Vinay A. Shah, MD
Clinical Professor
Thelma Gaylord Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology
Clinical Focus
Special Interests
- Diabetic Retinopathy
- Retinal Vascular Diseases
- Retinal Detachment
- Macular Surgery
- Macular Degeneration
- Endophthalmitis
- Ocular Trauma
Bio
A native of India, Dr. Shah completed an extensive educational and training process there, including a residency in ophthalmology and a fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery. In 2002, he moved to the United States, where he was engaged in pre-residency fellowship experiences in vitreoretinal diseases and neuro-ophthalmology at the University of Florida – Jacksonville and University of Iowa respectively. As a resident in ophthalmology at the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC), Dr. Shah performed in stellar fashion, serving as chief resident during his final year and being recognized with a special award as “The Best Resident Ever” for his contributions as a “Leader, Educator, Researcher, and Clinician.”
After his fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery at the Kresge Eye Institute/Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, Dr. Shah joined the faculty at DMEI/OU in 2011 and has distinguished himself as a respected leader as well as a highly productive and innovative clinician and surgeon with a particular interest in treating complex surgical retinal pathology. Dr. Shah has served as author or co-author for more than 80 publications and book chapters and has addressed a large number of topics in his scholarly work, including observations regarding vitreoretinal disease; techniques in vitreoretinal surgery; posterior ischemic optic neuropathy, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, and other neuro-ophthalmologic disorders; resident surgical training in vitreoretinal surgery and refractive surgery; infections of the eye; and the use of smartphones in ophthalmology. He has published in such respected ophthalmologic journals as Retina, American Journal of Ophthalmology, Archives of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology, European Journal of Ophthalmology, Survey of Ophthalmology, Eye, Cornea, and Ophthalmic Surgery, Lasers, and Imaging, along with a number of others.
As an educator, Dr Shah is widely recognized for his work as one of the creators of the Eye Handbook, a mobile comprehensive ophthalmology diagnostic reference and educational product developed for smartphones. With more than three million downloads, this has become a highly popular smartphone ophthalmology application for ophthalmologists in training and in practice. In addition, Dr. Shah has directed a long-running, highly popular instructional course at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meetings on the use of smartphones in ophthalmic practice since 2012, a nearly record run. He also has served as Senior Editor for the International Ophthalmology Section of Pearls in Ophthalmology, an internet publication with tens of thousands of page views. Even while a fellow at the Kresge Eye Institute, Dr. Shah became the founding Section Editor for Retina/Vitreous for the AAO’s EyeWiki, which was launched in July 2010. For his Academy service, Dr. Shah was honored with an AAO Achievement Award in 2010, a Secretariat Award in 2015, and a Senior Achievement Award in 2017. For his contributions to the scientific programs of the annual meetings of the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS), Dr. Shah received its Honor Award in 2005 and its Senior Honor Award in 2007 (the latter while he was still a resident). In 2019, Dr. Shah was the inaugural recipient of the Amalia M. Miranda, MD, Special Recognition Award at DMEI /OU. He has been repeatedly named among the Best Doctors in America.
At DMEI/OU, Dr. Shah has been actively engaged with residents and vitreoretinal fellows and became the Retina Fellowship Director in 2017. In this capacity, he is currently overseeing an expansion of the retina fellowship program from one to two fellows. In 2018, he was the recipient of the E.L. and Thelma Gaylord Faculty Honor Award. Dr. Shah was elected by his peers to serve as a member-at-large on the DMEI Executive Committee in 2017 and was re-elected to a second two-year term in 2019.
Education
- MBBS: Gujarat University, India, 1996
- Fellowship: Vitreoretinal Surgery, L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India, 2000–2001
- Postdoctoral Fellowship: Vitreoretinal Surgery, University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL, 2002–2004
- Internship: General Surgery, University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL, 2004–2005
- Fellowship: Neuro-Ophthalmology, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics, Iowa City, IA, 2005–2006
- Residency: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO, 2006–2009
- Fellowship: Vitreoretinal Surgery, Kresge Eye Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 2009–2011
Recent Publications
- Shah VA, Wallace B, Sabates NR. Spectral domain OCT finding of Branch Retinal Artery Occlusion from Calcific Embolus. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology 2010 Nov-Dec;58(6):523-4
- Lord RK,Shah VA, San Filippo AN, Krishna R. Novel Uses of Smartphones in Ophthalmology. Ophthalmology. 2010 Jun;117(6):1274-1274.e3
- Chhablani J, Kaja S, Shah VA. Smartphones in ophthalmology. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2012 Mar-Apr;60(2):127-31.
- Shah VA, Brown JS, Mahmoud Correlation of outer retinal microstucture and foveal thickness with visual acuity after pars plana vitrectomy for complications of proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Retina. 2012 Oct;32(9):1775-80
- Lord K, Shah VA, Krishna R. The Eye Handbook: a mobile app in ophthalmic medicine. Mo Med. 2013 Jan-Feb;110(1):49-51.
- Diagnostic and Therapeutic Chanllenges. Elshatory YM, Siatkowski RM, Shah VA, Vajzovic L, Mahmoud TH. Retina. 2014 Mar;34(3):618-24.
