Meet Ali Mearza | OCL Vision

About Ali Mearza

Mr Ali Mearza is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon specialising in cataract and laser eye surgery, refractive lens exchange and other vision correction techniques. He has been voted by his peers as one of the best surgeons in the country and is also Director and Co-Founder of OCL Vision.

Mr Mearza completed his training in London and went on to complete a year’s fellowship in cornea and external eye disease at Moorfields NHS Trust. He followed this with an additional one-year fellowship in laser refractive eye surgery at the prestigious Emmetropia Mediterranean Eye Institute on the island of Crete, the birthplace of modern LASIK.

Mr Mearza was initially appointed as a consultant in 2007 at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. In 2016 he was appointed as the Clinical Director of ophthalmology at Imperial College NHS Trust and was responsible for the clinical leadership of the ophthalmology service. During his 5-year tenure, amongst his many achievements, Mr Mearza oversaw and led the transition to paperless records, introduced high volume cataract surgery to the Charing Cross site and supported the appointment of 10 additional consultants.

A global reputation

Mr Mearza is an internationally recognised speaker and has presented his work at the European and the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons. He has also presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmologists and the Association of Research and Vision in Ophthalmology forums. He is regularly invited to speak at international conferences as a renowned surgeon and expert voice in his field.

Research highlights

Mr Mearza acts as a Medical Monitor and Principal Investigator for various industry sponsored trials looking at new drugs and treatment modalities in ophthalmology.

He has a strong collaboration with the Ophthalmic Technology Group-International (OTGi), a full service Clinical Research Organisation (CRO) dedicated to ophthalmic research.

LASIK laser eye surgery

At the forefront of developments in technology, Mr Mearza published a study evaluating and comparing modern excimer lasers used in laser vision correction.

He was the first surgeon to publish results of LASIK laser eye surgery using a combination of the Ziemer femtosecond laser and the Wavelight Allegretto excimer laser, two of the most technologically advanced lasers available on the market today. The published results are amongst the best in the world for laser vision correction.

Out of 887 short-sighted (myopic) eyes undergoing laser eye surgery treatment, 96.9% of eyes achieved 20/20 vision after the operation. When both eyes were considered together, 100% achieved 20/20 vision after their laser vision correction surgery.

There were no significant complications with any of the patients treated either during the operation or after surgery.

Corneal transplantation

In 2007, Mr Mearza published the first UK series of patients undergoing a new partial thickness corneal transplantation technique (endothelial keratoplasty).

He also presented the results at the American Academy of Ophthalmology Meeting in the USA.

The technique has since been modified further and Mr Mearza is amongst an elite group of surgeons who offer the new and improved technique which allows for faster visual recovery and healing.

The new technique called “DMEK” involves transplanting a 15 micron thick piece of tissue into the eye. You can watch a shortened version of the DMEK corneal transplantation technique to understand more about this procedure.

Artificial iris implants

Mr Mearza is a world expert in the removal of cosmetic artificial iris implants. These are non-CE marked and non-FDA approved products, making them illegal in the UK. They have caused considerable harm to a number of patients.

Mr Mearza has published numerous articles both in the peer reviewed literature, ophthalmic press and National Press about these implants and their risks.

He has also been featured on television discussing the danger of these implants and his YouTube channel showing footage of his removal technique for these implants has over 250,000 views to date.

Ali Mearza Publications

Ali Mearza has over 30 peer reviewed publications to his name and is an invited journal reviewer. His publications range from case reports, book chapters, clinical reviews and studies looking at new techniques and technologies.

Details of his research and publications can be seen on ResearchGate or PubMed, both publicly available domains where research profiles and results are presented.

Publications (peer reviewed)

Commissioned documentaries

Published abstracts

Protocols and guidelines

Video publications

Ophthalmic press articles

Book chapters

Newspaper articles

Magazine articles

In the media

Mr Mearza’s work has featured in the National Press as well as on television and he is regularly consulted for opinions on eye related matters and developments. He has been featured in the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Evening Standard as well as Men’s Health and Woman’s Own magazines.

Landmark achievements

2007

Appointed consultant ophthalmic surgeon

Following 10 years of training at some of the World’s finest institutions, a years’ corneal fellowship at Moorfields NHS Trust and a years’ refractive fellowship on the island of Crete, appointed as a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, the UK’s first academic health sciences centre.

2008

NHS laser refractive service

Sets up a specialist NHS laser refractive service offering patients minimally invasive treatment for qualifying eye conditions – one of only a few centres in the country offering this treatment.

2009

Trip to Ghana

Led a team of surgeons and nurses on a charity trip ‘Touch of Light’ to Ghana restoring vision to just over 200 patients with advanced cataracts.

2010

Cross-linking

Sets up an NHS cross-linking service – a revolutionary treatment for patients with keratoconus and one of the first Trusts in London to offer this treatment for its NHS patients.

2011

World expert

Reaches over 40 research publications and presentations at International conferences. Reaches over 10 published press articles and television appearances. Becomes a World expert in the removal of cosmetic iris implants having presented his technique and published his experience extensively.

2012

10,000 procedures

Reaches over 10,000 Laser and Lens Surgery procedures performed with consistently good feedback and reviews from patients.

2013

On TV

Appeared on a specially commissioned programme for the Discovery Channel where his experience in removing a large foreign object from an eye was highlighted.

2014

YouTube milestone

Reached 200,000 hits on his YouTube channel where many of his surgical techniques are presented.

2015

Sets up an NHS “DMEK” service

Sets up an NHS “DMEK” service – a ground breaking corneal transplantation technique where only a 10 micron thick piece of donor tissue is transplanted resulting in much faster visual recovery for eligible patients.

2016

Clinical Director appointment

Appointed as Clinical Director for Ophthalmology Services at Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust with responsibility for eye services at The Western Eye hospital, St Marys Hospital in Paddington and Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith.

2018

OCL Vision

Founding Partner and Director of OCL Vision – a company offering the very best in customised and personalised eye care using the latest technology and techniques.

2018

Chief Investigator for New Lens Technology

Appointed as Chief Investigator in the UK for Alcon’s new Extended Range of Focus Lens – part of a multi-country trial involving 19 investigational sites in 4 countries evaluating this exciting new technology.

2021

Stepped down as Clinical Director at Imperial after a successful 5 years

During his 5 year term, Mr Mearza helped with expansion of the department with the appointment of 10 new consultants and the development of high volume cataract surgery at the Charing Cross Site. He also oversaw multiple refurbishments within the Western Eye Hospital site and led the transition to paperless records – the first department in the Trust to do so. In addition, he led the department through the COVID global pandemic maintaining an ophthalmic service for those with the most urgent conditions.

2022

Published Multi-Country Clinical Outcomes of Alcon’s new Vivity Lens

Landmark publication in the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery showing the effectiveness of this new lens in offering patients an extended range of functional vision without significant glare and halo side effects and now one of the many technically advanced lenses offered to patients at OCL Vision.