William J. Lahners, M.D., F.A.C.S.
It is with a heavy heart we announce the unexpected passing of Dr. William J. Lahners on December 10, 2021. Dr. Lahners was not only the Center For Sight Medical Director, and one of the leading LASIK, Cataract and lens replacement surgeons, he was a beloved husband, father and friend. He will be greatly missed at Center For Sight and in the ophthalmology community. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Dr. Lahners is survived by his wife Crystal, son William and daughter Ella.
A specialist in All-Laser LASIK, cataract and glaucoma surgery, Dr. Lahners earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, and his medical degree with honors from Louisiana State University. During his medical education, he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society, was one of only six students to complete the four-year honors research program, and was awarded the Luis Perez Award for excellence by the Department of Ophthalmology.
He continued his education with a combined internship in Medicine and Surgery at the Mayo Clinic, a residency in ophthalmology at Emory University, and a fellowship at the Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis.
In 2003, he was invited to be one of the 11 investigators in the U.S. for CustomCornea — wavefront technology that has revolutionized surgical vision correction. He has been a principal investigator in several FDA trials involving cataract surgery, LASIK, pharmaceuticals, corneal cross linking and corneal transplants.
Dr. Lahners was a pioneer in Femtosecond Lasers — the technology used in All-Laser LASIK and Laser Cataract Surgery. He was the first surgeon on the west coast of Florida to use this technology in All-Laser LASIK, and the fifth surgeon in the country to perform laser-assisted corneal transplant surgery. Because of his vast experience with femtosecond lasers, he was invited to be the editor of the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s online textbook chapter on femtosecond laser technology, and served on the editorial board of Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today magazine.
In addition to his certification by the American Board of Ophthalmology, Dr. Lahners was also board-certified in LASIK by the American Board of Eye Surgery. He was an active member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, International Society of Refractive Surgery, and a founding member of the American-European Congress of Ophthalmic Surgery.
Dr. Lahners was recently awarded the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s prestigious Achievement Award for his research and presentations on cataract surgery and LASIK. He has also been honored as one of America’s “Top Doctors” by the prestigious Top Doctors list, published annually by Castle Connolly Medical, Ltd.
