Natalie Afshari, MD is Stuart I. Brown MD Chair in Ophthalmology in Memory of Donald P. Shiley, Chief of Cornea and Refractive Surgery, Vice Chair and Professor of Ophthalmology at the Shiley Eye Institute, University of California, San Diego. Prior to this, she was Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of Centers of Excellence at the Duke University Eye Center. She received her medical degree from Stanford University and her residency and fellowship trainings at Harvard University, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

Dr. Afshari is the recipient of the Senior Achievement Award and the Secretariat Award by the American Academy of Ophthalmology and has been named a Gold Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.  She has received the inaugural Top Ten Women in Medicine award by Triangle News, Women Who Mean Business award by San Diego Business Journal, the Teacher of the Year award at the Duke University Eye Center, and the Health Sciences Mentorship Award from University of California San Diego. She has also been recognized in the Best Doctors in America in each listing for the past decade, and was named in the U.S. News & World Report’s Top Doctors List. Additionally, she has been recognized by the American Medical Women’s Association as the 2019 recipient of its Women in Science award.

Dr. Afshari is the co-editor of a two-volume cornea book titled “Principles and Practice of Cornea”. She has served on the editorial boards of multiple journals: American Journal of Ophthalmology, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Survey of Ophthalmology, Topics in Ocular Antiinfectives, and Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics. She has also previously served on the editorial board of EyeWiki, EyeNet, Eye and Contact Lens, Basic and Clinical Science Course Cornea textbook committee, and Basic and Clinical Science Course Lens textbook committee.  Dr. Afshari is the chair of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery FDA Committee, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Cornea Society, Council of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and NIH study sections. Her NIH research grant is on the study of corneal endothelium and Fuchs dystrophy.  Dr. Afshari’s research laboratory investigates genetics, the intricacies of endothelial keratoplasty, and stem cell regeneration of cornea.