Farhan A. Irshad, MD
Cornea, Lasik, and Cataract Specialist
Farhan A. Irshad, MD, FACS is an ophthalmologist fellowship trained in cornea, anterior segment, and refractive surgery and is board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology. He specializes in laser cataract and clear lens exchange surgery including the light-adjustable lens, corneal transplantation, minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, LASIK and refractive surgery, implantable collamer lenses (ICLs), pterygiums and cancers of the anterior segment, and ocular surface reconstruction.
Dr Irshad has been recognized as Castle Connolly’s Top Doctor for over seven consecutive years as well as Top Doc by Austin Monthly magazine. In addition, he has been elected to the Best Cataract Surgeons in American list and won research awards during his training at Tulane Medical Center.
Dr. Irshad double majored in Biology and Finance at Washington University and then received his Doctorate of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center. Dr. Irshad then went on to complete his internship in internal medicine at the University of California San Francisco Fresno program. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at Tulane School of Medicine followed by a special fellowship also at Tulane under the guidance of Dr. Delmar Caldwell and Dr. Ramesh Ayyala.
Prior to private practice, Dr Irshad spent several years on clinical faculty teaching eye surgery and supervising residents and fellows. He is currently an Associate Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Tulane Medical Center and on affiliate faculty at Dell Medical School. He has served on the medical advisory board at Southern Eye Bank and on the Medical Executive Committee as well as the Governing Board at the Medical Park Tower surgery center.
Currently, Dr Irshad is a diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology as well as a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Dr Irshad is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and participates in monthly Austin Ophthalmology Society meetings. He has several publications in peer-reviewed journals and authored a cover story on “The Economics of Laser Cataract Surgery” in the February 2019 edition of Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today. Dr. Irshad recently published a chapter on microinvasive glaucoma surgery in Chandler and Grant’s Glaucoma textbook in 2021.
A former Eagle Scout, Dr. Irshad also has a strong interest in local, national and international community service. He contributes to Habitat for Humanity, volunteers on medical mission trips to Mexico with the World Cataract Foundation and performs vision and glaucoma screenings in underserved communities. He spent a few years on the Board of Directors at the Montessori Educational Center and is married with three boys. Dr. Irshad’s passions include hiking, traveling, and race car driving and instructing.
Awards & Recognition
Rafaella C. Penteado, MD
Neuro-ophthalmologist and Comprehensive Ophthalmologist
Dr. Rafaella C. Penteado is a comprehensive ophthalmologist with specialized expertise in neuro-ophthalmology. She offers a wide range of medical and surgical eye care services, including cataract surgery with toric and multifocal lenses, minimally invasive glaucoma procedures, pterygium excision, and anterior segment laser treatments. Her subspecialty focus encompasses optic nerve disorders, eye movement abnormalities, and neuro-ophthalmic manifestations of systemic diseases.
Dr. Penteado earned her medical degree from the Federal University of Paraná in Brazil. She completed a research fellowship in glaucoma at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), followed by a surgical internship at UCSF East Bay. She then pursued her ophthalmology residency at UCSD and further specialized with a neuro-ophthalmology fellowship at the University of Utah’s Moran Eye Center.
An active contributor to ophthalmic research, Dr. Penteado has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed publications focusing on optical coherence tomography angiography and its applications in glaucoma and other ocular pathologies. Her work has been featured in leading journals such as Ophthalmology, Journal of Glaucoma, and American Journal of Ophthalmology.
Fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, Dr. Penteado is committed to providing personalized, patient-centered care. She believes in tailoring treatment plans to each individual’s unique needs and circumstances. Outside of her clinical practice, she enjoys hiking, traveling with her husband, and exploring new culinary experiences.
Gerald Clarke, M.D.
Comprehensive Ophthalmologist
Gerald Clarke, M.D., is an incredible part of the Eye Clinic of Austin. After several years of private practice in Wisconsin, Dr. Clarke recently moved to Austin and has resumed his career here.
He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Notre Dame, and first (Summa Cum Laude) from his medical school, Loyola University, in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Clarke started residency training in pediatrics at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and continued in Ophthalmology at the prestigious Milwaukee Eye Institute. During his career, he has performed over 20,000 cataract operations, 30,000 Lasik procedures, and many glaucoma surgeries. He and his partner in Wisconsin operated one of the first Lasik eye centers in the state.
Dr. Clarke has been instrumental in bringing Artificial Intelligence to the field of Ophthalmology, having written several programs to improve cataract and Lasik surgery outcomes. He has published several peer-reviewed papers on this research. At an annual conference of Ophthalmologists, he has received several awards related to this work. He is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons.
He has done many mission trips to Honduras, performing complex surgeries for the underserved and he speaks Spanish.
Dr. Clarke practices comprehensive ophthalmology, with special emphasis on glaucoma.
In his spare time, Dr. Clarke and his wife enjoy Texas Two-Step dancing, bike riding, golf, water aerobics, and the card game Bridge. He has published a novel, The Drone Virus, which was made into a movie of the same name. He is working on a second novel, The Cutting Edge.
Testimonials
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