Dr. Asim Ali

Dr. Ali is the Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at The Hospital for Sick Children’s Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences and holds the rank of Associate Professor at the University of Toronto.  Following a B.A.Sc. Degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, he completed his medical degree and residency training in Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto. He then went on to further postgraduate training with separate fellowships in Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus and Cornea and External Disease at Washington University, St. Louis, USA.  Since returning to Canada, his practice and clinical research have focused on glaucoma and cornea/external disease disorders in children, as well as paediatric cataract and other anterior segment abnormalities.

Dr. Ali is the recipient of the Innovator Award for his work co-leading a team that developed the technique of corneal neurotization; a technique to restore missing feeling in the eye – and prevent subsequent vision loss – using a nerve taken from a patient’s leg and transplanting it onto an existing healthy nerve in the face.  While corneal anaesthesia is relatively rare, it results in vision loss over time.  Dr. Ali’s work has been adopted around the world as a minimally invasive procedure that offers patients an opportunity to regain their sight.