Laser Eye Surgery in Northern Ireland

Mr Tom Materman received his primary medical degree from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1991. He worked as a locum GP before spending 12 months in Nepal with the Tilganga Eye Institute, part of the Fred Hollows Foundation, committed to providing first-world eye care in third-world countries. He then underwent postgraduate training in Ophthalmology in Wellington, New Zealand. After his training, he gained further Fellowship experience at the West of England Eye Hospital and the glaucoma service of Moorfields Eye Hospital, then completed a two-year refractive surgical fellowship in London with Professor Jan Venter.

Since 2006 he has been a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists. Mr Materman has performed over 30,000 laser vision correction procedures (LASIK and PRK) and has significant experience in other areas of refractive practice such as lens replacement surgery, ICL implantation and cataract surgery. He keeps his knowledge up to date by attending numerous courses and conferences and is enrolled in an approved CPD programme by the Irish College of Ophthalmologists.

Mr Materman is dedicated to using the most advanced techniques and safest technologies worldwide, and is a member of various professional organisations including the Irish Medical Council, the General Medical Council (UK) and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons.

In his free time he enjoys photography, cooking, and outdoor activities such as mountain biking, road cycling and ocean sports.

Mr Mikhail Hernandez is a fully qualified medical practitioner with vast experience in ophthalmology. After graduating Magna Cum Laude, with great distinction, and gaining his Spanish University Medical Degree in 2011, his passion for ophthalmology developed. Becoming a specialist in the field, Mr Hernandez continued his studies in ophthalmology, winning the scholarship of the Congress of the Valencian Society of Ophthalmology in 2016 and becoming a Specialist Doctor of Ophthalmology in 2017.

Since then Mr Hernandez has completed a number of advanced qualifications in ophthalmology. He is a cornea specialist with experience in both normal and pathological corneal diagnosis and treatment, having performed multiple intricate surgeries such as corneal transplant, keratoconus and pterygium, using advanced technologies including the femtosecond and excimer lasers. He has practised as an ophthalmologist in southern Ireland and in Spain, has performed more than 4,000 cataract surgery procedures, and has gained a vast amount of experience in refractive intraocular lens treatments.

With a keen interest in cataract and lens replacement care, Mr Hernandez regularly attends and speaks at industry conferences to stay on top of the latest developments in the field, and has shared his findings as a co-author and research participant in a substantial number of medical books, journals and clinical studies both internationally and nationally. He also teaches ophthalmology residents and medical students from Spain and other parts of Europe in the ophthalmology and cornea field.

On a personal level, Mr Hernandez loves to travel and to spend time with his family. His current favourite pastime is raising his baby.

Dr Mehul Damani is an ophthalmic surgeon with extensive specialist training in refractive surgery and is considered a leader in his field by his patients and peers. He is a specialist in LASIK and PRK laser eye surgery, having performed over 19,000 procedures, and has mentored many ophthalmic surgeons during their refractive surgery training.

He graduated from the University of Mumbai, where he won the Pfizer Medical award and medallion for first place in the final MBBS examination. He then became a Registrar at Grant Medical College and Sir J.J. Group of Hospitals in Mumbai, subsequently completing three years of specialist ophthalmology training with an emphasis on cataract and glaucoma surgery.

Dr Damani widened his experience as a specialist doctor for Colchester General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Southend University NHS Hospital. He gained further specialist training in refractive surgery and was awarded the Certificate in Refractive Surgery (CertLRS) from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, and has conducted observations in oculoplasty at Moorfields. He has presented many peer-reviewed medical papers and posters for the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ESCRS).

Dr Damani is passionate about Indian classical music and loves to travel and explore different cultures and cuisines. He enjoys the process of training new surgeons.

Mr Dipak Parmar completed his medical training at the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's Hospitals in London. He completed his basic surgical training at King's College Hospital in neurosurgery and ophthalmology, after which he passed the FRCOphth examination to become a Fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. He completed his higher surgical training in ophthalmology and a fellowship in uveitis and medical retina at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.

Mr Parmar completed an international clinical fellowship in cornea, external diseases and refractive surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, from 2003 to 2005. As a result of his training and research he has authored over 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has written 3 book chapters. He is one of the few eye surgeons in the UK to have undergone state-of-the-art training in refractive surgery in a prestigious clinical fellowship programme in the USA, and one of the first ophthalmology consultants in the UK to offer corneal collagen cross-linking treatment for keratoconus, in both private and NHS settings.

He was awarded the CCST (Certificate of Completion of Surgical Training) and specialist registration under the General Medical Council in ophthalmology in 2003, and took up the post of consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust, London, in 2006. He moved on from the NHS in 2017 to further his career as an independent consultant ophthalmic surgeon based in London and Essex, and continues to perform high-volume cataract surgery for independent providers to the NHS on a biweekly basis. He regularly performs lens and laser based vision correction procedures in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Mr Parmar was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (FRANZCO) in September 2011. In 2023 he spent significant time working in busy private and public hospitals in rural south-west Australia, gaining a high volume of experience in general ophthalmology, cataract surgery, medical retina injections, and glaucoma including selective laser trabeculoplasty and iStent minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS).

Mr Parmar has extensive surgical experience with over 15,000 eye surgeries completed to date, including over 10,000 cataract and lens surgeries and over 5,000 laser vision correction procedures.