Dr. Speaker at a Glance
- 70,000+ LASIK and PRK procedures
- 10,000+ ICL procedures
- 4,500+ corneal cross-linking procedures
- Performing LASIK since 1993
- Founder, Cornea Fellowship program at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary; 25+ fellows trained
- Senior Honor Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology
Dr. Speaker is widely recognized as one of the leading laser and corneal surgeons in the country and is well known by Ophthalmologists worldwide for his pioneering research and surgical innovations. As one of the first surgeons to become involved with laser vision correction, he participated as an investigator in the initial clinical trials for several excimer laser systems. He also participated in the initial development work that led to the current femtosecond lasers used in LASIK and SMILE procedures, as well as in current laser cataract surgery. Dr. Speaker also performed the first SMILE procedure in Rome, Italy in 1993.
Before LASIK Was LASIK
Dr. Speaker began performing LASIK in 1993, before the procedure was approved in the United States, at a hospital in the Dominican Republic where the excimer laser ran on twelve car batteries wired in series and the corneal flap was created with a manual microkeratome. In those early years he also solved problems the technology could not yet handle: before lasers could treat astigmatism, he combined astigmatic keratotomy with LASIK, lifting the flap and making precise corrections with a diamond blade, correcting astigmatism years before it was possible with the laser alone.
He participated as an investigator in an early clinical trials of collagen crosslinking for keratoconus, and has performed over 4500 CXL procedures. He has performed over 70,000 LASIK and PRK procedures as well as numerous other refractive surgeries, including more than 10,000 ICL procedures, anterior segment reconstruction, and corneal transplants.
Research That Changed Cataract Surgery Worldwide
Early in his career, Dr. Speaker’s research identified how infection occurs after cataract surgery, tracing post-operative infection to bacteria on the patient’s own eyelids and tear film. He then developed the povidone iodine preparation that neutralizes those bacteria before surgery begins. That method is used in operating rooms around the world today and has saved countless eyes from blindness caused by post-operative infection.
Dr. Speaker also specializes in the patients other practices turn away. For prescriptions too high for LASIK or even the ICL alone, he stages LASIK and ICL procedures together, an approach known as Bioptics, having corrected prescriptions as high as -24 before. Learn more about high prescriptions and complex cases.
The Doctors’ Doctor
Dr. Speaker’s expertise is frequently sought by patients in demanding professions, including pilots, professional athletes, and military and law enforcement officers. His patients have also included celebrities and political figures, including family members of U.S. presidents. And physicians, the most demanding patients in medicine, have made him their choice for decades: ophthalmologists, plastic surgeons, optometrists, and doctors from every specialty have chosen Dr. Speaker for their own eye surgery, and many now send their children to him. More than 250 doctors refer their patients to him, and other surgeons refer him their most complex cases and post-operative problems.
Dr. Speaker and Dr. Abramson have always been dedicated to their patients and their needs, giving them direct access for questions and concerns both before and after their procedures. In this era of corporate medicine, they have evolved their practice into a concierge-style practice, where they deliver a highly personalized experience.
Because of his extensive experience with LASIK, Dr. Speaker believes in the procedure and had it done on himself many years ago, and has performed the procedure on many family members including his wife, brother, mother-in-law, and others.
They trusted each other with their own eyes. Dr. Abramson, who leads the practice’s Westchester office, performed Dr. Speaker’s LASIK, and he performed hers. As far as they know, they are the only surgeon couple in the world who have performed each other’s LASIK.
Education and Training
Dr. Speaker graduated from Brown University and received his MD and PhD degrees from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he graduated from the National Institute of Health Medical Scientist Training Program and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honor society. After an internship in surgery at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, Dr. Speaker completed his ophthalmology residency at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, where he was appointed Chief Resident. Dr. Speaker then received fellowship training at the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia in Corneal and Refractive Surgery, and went on to found the Corneal Fellowship program at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, where he has trained over 25 Corneal and Refractive Surgery Fellows. As fellowship director and resident training director at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, he helped train a generation of New York ophthalmologists, and surgeons across the region use techniques he taught and pioneered. That training is rare: LASIK is a corneal procedure, yet fewer than one in five ophthalmologists complete fellowship training in corneal surgery.
Accomplishments and Honors
Dr. Speaker served as Director of the Residency training program, Chief of the Cornea Service at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, and Chairman of the Infection Control Committee.
He also holds an appointment as an Associate Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at the Mt Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Speaker was awarded the VISX Star which is presented to top excimer laser surgeons in the United States. He has served on the Program Committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, received an Honor Award from the Academy, and served as Program Chair for the International Society of Refractive Surgeons. Dr. Speaker has been featured in major publications such as New York Magazine, SELF Magazine, Crain’s and Cosmopolitan Magazine.
ln addition to being recognized as one of the leading corneal and laser vision correction surgeons in the country by the New York Times, Dr. Speaker has consistently been included in the New York Magazine and Castle and Connolly Best Doctors listings. He is a board-certified Diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology. He is the author of over 60 published research studies and book chapters.
