Iqbal Ike K. Ahmed, MD, FRCSC

"Technology gives us the ability to do things that change paradigms. I love changing paradigms."

Meet Dr. Iqbal Ike K. Ahmed

Iqbal Ike K. Ahmed, MD, FRCSC, directs the Alan S. Crandall Center for Glaucoma Innovation and personally oversees its surgical therapeutics initiative.

Early in his career, he completed a glaucoma fellowship at the Moran Eye Center with his late mentor—surgeon and humanitarian Alan S. Crandall, MD.

A glaucoma, cataract, and anterior segment surgeon, Dr. Ahmed has since been recognized as one of the world’s top surgeons for complex eye conditions, and splits his practice between Canada and Utah. He is also renowned for conducting groundbreaking research and device development that has advanced the surgical treatment of diseases, including glaucoma and surgical complications.

Therapeutics Innovator

Dr. Ahmed has pioneered innovative glaucoma therapeutics and coined the term “micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS)” as a new genre of surgical approaches and devices. Microscopic MIGS devices are implanted into the eye to reduce the high intraocular pressure associated with glaucoma. Dr. Ahmed has also designed innovative diamond scalpels for surgery, microsurgical instrumentation, and other devices, implants, and techniques to manage dislocated cataracts, iris reconstruction, and glaucoma.

Thanks to his innovative expertise, Dr. Ahmed consults for more than 50 companies and manufacturers and sits on numerous scientific advisory boards.

Dr. Ahmed has been the principal investigator for numerous research studies and served as a medical monitor for many pivotal clinical trials including the first long-term outcomes study of a MIGS device. He has published more than 170 peer-reviewed papers and several books and made over 1,000 scientific presentations, including 40 visiting professor's lectures around the world.

He sits on the editorial boards of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology-Glaucoma, Journal of Glaucoma, Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology, EyeNet, Ocular Surgery News, Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today, and is a reviewer for numerous journals. In 2018, Glaucoma Today appointed him as Chief Medical Editor.

View Dr. Ahmed's research publications.

Awards and Honors

The Ophthalmologist magazine has repeatedly named Dr. Ahmed as among the most influential ophthalmologists worldwide on its annual Power List. In 2024, he ranked No. 1 on the list of 100.

Dr. Ahmed has received numerous awards, including the prestigious American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery's Binkhorst medal, awarded to the world's most prominent ophthalmologists. The American Glaucoma Society honored him with the AGS Surgery Day Lecture, and the United Kingdom & Ireland Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons bestowed him with the Pearce Medal Lecture in 2015. Most recently, he was named recipient of the Charles Kelman Medal, to be presented at the Brazilian Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgery 2022 international congress in May 2022.