- Elshatory Y, Shah VA, Hildebrand PL. Blurry vision after orbital decompression surgery. Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2014 May-Jun;45(3):247-9. doi:10.3928/23258160-20140501-01. Epub 2014
- Elshatory YM, Shah VA. Bead Block Embolization of a Retinal Arteriole. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2014 Dec 11. doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2014.616. [Epub ahead of print]
- Walgama J, Elshatory YM, Shah VA. Ophthalmomyiasis: a lit path. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2015 Feb;133(2):e143474.
- Kim LA, Wong LL, Amarnani DS, Bigger-Allen AA, Hu Y, Marko CK, Eliott D, Shah VA, McGuone D, Stemmer-Rachamimov AO, Gai X, D’Amore PA, Arboleda-Velasquez JF. Characterization of cells from patient-derived fibrovascular membranes inproliferative diabetic retinopathy. Mol Vis. 2015 Jun 12;21:673-87. eCollection. 2015.
- Elshatory YM, Carver A, Shah VA, Aleman TS. Diagnostic and TherapeuticChallenges. Retina. 2016 Apr;36(4):840-5
- Pandya HK, Robinson M, Mandal N, Shah VA. Hydroxychloroquine retinopathy: A review of imaging. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2015 Jul;63(7):570-4.
- Sluch IM, Siatkowski RL, Shah VA. Mycobacterium chelonae Scleral Abscess After Intravitreal Ranibizumab Injection. Cornea. 2016 Aug;35(8):1136-7.
- Ung C, Sanchez AV, Shen L, Davoudi S, Ahmadi T, Navarro-Gomez D, Chen CJ, Hancock H, Penman A, Hoadley S, Consugar M, Restrepo C, Shah VA, Arboleda-Velasquez JF, Sobrin L, Gai X, Kim LA. Whole exome sequencing identification of novel candidate genes in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Vision Res. 2017 Oct;139:168-176
- LaGrow AL, Schatzman SN, Amayem OA, Bradford RH, Shah VA, Chen S, Lee SY. ENDOPHTHALMITIS AFTER TRANSCONJUNCTIVAL PARS PLANA VITRECTOMY: A 6-year Experience Without Prophylactic Intraoperative Subconjunctival Antibiotics. Retina. 2020 Aug 18;.
- Lee SY, Surbeck JW, Drake M, Saunders A, Jin HD, Shah VA, Rajala RV. Increased Glial Fibrillary Acid Protein and Vimentin in Vitreous Fluid as a Biomarker for Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2020 May 11;61(5):22.
- Haoxing J, Surbeck J, Marsh H, Ding K, Kingsley R, Riaz K, Park S, Shah VA. “The Effect of Punctal Plugs in Reducing Ocular Surface Irritation after Povidone-Iodine Preparation of Intravitreal Injection – A Randomized Trial” Accetped for publications in the Journal Eye. March 2021.
Recent Presentations
- Shah VA, Brown JS, Mahmoud RM. Correlation of Outer Retinal Microstucture and Foveal Thickness with Vision after Vitrectomy for Complications of PDR. Presented (Poster) at the 28th Annual Meeting of American Society of Retina Specialists, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Lord RK, Shah VA. IPhone for Retinologist. Presented (Poster) at the 28thAnnual Meeting of American Society of Retina Specialists, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Sielert S, Allan E, Kim Y, Pandya HK, Shah VA. Research Experioence of US Medical Students Interested in Ophthalmology. Poster presentation – Annual AAO meeting 2012, Chicago, IL.
- Leonard RE, Shah VA. Intravitreal Aflibercept as a Surgical Adjuvant in Severe Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy. IOVS 2014; ARVO E-Abstract 257.
- Shukla SY, Kinglsey RM, Shah VA. Review of Diabetic Macular Edema Treatment Response in the Presence and Absence of Epiretinal Membrane. Poster Presentation at Annual AAO meeting 2017, New Orleans, LA.
- Course Director and Instructor AAO Skills Transfer Lab:Smartphones in Ophthalmology: #TheFutureIsAIDuration 2 hours: American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting, October 2019 San Fransico, CA.
- Speaker and Moderator AAO Technology Theater:Smartphone and Mobile Technology Update:, Duration 60 minutes: American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting, October 2019, San Fransico, CA (Tech Pavilion Theater)
- Jamshidi F, Jin HD, Bruce A, Kutteh M, Ding K, Riaz KM, Kingsley RM, Shah VA. The Effect of Ocular Rinse Volume on Ocular Surface After Povidone-iodine Preparation of Intravitreal Injection. accepted as poster at ASRS 2021.
Medical Informatics/Technology
Co-Founder and Partner: Cloud Nine Development, LLC:
A startup company developing Web and Smartphone applications for the Physicians
Co-developer and Editor: Eye Handbook: Comprehensive ophthalmology software developed for Smartphones. www.eyehandbook.com or www.itunes.com. Presently this is one of the most popular iPhone ophthalmology applications with over 5 million downloads.
Co-developer: Eye Patient: Comprehensive ophthalmology software developed for Smart device. Presently this is one of the most comprehensive ophthalmology applications for patient education and engagement.

For Appointments: