patient’s personal desires and lifestyle requirements. The combination of Dr. Dastgheib’s surgical expertise and the LAL technology offers patients with an unprecedented degree of safety and accuracy for the clearest vision at all distances. Dr. Dastgheib states “my LAL patients are ecstatic with their visual outcomes which they describe as life changing.”

An accomplished industry leader, during his time working at Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Dastgheib performed research on wet macular degeneration. His breakthrough theory and discovery of a cause of wet macular degeneration led to the creation of medications (anti-VEGF) that have since prevented ~20 million people worldwide from losing their eyesight. In 2014, the Dastgheib Pioneer Award in Ocular Innovation was established at Duke University. U.S or international annual recipients of this Award have made a major change in the practice of ophthalmology.

Dr. Dastgheib earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Paris where he graduated at the top of his class. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at the Duke University Eye Center, as well as four fellowships in ophthalmology from National Institutes of Health, the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins, Dubroff Eye Center, and Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah.

AWARDED 2023

PHYSICIAN OF EXCELLENCE