Ahmed Elkeeb, MD, MBA
Vitreoretinal Surgeon
Founder, South Atlantic Retina
Dr. Ahmed Elkeeb is a dual board-certified ophthalmologist and vitreoretinal surgeon dedicated to providing world-class care for patients with complex retinal diseases. With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Elkeeb combines a high-level academic background with a patient-centered, private-practice touch.
Dr. Elkeeb completed his residencies in both Internal Medicine and Ophthalmology at Temple University Hospital, followed by fellowship training in vitreoretinal surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch and MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Ophthalmology and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and a member of the American Society of Retina Specialists.
Before entering private practice, Dr. Elkeeb served as an Associate Professor and Medical Director at the University of Missouri’s Mason Eye Institute. There, he spearheaded clinical research and trained the next generation of eye surgeons. His commitment to staying at the forefront of medicine means his patients benefit from evidence-driven treatments and the latest advancements from national clinical trials.
Beyond his clinical skills, Dr. Elkeeb holds an Executive MBA, which informs his "systems-based" approach—ensuring that every patient experience is as efficient, clear, and supportive as possible.
Training
Dr. Elkeeb's path to retina ran through internal medicine first. He completed an Internal Medicine residency at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia and became board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, then returned to Temple for a second residency in Ophthalmology. He finished his training with a two-year vitreoretinal surgery and uveitis fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Branch and the MD Anderson Cancer Center, and is board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology.
That double-residency background matters more in retina than it might sound. Diabetes, hypertension, autoimmune disease, and the medications used to treat them all show up in the back of the eye. Dr. Elkeeb reads those findings as part of a whole patient rather than an isolated picture, and communicates directly with the internists, endocrinologists, and rheumatologists who share the patient's care.
He later completed an Executive MBA at the University of Missouri's Trulaske College of Business — the reason this practice is built the way it is: same-week access for urgent problems, a decade of academic vitreoretinal practice brought into a private office, and no administrative layers between a patient and a decision about their eyes.
Research
Most of what a retina specialist recommends comes from large multicenter clinical trials. Dr. Elkeeb has spent the last decade on the other side of those trials, as the physician running them.
- Principal investigator, DRCR Retina Network. The DRCR Retina Network is the NIH-funded research group whose studies define how diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema are treated in the United States. Dr. Elkeeb served as site principal investigator on multiple DRCR protocols.
- Principal investigator, RGX-314 gene therapy trial for wet macular degeneration. A Phase 3 study of a one-time gene therapy intended to replace ongoing monthly injections. His site was one of only three in Missouri, and the only one in the middle of the state.
- Principal investigator, geographic atrophy trials. Including a Phase 2 study of BI 1584862 and a comparative trial against pegcetacoplan — the frontier of treatment for dry macular degeneration.
- Director of Clinical Research for the University of Missouri Department of Ophthalmology, where he built the research infrastructure that made that trial participation possible.
He has published peer-reviewed work in Ophthalmology, JAMA Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology Retina, and Retinal Cases & Brief Reports, among others.
Clinical trials are not currently enrolling at South Atlantic Retina. This research background is described here because it shapes how Dr. Elkeeb evaluates evidence and counsels patients — not as an offer of trial participation.
Teaching
Before founding South Atlantic Retina, Dr. Elkeeb spent more than a decade training other eye surgeons. He directed the vitreoretinal fellowship programs at both the University of Missouri and the University of Texas Medical Branch, served as Medical Director of the Mason Eye Institute, and held faculty appointments at the University of Missouri and at MD Anderson Cancer Center in the Section of Ophthalmology.
Over that period he trained five vitreoretinal surgery fellows and roughly fifty ophthalmology residents. He received the Exemplary Clinical Teaching Award at the University of Missouri and the Troup Clinical Teaching Award at UTMB.
Service
Dr. Elkeeb founded and led a volunteer retina clinic at MedZou, a free clinic for uninsured patients, securing grant funding to provide intravitreal injections at no cost to patients with diabetic eye disease who had no other route to treatment. He has also volunteered internationally, including as a visiting scholar at Tripoli Eye Hospital and with Unite For Sight in Chennai, India.
Credentials at a glance
- Board certification
- American Board of Ophthalmology; American Board of Internal Medicine
- Fellowship
- Vitreoretinal surgery and uveitis — University of Texas Medical Branch / MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Residencies
- Ophthalmology, Temple University Hospital; Internal Medicine, Temple University Hospital
- Executive MBA
- Trulaske College of Business, University of Missouri
- Societies
- Fellow, American Academy of Ophthalmology; American Society of Retina Specialists
- Hospital affiliations
- HCA Florida Memorial Hospital; Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville
- Languages
- English, Arabic, French
- Florida license
- ME172681
Conditions we treat · In-office procedures · Surgeries we perform