Dr. Samuel Navon

Dr. Samuel Navon, MD, is a Staff Physician in the Eye Institute at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.

Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Dr. Navon worked at the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, the world’s largest free-standing eye hospital, where he served as Director of the Cornea and Cataract Division, Director of Medical Education and also helped build the region’s first fellowship program in ophthalmology. During this time, he trained over fifty ophthalmologists who continue to make enormous contributions both inside and beyond the Arabian Peninsula. Dr. Navon returned to the US in 2000 to practice as a corneal and cataract surgeon in Western North Carolina.

Dr. Navon’s international medical experience includes charitable work in Honduras, Haiti, China and Bangladesh. This has included invitations as a visiting surgeon in Orbis programs on board the world’s only flying eye hospital. In 2013, he co-founded the Global Eye Project, an organization which is integrally involved with medical education and the construction of an eye center in Haiti.

His interests include the treatm​ent of medical and surgical disorders of the ocular surface, such as keratoconus, inflammation and corneal scars. He also specializes in no-stitch/no-needle cataract surgery, refractive surgery and the use of custom lens implants to reduce the need for glasses and contact lenses.

He received his medical degree from the University of Rochester after receiving his PhD in biophysics from the Jules Stein Eye Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. While completing his PhD, Dr. Navon published groundbreaking papers on the biochemistry of vision and his thesis was recognized as best in his department. Following a year of medical internship, he completed both his ophthalmology residency and fellowship training in corneal surgery at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dr. Navon resides in Abu Dhabi with his wife and two sons.​​

PROFESSIONAL JOURNEY

• 1989 - 1990: CAMEY HOSPITAL, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, US. Medical Intern
• 1985 - 1989: UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, US. Doctor of Medicine (MD)
• 1981 - 1985: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ＆ UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, US. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Biophysics
• 1993 - 1994: MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, US. Chief Resident, Ophthalmology
• 1990 - 1993: MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, US. Resident, Ophthalmology
• 1994 - 1995: MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, US. Fellow, Cornea and Anterior Segment

WORK EXPERIENCE

• 2002 - 2013: CAROLINA OPHTHALMOLOGY, HENDERSONSVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, US. Owner, Ophthalmologist
• 2000 - 2002: CAROLINA EYE ASSOCIATES, CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, US. Ophthalmologist
• 1996 - 1997: KING KHALED EYE SPECIALIST HOSPITAL, RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA. Chief, Anterior Segment Division
• 1995 - 1996: KING KHALED EYE SPECIALIST HOSPITAL, RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA. Member, Anterior Segment Division
• 1995 - 2000: KING KHALED EYE SPECIALIST HOSPITAL, RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA. Director, Medical Education
• 1993 - 1994: MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, US. Director, Trauma Service