Professor of Surgery and Academic Head of Ophthalmology at McMaster University; Chief of Ophthalmology at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and Hamilton Health Sciences

Varun Chaudhary is Professor of Surgery and Academic Head of Ophthalmology at McMaster University, and serves as city-wide Chief of Ophthalmology at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and Hamilton Health Sciences in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology and the current President for the Canadian Retina Society.  

Dr. Chaudhary is the Founder and Chair for the Retina Evidence and Trials International Alliance, and the Founder/Director of Retina Consultants of Hamilton, an academic and organizational initiative in age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and retinal vein occlusion in Hamilton. He established and serves as the Principal Investigator for the International Retina Trials Consortium, with 45 clinical sites globally. He also established and leads the Thomas Kevill Advanced Vitreoretinal Imaging Lab at McMaster University. He serves on multiple clinical and medical advisory boards and global steering committees for retina endeavors, and serves on Data Safety Monitoring Boards for multiple phase 2 and pivotal phase 3 global trials in AMD and gene therapy. He serves as an expert member on international guideline development committees.    

Dr. Chaudhary has been awarded multiple education, achievement, and research awards, including the 2023 NSERC Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering; Surgeon Scientist Mid-Career Research Award, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University (2024); the Honor and Senior Honor Award by the American Society of Retinal Specialists; and the Award for Excellence in Ophthalmic Research by the Canadian Ophthalmological Society. He is passionate about evidence generation in the field of retina, and has over 160 peer-reviewed publications.