Professor Dan Reinstein on Training, Discovery, and His Career

Over the last four decades, our founder and expert laser eye surgeon, Professor Dan Reinstein, has dedicated himself to Laser Eye Surgery. Not only is he one of the few Ophthalmic surgeons in the UK to commit his career to Laser Eye Surgery, but he has also contributed significantly to the advancement of the treatment.

In honour of Professor Reinstein’s many achievements in the Laser Eye Surgery field, we’re taking a look back over his training, discoveries, and career.

Training: An Extensive List of Qualifications

Professor Reinstein, or Dr Dan as we know him, graduated from studying Medicine at Cambridge University, following which, he completed post-graduat qualifications, including an MA, MB BChir, and MD. He eventually became a board-certified ophthalmologist in the US, Canada, and the UK, where he later founded the London Vision Clinic.

In addition to these impressive academic achievements, Dr Dan holds two professorships, at Columbia University Medical Center in New York and the Faculty of Medicine at Sorbonne Université in Paris. But that’s not all. He has also completed extensive specialist training, including:

1991: Research Fellowship in Ophthalmic Epidemiology (Institute of Ophthalmology, London).
1994: Fellowship in Ophthalmology (The Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York).
1996: Residency in Ophthalmology (Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York).
1997: Refractive Surgical Fellowship under laser eye surgeons Zaldivar, Arbelaez, Chacon, and Barraquer.
1999: Fellowship in Cornea, External Disease and Refractive Surgery (University of British Columbia, Canada).

In the video below, Professor Reinstein explains his road to becoming one of the most renowned Laser Eye Surgeons in the world – a process that took around 18 years and led to the establishment of the London Vision Clinic way back in 2002.

The Career of a Pioneer

Once fully qualified as a LASIK surgeon, Professor Reinstein joined a research project at Cornell University, New York. It was during this project that he discovered how ultrasound could be used to measure the thickness of the cornea with superior precision – to 1/1000 of a millimetre! He applied these findings to the development of a prototype scanner which would go on to become the Artemis Insight 100™ scanner—the world’s most accurate corneal scanner.

His creation allowed him to identify the causes of complications in early Laser Eye Surgery. Today, the Artemis Insight 100™ scanner is considered the gold standard for evaluating candidates for refractive surgery. But that wasn’t Professor Reinstein’s only contribution to the field. His work on implantable collamer lens (ICL) sizing has improved previous formulas for predicting the optimal size of lenses for implantation.

Watch Professor Reinstein discuss his career, and the monumental impact of the Artemis Insight technology.

Further Professional Achievements

Soon after completion of the research project at Cornell University, Professor Reinstein was appointed the Chief Medical Officer of LASIK Vision Corporation/Canada. During his tenure, he oversaw a group of over 58 surgeons at 28 clinics across North America. The group became the world’s largest provider of Laser Eye Surgery, performing over 100,000 procedures a year.

In 2001, Dr Dan joined the team at Meditec (now Carl Zeiss Meditec) as the Lead Clinical Refractive Surgery Consultant, a position he continues to hold today. It was during this time that Professor Reinstein helped to develop the revolutionary MEL 80 laser, which soon became the benchmark laser for the industry.

In 2002, the London Vision Clinic was founded, originally starting out at 8 Devonshire Place in Westminster, before moving to its current location at 138 Harley Street. Through the London Vision Clinic, Professor Reinstein wanted to provide the public with exceptional treatments, the latest Laser Eye Surgery technology, and the very best patient care. Eventually, he wanted London Vision Clinic to become the world’s leading Laser Eye Surgery clinic.

More Laser Eye Surgery Developments

In the meantime, Prof. Reinstein continued to be a significant proponent in the advancement of Laser Eye Surgery. In 2004, he developed PRESBYOND Laser Blended Vision, an innovative laser treatment for presbyopia – the loss of reading vision. He has since used this technique to treat over 5,000 patients!

In 2006, he began work with the team at Carl Zeiss Meditec on the development of ReLEx SMILE, a revolutionary, minimally-invasive Laser Eye Surgery technique. In 2011, London Vision Clinic became the first clinic in the UK to offer ReLEx SMILE to patients, making treatment an option for even more people. This development heralded a new era in refractive surgery, cutting the surgery and recovery times significantly.

The London Vision Clinic continues to work closely with Carl Zeiss, one of the world’s leading optics manufacturers, and Prof Reinstein holds several patents relating to Laser Eye Surgery.

A Few More Stats on Professor Reinstein’s Career

Over the years, Professor Reinstein has contributed significantly to the advancement of Laser Eye Surgery. This includes:

Delivering over 1200 lectures at professional meetings on five continents.
Being a moderator or panelist for over 100 scientific international meeting panels.
Published over 175 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals.
Writing a textbook on ReLEx SMILE.
Contributing to or writing 52 book chapters / published proceedings.
Writing over 200 articles for the ophthalmic press.

In addition, Dr Dan has appeared as a Laser Eye Surgery expert on a number of television and radio shows, including BBC News, Sky News, Extreme Makeover UK, and BBC Radio 4. His own Laser Eye Surgery procedure, performed by Mr Glenn Carp, was even featured on BBC’s The One Show in 2018!

As you can probably tell, we’re incredibly proud of our founder and everything he has achieved in the betterment of the Laser Eye Surgery field. If you would like to learn more about the treatments pioneered by Professor Reinstein, or you would simply like to learn more about Laser Eye Surgery suitability, get in touch with one of our friendly clinic coordinators or Book a Consultation today!