Malik Y. Kahook

About Malik Y. Kahook

The Slater Family Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology, Professor and Chief, Glaucoma Service at the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center, The University of Colorado’s Department of Ophthalmology, Aurora, Colorado, USA

If you weren’t an ophthalmologist... 

If I were not a practising clinician-surgeon, I hope I would still be involved in the research and development of new medical devices. My career has been split between patient care and working in startup companies over the last 15 years. I have had the good fortune of bringing several devices from benchside to bedside and my enthusiasm for this type of work has only increased over time. We started ClarVista Medical over a decade ago and developed a novel intraocular lens that was eventually acquired by Alcon in 2017. That experience was very educational and influenced me to continue with new ideas working with New World Medical and others to launch medical devices on the global market. I can see myself being very happy in that world full time, but still keeping my focus on the patient and enhancing outcomes for those in need of medical and surgical care. Another option would be in the field of education since this is a big part of what I enjoy today. A significant part of my time is spent building www.KEOGT.com, which is a free online resource for glaucoma education as well as lecturing on the ORBIS Cybersight platform. I enjoy the exchange that happens during these teaching opportunities and always feel excited about engaging with colleagues around the globe.