EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

FACULTY POSITIONS

Clinical Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and, by courtesy, Neurosurgery at Stanford University Medical Center

Biography

Professor Ruwan Amila Silva, MD, MPhil is board-certified and fellowship trained vitreoretinal surgeon. He sees patients at The California Retina Institute while remaining an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and, by courtesy, Neurosurgery at Stanford University Medical Center where he also continues to perform surgery and conduct research.

Dr. Silva received his BA in Neurobiology from Harvard University graduating Magna cum laude with Highest Honors (2002). He then received his Masters of Philosophy (MPhil) in Neurobiology from Cambridge University in England (2004). Following this, he received his medical degree from Stanford University’s School of Medicine (2008). Dr. Silva then completed his ophthalmology residency at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, the top-rated eye hospital in the country. While there he was awarded the Heed Fellowship, the most prestigious national award for ophthalmology residents in the country. Dr. Silva returned to Stanford University to complete his vitreoretinal surgery fellowship where he was awarded the Ronald G. Michels Foundation Award, the nation’s highest honor for a retina surgery fellow. During his fellowship at Stanford he was also awarded the prestigious Evangelos S. Gragoudas Award by the Macula Society.

Following his fellowship, Dr. Silva remained on faculty at Stanford University’s School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Vitreoretinal Surgery in the Department of Ophthalmology since 2014. In addition to his medical and surgical training, Dr. Silva has spent a considerable amount of time gaining the requisite business background to launch The California Retina Institute. In addition to working part-time at several private practices while maintaining his position at Stanford Medical Center, he has most recently obtained an MBA at the Wharton School of Business with a specialization in Healthcare and Finance (2024).

Since 2015, he has been named one of “America’s top Ophthalmologists” by Consumers’ Research Council of America and as a “Top Ophthalmologist” by the International Association of Ophthalmologists.

Dr. Silva’s clinical practice focuses mainly on macular degeneration and retinal vascular disease (such as diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusions and central serous retinopathy). Surgically, he specializes in diseases of the vitreous and retina: including repair of retinal detachments, surgery for the macula (such as treatment of epiretinal membranes and macular holes) and correction of dislocated intraocular lenses. His research interests mainly involve developing novel therapies for these diseases (http://med.stanford.edu/artificial-retina.html) and have resulted in over 75 combined peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts, book chapters and national meeting presentations.

Dr. Silva is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, as well as the American Society of Retina Specialists. He is a Board Certified Diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology.