Research Summary

Dr. Armin Afshar is a vitreoretinal surgeon and ocular oncologist in the UCSF Department of Ophthalmology. He serves as the Director of the Ocular Oncology Service and Medical Director for Quality & Safety at UCSF and is the Director of Tele Ophthalmology for the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

Dr. Afshar's specialty is in the treatment of eye tumors and disorders of the retina and vitreous. In addition to expertise in retinal diseases and surgery, he has special training and experience in the management of ocular surface tumors of the conjunctiva and cornea, as well as intra-ocular tumors involving the iris, ciliary body, choroid, retina, vitreous and optic nerves. The UCSF Ocular Oncology Service is an internationally renowned center of excellence with longstanding programs of distinction in Retinoblastoma and Uveal Melanoma, and is one of only a handful of centers world-wide offering both Ocular Proton Therapy and plaque brachytherapy.

Dr. Afshar earned his Bachelor of Science and Medical Doctorate in the accelerated honors medical program at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago, and a master's degree in business administration at the University of Chicago. He completed a residency in ophthalmology at the University of Chicago and fellowships in vitreoretinal surgery and ocular oncology at UCSF. He also completed a master's degree in clinical research in epidemiology & biostatistics at UCSF. He is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, American Society of Retinal Specialists, American Association of Ophthalmic Oncologists and Pathologists and International Society of Ocular Oncology. His research program has been funded by the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Research to Prevent Blindness, and That All May See.

Education

University of California, San Francisco, M.A.S., 06/2018, Masters in Clinical Research
University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, B.S., 05/2003, Biological Sciences
University of Illinois College of Medicine, M.D., 08/2003, Medicine
University of Chicago Booth School of Business, M.B.A., 06/2011, Management

Honors & Awards

  • International Society of Ocular Oncology Biennial Meeting - 1st place poster prize (2015)
  • William F. Hoyt, MD Award - University of California, San Francisco Department of Ophthalmology (2014) -- for outstanding resident teaching
  • Harvey Z. Klein, MD Award - University of Chicago, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Science (2012) -- for outstanding patient care
  • Illinois Ophthalmology Association - Advocacy Award (2012)
  • Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness - awarded $5,000 research grant (2010)Project: Vitreous penetration of orally administered acetazolamide in humans
  • Bamberger Scholarship (2004)
  • University of Illinois College of Medicine Scholarship (2004)
  • Bachelor of Science, University of Illinois with Honors and Departmental Distinction (2003)

