Aaron Nagiel, MD, PhD

As a surgeon specializing in retinal disorders of childhood and adolescence, Dr. Aaron Nagiel joins The Vision Center with a commitment to providing the highest quality care in a compassionate manner to his patients and their families. He complements this clinical expertise with an active laboratory and translational research program that is developing novel therapeutic approaches for children with diseases of the retina and vitreous.

Dr. Aaron Nagiel earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University summa cum laude, and then underwent combined MD and PhD training at Cornell University and The Rockefeller University in New York City. His PhD work was supported by an NIH fellowship and contributed to our understanding of how synapses form in the developing brain. After an internship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Nagiel completed both ophthalmology residency and vitreoretinal fellowship at the renowned Stein Eye Institute at UCLA.

He leads an active research program aimed towards developing better ways to treat pediatric retinal diseases through state-of-the-art imaging, advanced surgical devices, and novel treatments including gene therapy and stem cell-based therapy. He has authored two book chapters on the therapeutic use of stem cells for retinal disease and published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Nagiel serves as a reviewer for major ophthalmology journals and an editor of the textbook Cellular Therapies for Retinal Disease: A Strategic Approach. He is a recipient of the prestigious Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Fellowship and the Ronald G. Michels Fellowship Foundation Award, as well as numerous departmental awards.