Ahmad Kheirkhah, MD

• Vice Chair, Department of Ophthalmology - Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
• Director of Ocular Surface and Dry Eye Clinic, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

Ahmad Kheirkhah has extensive clinical and surgical expertise in corneal and ocular surface diseases, including limbal stem cell transplantation, ocular surface reconstruction, corneal transplantation, artificial cornea (keratoprosthesis), dry eye disease, ocular burns, conjunctival cicatricial disorders and cataract surgery. Moreover, Dr. Kheirkhah has considerable experience in cornea and ocular surface imaging, including in vivo confocal microscopy. In 2026, he joined Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine as director of the Ocular Surface Disease and Dry Eye Clinic.

Dr. Kheirkhah completed fellowships in cornea and ocular surface diseases, and he was an instructor at Harvard Medical School from 2013 to 2017. In 2018, he joined UT Health San Antonio, where he served as director of the Cornea Service and medical director of the UT Eye Consultants. Then, he became an associate professor of ophthalmology at UT Health Houston from 2023 to 2026.

Dr. Kheirkhah has authored more than 130 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and has delivered over 200 national and international presentations. He also serves as a moderator for multiple instruction courses on ocular surface disease at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Dr. Kheirkhah holds several patents and has received numerous honors, including multiple teaching awards from ophthalmology residents and the Achievement Award from the AAO.

Ocular surface diseases, dry eye disease, limbal stem cells, corneal diseases, in vivo confocal microscopy.

Dr. Kheirkhah has conducted many research studies in the fields of ocular surface and cornea diseases. He has numerous publications on limbal stem cells and was a part of the first clinical trial in the United States on cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell (CALEC) transplantation for limbal stem cell deficiency. Dr. Kheirkhah also has published many papers on surgical techniques of ocular surface reconstruction, pterygium surgery, dry eye disease, cataract surgery and intraocular lens power calculation. He has also extensively studied cellular changes in the cornea using in vivo confocal microscopy in various ocular surface diseases.

• Bhambhani V, Vijayaraghavan M, Mugundhan R, Srinivasan B, Iyer G, Janani S, Agarwal S, Kheirkhah A. Symblepharon Release and Fornix Reconstruction after Ocular Chemical Injury: Outcomes from a Decade-Long Clinical Experience. Br J Ophthalmol. 2026 Jun 19:bjo-2026-329807.
• Heinz Montoya R, Vasquez LE, Lee C, Kheirkhah A. Comparing patients' perceptions of dry eye disease between Spanish- and English-speaking patients in the United States. Curr Eye Res. 2024;49:1231-1236.
• Kheirkhah A, Blanco G, Casas V, Hayashida Y, Raju VK, Tseng SCG. Surgical strategies for fornix reconstruction based on symblepharon severity. Am J Ophthalmol. 2008;146:266-275.
• Kheirkhah A, Kobashi H, Girgis J, Jamali A, Ciolino JB, Hamrah P. A randomized, sham-controlled trial of intraductal meibomian gland probing with or without topical antibiotic/steroid for obstructive meibomian gland dysfunction. Ocul Surf. 2020;18:852-856.
• Kheirkhah A, Satitpitakul V, Syed ZA, Müller R, Goyal S, Tu EY, Dana R. Factors influencing the diagnostic accuracy of laser-scanning in vivo confocal microscopy for acanthamoeba keratitis. Cornea. 2018;37:818-823.

• Faculty Teaching Award, Ruiz Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, UTHealth Houston, Houston, TX, 2026
• Faculty Teaching Award, Ruiz Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, UTHealth Houston, Houston, TX, 2026
• Faculty Teaching Award, Ruiz Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, UTHealth Houston, Houston, TX, 2024
• Faculty Teaching Award, UT Health San Antonio Department of Ophthalmology, San Antonio, TX, 2022
• Excellence in Teaching Award, UT Health San Antonio Department of Ophthalmology, San Antonio, TX, 2020
• Top Ten Reviewer, Eye, 2016
• Exceptionally Good Reviewer, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Journal, 2016
• Exceptionally Good Reviewer, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Journal, 2015
• Achievement Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2014

• Houston Ophthalmology Society, member, 2023-2026
• San Antonio Ophthalmology Society, member, 2018-2023
• American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, member 2025-present
• International Ocular Surface Society, member, 2014-2017
• Ocular Microbiology and Immunology Group, member, 2013-2016
• American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, member, 2007-2012
• Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, member, 2006-2017
• American Academy of Ophthalmology, member, 2006-present
• International Ocular Surface Society, member, 2006-2008