Selected Publications

  1. Zako C, Nisanova A, Weinberg V, Scholey J, Swason C, Afshar AR, Quivey J, Daftari IK, Tsai T, Park SS, Seider M, Johnson RN, Char DH, Mishra KK Long-Term Clinical Outcomes for Adolescent and Young-Adult Uveal Melanoma Patients Treated with Dedicated Particle-Beam Radiation.  View on PubMed
  2. Bertil E. Damato, Maria Filì, Armin R. Afshar Uveal Melanoma: Differential Diagnosis.  View on PubMed
  3. Bertil E. Damato, Armin Afshar, Rumana Hussain, Heinrich Heimann, Carl Groenewald, Sarah E. Coupland Diagnostic Techniques: Other Biopsy Techniques.  View on PubMed
  4. wathi Kaliki, Vijitha S. Vempuluru, Ido Didi Fabian, Ido Didi Fabian, Elhassan Abdallah, Shehu U. Abdullahi, Rula A. Abdulqader, Aminatu A. Abdulrahaman, Sherif Abouelnaga, Dupe S. Ademola-Popoola, Adedayo Adio, Mahmoud A. Afifi, Armin R. Afshar, Priyanka Aggarwal, Ada E. Aghaji, Alia Ahmad, Marliyanti N.R. Akib, Adeseye M. Akinsete, Lamis Al Harby, Saleh A. Al Mesfer, Mouroge H. Al Ani, Silvia Alarcón Portabella, Safaa A.F. Al-Badri, Ana Patricia A. Alcasabas, Saad A. Al-Dahmash, Amanda Alejos, Ernesto Alemany-Rubio, Amadou I. Alfa Bio, Yvania Alfonso Carreras, Christiane E. Al-Haddad, Hamoud H.Y. Al-Hussaini, Amany M. Ali, Donjeta B. Alia, Mazin F. Al-Jadiry, Usama Al-Jumaly, Hind M. Alkatan, Charlotta All-Eriksson, Ali A.R.M. Al-Mafrachi, Argentino A. Almeida, Khalifa M. Alsawidi, Athar A.S.M. Al-Shaheen, Entissar H. Al-Shammary, Doreen Amankwaa-Frempong, Primawita O. Amiruddin, Inggar Armytasari, Nicholas J. Astbury, Hatice T. Atalay, Eda Ataseven, La-ongsri Atchaneeyasakul, Rose Atsiaya, Rudolf Autrata, Julia Balaguer, Ruhengiz Balayeva, Honorio Barranco, Paulina Bartoszek, Katarina Bartuma, Covadonga Bascaran, Nikolaos E. Bechrakis, Maja Beck Popovic, Ainura S. Begimkulova, Sarra Benmiloud, Rokia C. Berete, Jesse L. Berry, Anirban Bhaduri, Sunil Bhat, Arpita Bhattacharyya, Eva M. Biewald, Elaine Binkley, Sharon Blum, Nadia Bobrova, H. Culver Boldt, Maria Teresa B.C. Bonanomi, Gabrielle C. Bouda, Hédi Bouguila, Rachel C. Brennan, Bénédicte G. Brichard, Jassada Buaboonnam, Aléine Budiongo, Matthew Burton, Patricia Calderón-Sotelo, Doris A. Calle Jara, Jayne E. Camuglia, Miriam R. Cano, Michael Capra, Shani Caspi, Nathalie Cassoux, Guilherme Castela, Luis Castillo, Jaume Català-Mora, Isabel Caviedes, Arthika Chandramohan, Guillermo L. Chantada, Shabana Chaudhry, Bhavna Chawla, Wensi Chen, Faraja S. Chiwanga, Tsengelmaa Chuluunbat, Krzysztof Cieslik, Antony Clark, Ruellyn L. Cockcroft, Codruta Comsa, Maria G. Correa Llano, Timothy W. Corson, Line Couitchere, Kristin E. Cowan-Lyn, Monika Csóka, Wantanee Dangboon, Anirban Das, Pranab Das, Sima Das, Jacquelyn M. Davanzo, Alan Davidson, Sonia De Francesco, Patrick De Potter, Karina Q. Delgado, Hakan Demirci, Laurence Desjardins, Rosdali Y. Diaz Coronado, Helen Dimaras, Andrew J. Dodgshun, Carla R. Donato Macedo, Monica D. Dragomir, Yi Du, Magritha Du Bruyn, Johannes P. Du Plessis, Gagan Dudeja, Katrin Eerme, I Wayan Eka Sutyawan, Asmaa El Kettani, Amal M. Elbahi, James E. Elder, Alaa M. Elhaddad, Moawia M.A. Elhassan, Mahmoud M. Elzembely, Connor Ericksen, Vera A. Essuman, Ted Grimbert A. Evina, Ifeoma R. Ezegwui, Zehra Fadoo, Adriana C. Fandiño, Mohammad Faranoush, Oluyemi Fasina, Delia D.P.G. Fernández, Ana Fernández-Teijeiro, Allen Foster, Shahar Frenkel, Ligia D. Fu, Soad L. Fuentes-Alabi, Juan L. Garcia, David García Aldana, Henry N. Garcia Pacheco, Jennifer A. Geel, Fariba Ghassemi, Ana V. Girón, Marco A. Goenz, Aaron S. Gold, Hila Golberg, Glen A. Gole, Nir Gomel, Efren Gonzalez, Graciela Gonzalez Perez, Liudmira González-Rodríguez, Malka Gorfine, Jaime Graells, Pernille A. Gregersen, Nathalia D.A.K. Grigorovski, Koffi M. Guedenon, D Sanjeeva Gunasekera, Ahmet K. Gündüz, Himika Gupta, Sanjiv Gupta, Vineeta Gupta, Theodora Hadjistilianou, Patrick Hamel, Syed A. Hamid, Norhafizah Hamzah, Eric D. Hansen, J William Harbour, M. Elizabeth Hartnett, Murat Hasanreisoglu, Sadiq Hassan, Shadab Hassan, Wojciech Hautz, Huda A. Haydar, Stanislava Hederova, Laila Hessissen, Hoby Lalaina, Suradej Hongeng, Diriba F. Hordofa, G. Baker Hubbard, Marlies Hummlen, Kristina Husakova, Allawi N. Hussein Al-Janabi, Affiong A. Ibanga, Russo Ida, Vesna R. Ilic, Ziyavuddin Islamov, Vivekaraj Jairaj, Teyyeb A. Janjua, Irfan Jeeva, Xunda Ji, Dong Hyun Jo, Michael M. Jones, Theophile B. Amani Kabesha, Rolande L. Kabore, Swathi Kaliki, Abubakar Kalinaki, Pius Kamsang, Mehmet Kantar, Noa Kapelushnik, Tamar... Retinoblastoma with and without Extraocular Tumor Extension: A Global Comparative Study of 3435 Patients.  View on PubMed
