- TFOS Ambassadors
Japan
Ikuko Toda
Director and President, Minami-Aoyama Eye Clinic; Lecturer, Department of Ophthalmology, Keio University School of Medicine, and Tokyo Dental College.
Dr. Ikuko Toda is an ophthalmologist whose clinical and academic work focuses on refractive surgery, corneal and conjunctival disease, dry-eye disease, and general ophthalmic care. She provides surgical and medical management across a broad range of subspecialties while maintaining involvement in clinical research and education.
Dr. Toda graduated from the School of Medicine, University of Tsukuba in March 1986. She completed her initial ophthalmology training as a resident in the Department of Ophthalmology at Jikei University School of Medicine from May 1986 to May 1988. She subsequently served as a specialty resident in the Department of Ophthalmology at Keio University School of Medicine from April 1990 to March 1992, and concurrently held an assistant appointment in the Department of Ophthalmology at Tokyo Dental College from April 1990 to May 1994.
From June 1994 to June 1997, Dr. Toda was a research fellow at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, where she worked under the mentorship of Dr. David A. Sullivan on basic research into ocular surface disorders, including studies related to Sjögren’s syndrome and tear-film pathophysiology. Following her return to Japan, she was appointed Director of Minami-Aoyama Eye Clinic in Tokyo in July 1997. In September 1999 she was awarded a Doctor of Medical Science (PhD) from Keio University.
At Minami-Aoyama Eye Clinic, Dr. Toda has provided refractive surgical services since 1997 for patients who have difficulty with contact-lens wear because of dry-eye or ocular surface disease. The clinic’s refractive program includes LASIK, PRK, SMILE, and implantable contact lens (ICL) procedures. Over the course of her clinical practice she has performed approximately 15,000 refractive procedures. Under her leadership the clinic has expanded into a general ophthalmic center offering anterior-segment care, cataract surgery, vitreoretinal treatment, glaucoma management, keratoconus treatment, and eyelid/oculoplastic procedures, and it receives referrals from patients and clinicians across Japan.
In addition to clinical practice, Dr. Toda has held academic appointments: she was appointed Lecturer in the Department of Ophthalmology at Tokyo Dental College in April 2000 and at Keio University School of Medicine in April 2004. She became President of Minami-Aoyama Eye Clinic in January 2002. Her academic activities include supervision, lecturing, and participation in clinical research projects related to ocular surface disease, refractive techniques, and cataract surgery in patients with coexisting ocular surface conditions.
Dr. Toda’s professional interests emphasize the integration of surgical technique and ocular surface management. Her work has concentrated on optimizing outcomes for refractive and cataract surgery in patients with dry-eye comorbidities and on applying evidence from basic research to clinical practice. She has authored and coauthored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and delivered invited presentations at national and international meetings.
She is a member of the Japanese Ophthalmological Society, the Japanese Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.
Dr. Toda continues to practice clinically at Minami-Aoyama Eye Clinic while maintaining roles in teaching and research through her lecturer appointments. Her current activities focus on providing high-quality refractive surgery and comprehensive ophthalmic care, training clinicians, and contributing to clinical studies in ocular surface disease and refractive surgery.
