Dr. Ajay E. Kuriyan is a vitreoretinal specialist. He graduated with Honors in dual majors of Biology and Health and Society from University of Rochester, and received his Doctor of Medicine degree, with academic distinction and honors in research, from University of Rochester as well. He then completed an internship at the Mount Sinai Medical Center, and completed his ophthalmology residency at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, where he was selected as Chief Resident. Dr. Kuriyan also completed his retina fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. During his training he was the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the induction into Alpha Omega Alpha and the Gold Humanism Society, Heed Fellowship, Evangelos S. Gragoudas Award, and the Lee Family Community Service Award.
Dr. Kuriyan is board certified in ophthalmology. He is an active member of the Retina Service at Wills Eye Hospital and is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. He is an innovative surgeon; he performed the first Argus implant surgery in NY state and reported the first case of pre-retinal amniotic membrane for refractory macular holes. He is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Society of Retina Specialists, Macula Society, Retina Society, and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. He serves on several committees for these societies. He has received numerous recognitions for his expertise, including the ASRS’ Presidential Award, Senior Honor Award, and Honor Award, AAO’s Secretariat Award and Achievement Award, Real World Ophthalmology Remarkable Research Award, Ophthalmology Management Top 40 under 40, and Castle Connolly and Philadelphia Magazine Top Doctor recognitions.
Dr. Ajay Kuriyan has authored and edited over 250 scientific publications, abstracts, editorials, and textbook chapters on vitreoretinal diseases. He has been an invited speaker to present scientific papers and abstracts at national and international ophthalmic meetings and invited as a visiting professor at several academic programs. He is actively involved as a clinical investigator in several collaborative trials and studies on various conditions including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, refractory macular holes, retinal detachment repair, and novel retinal surgical techniques. He conducts translational research that focuses on proliferative vitreoretinopathy, a scar forming process that is the most common cause of recurrent scarring after retinal detachments. His research includes establishing a novel model for studying proliferative vitreoretinopathy and better understanding the mechanisms of proliferative vitreoretinopathy to identity new treatments for the disease process. He has also worked on collaborations to better assess the impact of therapeutics on retinal vascular diseases using novel imaging techniques and machine learning. He has been awarded multiple research grants for his research including funding from the Macula Society, the Retina Society, the Alcon Research Institute, and the NEI.
Dr. Kuriyan was raised in Queens, NY and has now set roots in the Philadelphia area with his wife, and two children. He values providing outstanding, compassionate care to patients while having the opportunity to conduct ground-breaking clinical and translational research studies and being actively involved in the education of the high caliber trainees at Wills Eye Hospital.
Our retina specialists treat everything from common retinal diseases to the most complex medical and surgical cases.
