LASIK Surgeon
Eric Donnenfeld, MD

Biography

Eric D. Donnenfeld, MD, was named Newsweek’s best ophthalmologist in the country in 2023, 2022 and 2021 on Newsweek’s list of top eye doctors in the United States. He received a near perfect score for quality of care, continuity of care, and the quality of the technology used in his practice. Dr. Donnenfeld was also named on Ophthalmology Management’s 25 Leaders in Innovation, and on The Ophthalmologist’s Power List in 2018 and 2022.

Dr. Donnenfeld is an internationally recognized expert and pioneer in refractive, cornea and cataract surgery and one of the leading refractive and cataract surgeons in the United States. Dr. Donnenfeld graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1977 and first in his class at Dartmouth Medical School in 1980. He was Chief Resident at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital and completed a Cornea and Refractive Fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital. Dr. Donnenfeld is on the Board of Overseers of Dartmouth Medical School and a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at New York University Medical Center.

Dr. Donnenfeld was the 2013-2014 President of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Dr. Donnenfeld is the Chief Medical Editor of EyeWorld, the official publication of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. He is on the Executive Boards of ASCRS and ACOS and is a member of the Refractive Committee of ASCRS and Cornea section of Ocular Surgery News. Dr. Donnenfeld is a Surgical Director of the Lions Eye Bank for Long Island. He is a past president of the Ocular Microbiology and Immunology Group. Locally, Dr. Donnenfeld has also served as a board member of the Nassau Academy of Medicine, the American College of Surgeons Long Island Chapter and the Nassau Surgical Society, and is a past president of the Nassau Surgical Society, where he is the youngest person to ever receive their Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Donnenfeld has served as Resident Instructor at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital and as Program Director at North Shore University Hospital. Dr. Donnenfeld has designed and patented six instruments for refractive surgery use. He has authored more than 190 papers on cornea, external disease, cataract and refractive surgery, 500 scientific articles, and 40 books and book chapters on a range of subjects pertaining to corneal transplants, cataract care and laser vision correction.

Dr. Donnenfeld is on the editorial board of nine journals and has participated in over 40 FDA studies. He is one of the first 5 people in the world to perform both laser vision correction and laser cataract surgery. Dr. Donnenfeld is a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and has received its Honor Award, Senior Honor Award, Life Achievement Honor Award and Secretariat Award. Dr. Donnenfeld has performed laser vision correction on over 70,000 patients and more than 1,000 eye doctors and their families. The Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today has named Dr. Donnenfeld as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Ophthalmologists in the United States.