Blake Williamson
Blake Williamson
Dr. Blake K. Williamson, MD, MPH, MS is a third-generation eye doctor who continues the legacy of his family, which has been taking care of the great people of Louisiana for nearly 70 years. Within a few short years of private practice, Dr. Williamson has established himself as a nationally recognized surgeon, thought leader, and lecturer in the fields of advanced cataract surgery, laser vision correction, and micro-invasive glaucoma surgery. Dr. Williamson was born and raised in Baton Rouge and has placed a strong emphasis on education and academic achievement throughout his life, first as a graduate from the Episcopal School and later going on to earn Master’s degrees from both Columbia University in New York City as well as the world-renowned Johns Hopkins Medical Center where he completed an ophthalmology capstone. With a goal of taking care of the people of his home state, Dr. Williamson returned to Louisiana completing his medical school and ophthalmology residency training at LSU and Tulane respectively.
While training at Tulane, Dr. Williamson quickly developed a reputation as a skilled surgeon and he would go on to perform the most phaco cataract surgeries in the history of the residency program, which dates back 100 years. Innovation and using the latest techniques was also a strong focus, and Dr. Williamson was one of the first resident physicians from the United States to perform all bladeless femtosecond laser cataract surgery on the Catalys prototype in the Dominican Republic. He was also the first resident physician in the Southern United States to become certified using iStent, a novel surgical device for the treatment of glaucoma and the smallest FDA-approved medical device in the world at that time. Dr. Williamson remained devoted to research and education during his training and was awarded the highest honor at the annual Tulane O’Brien Research Symposium two years in a row for his work on microscopic glaucoma devices and their role in corneal degeneration. Concern for those less fortunate and giving back has been a strong conviction throughout his career and as a Unite for Sight Global Impact Fellow he has performed surgery on 3 continents and has participated in surgical missions around the world.
After finishing residency training Dr. Williamson completed a one-year private fellowship in refractive cataract & advanced anterior segment surgery as well as modern laser vision correction with internationally recognized vision correction pioneer, Dr. Charles Williamson. He now specializes in state-of-the-art laser-guided cataract surgery and advanced lens implants that reduce or eliminate the need for glasses post-operatively, as well as bladeless all-laser iLASIK designed to reduce the need for contact lenses or glasses. Following the pioneering tradition put forth by his family for decades, in 2016 Dr. Williamson became the first surgeon in Louisiana state history to implant the first and only extended depth of focus lens for cataract surgery approved in the United States. He also became the first surgeon in the state to implant a corneal inlay to reduce the need for reading glasses. He is on the cutting edge of modern minimally invasive techniques to treat glaucoma and reduce or eliminate the need for glaucoma eye drops by performing micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS). Dr. Williamson was one of the first surgeons in the South to implant the Cypress MIGS stent after its FDA approval and he was the first surgeon in Louisiana to implant the XEN stent as well as the OMNI surgical system. In 2019, he became the first surgeon in the State to implant the iStent inject, the smallest medical device in the world used to treat glaucoma.
Dr. Williamson is an active member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery where he sits on the ASCRS Council of 100. He is the technology editor and a member of the editorial board for the Millennial Eye journal. He is also active on the editorial board for Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today Magazine. Dr. Williamson is one of the youngest surgeons ever to be invited as a member to the prestigious American European Congress of Ophthalmic Surgery and is one of the youngest to sit on the refractive editorial board of Eye World Magazine, the official trade journal of the largest group of cataract and refractive surgeons in the United States. He has served as Program Chairman for the Southern Eye Congress and Millennial Eye Live and has been honored to serve on the program committee as expert faculty for numerous ophthalmology conferences both nationally and internationally. Dr. Williamson is considered a Key Opinion Leader and consultant for several pharmaceutical and surgical device companies and has lectured all over the world. In his free time, Dr. Williamson enjoys music and works as a disc jockey for a local FM radio station. He is also passionate about LSU sports, wake surfing, and traveling the world with his wife and their 3 little boys.
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