  5. Nisanova A, Park SS, Amin A, Zako C, Wilson MD, Scholey J, Afshar AR, Tsai T, Char DH, Mishra KK. Novel Risk Factors for Uveal Melanoma in Adolescent and Young Adult Patients: A Comprehensive Case-Control Analysis. Ophthalmol Sci. 2025 Jul-Aug; 5(4):100687.  View on PubMed
  6. Meer E, Miller AC, Ahmad M, Arnold BF, Kersten RC, Grob SR, Winn BJ, Afshar AR, Vagefi MR Quality of Life in Patients With Acquired Anophthalmia Using an Ocular Prosthesis.  View on PubMed
  7. Meer E, Miller AC, Ahmad M, Arnold BF, Kersten RC, Grob SR, Winn BJ, Afshar AR, Vagefi MR Quality of Life in Patients With Acquired Anophthalmia Using an Ocular Prosthesis.  View on PubMed
  8. So JY, Pershing S, Pollom EL, Hiniker SM, Afshar AR Disparities in United States Retinoblastoma Presentation, Management, and Local Recurrence in the National Cancer Database, 2004-2016.  View on PubMed
  9. Hébert M, Babic K, Hsiao EC, Afshar A, Acharya N, Gonzales JA Inhibition of choroidal osteoma progression using bisphosphonate and RANKL-inhibitory treatment.  View on PubMed
  10. Greig EC, Rabiee R, Afshar AR Pushing the limit: Globe salvage of Group D retinoblastoma with severe vitreous seeding with intra-arterial chemotherapy and 15 cycles of intravitreal chemotherapy.  View on PubMed
  11. Shen LL, Keenan JD, Chahal N, Taha AT, Saroya J, Ma CJ, Sun M, Yang D, Psaras C, Callander J, Flaxel C, Fawzi AA, Schlesinger TK, Wong RW, Bryan Leung LS, Eaton AM, Steinle NC, Telander DG, Afshar AR, Neuwelt MD, Lim JI, Yiu G, Stewart JM METformin for the MINimization of Geographic Atrophy Progression (METforMIN): A Randomized Trial.  View on PubMed
  12. Berry JL, Pike S, Rajagopalan A, Reid MW, Fabian ID, Global Retinoblastoma Study Group Retinoblastoma Outcomes in the Americas: A Prospective Analysis of 491 Children With Retinoblastoma From 23 American Countries.  View on PubMed
  13. Hekmatjah N, Qureshi A, Afshar A, Oatts JT Anterior chamber fluorescein leakage in a child with intraocular pressure elevation and vitreous hemorrhage.  View on PubMed
  14. Alabi RO, Haq Z, Bloomer MM, Afshar AR. Clinicopathologic analysis of a case of small cell lung carcinoma metastatic to the retina. Am J Ophthalmol Case Rep. 2023 Sep; 31:101863.  View on PubMed
  15. Ahmad TR, Pekmezci M, Bloomer MM, Grenert JP, Afshar AR. Next-generation sequencing of a large uveal melanoma with whole genome doubling and a PBRM1 mutation. Am J Ophthalmol Case Rep. 2023 Sep; 31:101861.  View on PubMed
  16. Han LM, Lee KW, Uludag G, Seider MI, Afshar AR, Bloomer MM, Pekmezci M. Prognostic Value of BAP1 and Preferentially Expressed Antigen in Melanoma (PRAME) Immunohistochemistry in Uveal Melanomas. Mod Pathol. 2023 04; 36(4):100081.  View on PubMed
  17. Uner OE, Aronow ME, Mruthyunjaya P, Materin MA, Stacey AW, Wilson M, Afshar A, Skalet AH. Uveal Melanoma and the IRIS® Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight): A Pilot Analysis and Future Directions. Ophthalmol Retina. 2023 03; 7(3):284-286.  View on PubMed
  18. Ahmad TR, Li J, Wu F, Rahman S, Bever GJ, Afshar AR. COCCIDIOIDAL ENDOPHTHALMITIS: EXCELLENT RECOVERY OF VISION WITH AGGRESSIVE USE OF INTRAVITREAL ANTIFUNGALS AND VITRECTOMY. Retin Cases Brief Rep. 2022 Jul 01; 16(4):523-527.  View on PubMed
  19. Kavita K. Mishra, Armin R. Afshar, MA Scholey Jessica, Andrzej Kacperek, and Bertil E. Damato. Ocular Malignancies. . 2022 May 12; 201-224.  View on PubMed
  20. Chen TA, Rayess N, Afshar AR, Moshfeghi DM, Duncan JL, de Alba Campomanes AG. Chorioretinal Findings as the Initial Presentation of Chronic Granulomatous Disease. Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2022 04; 53(4):234-238.  View on PubMed

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