MD, FACS
Chief Medical Officer
Consultant Ophthalmologist & Vitreoretinal Surgeon
GCAA Approved Specialist Aviation Medical Examiner
Professor of Ophthalmology (Adjunct)
Languages: English, Arabic and French
Dr. Ammar Safar is an American Board-Certified Ophthalmologist specialising in vitreoretinal diseases and surgery at Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai in Dubai Healthcare City.
He is currently an adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology at Mohammad Bin Rashed University and the Chief Medical Officer of Moorfields Eye Hospitals in the United Arab Emirates.
Dr. Safar undertook his medical training in Syria before moving to the United States for post-graduate training. He specialised in Ophthalmology at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where he also served as a Chief Resident. He then acquired an additional 2-year fellowship training in Vitreoretinal Diseases & Surgery at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, USA. Dr. Ammar then went on to hold the position of Assistant and later Associate Professor and Director of Vitreoretinal Surgery at the Department of Ophthalmology, Jones Eye Institute, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, in the United States. He then relocated to the UAE, where he was a Consultant Vitreoretinal Surgeon and President of Medical Staff at a private general hospital in Dubai. In addition to his work in private practice, Dr. Ammar has undertaken research and clinical trials in areas such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related eye diseases and published and presented extensively. His research has also resulted in advances in retinal vascular diseases (discovering new management options for diabetic retinopathy and vascular occlusive disorders) and macular degeneration (new approaches for treating exudative macular degeneration).
Among his many honorary awards, Dr. Ammar was the inaugural recipient of The Martha Wood Bentley endowed Chair of Ophthalmology at the University of Arkansas. He is a member of several professional associations, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Retina Specialists, the European Society of Retina Specialists, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, The Association for Research In Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), Arab-American Medical Association, Research to Prevent Blindness, and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.