Our Doctors

TRAINING: Dr. Machat received his medical degree in 1986 from the University of Toronto. He was board certified in Ophthalmology in Canada in 1990 by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and in the United States by the American Board of Ophthalmology in 1991. He subspecialized in refractive surgery and has had a completely dedicated excimer laser practice for more than a decade, training both in Germany and Italy for PRK in 1990 and in South America in 1994 for LASIK by the earliest and most experienced pioneers of these techniques.

LASIK EXPERIENCE: TLC affiliated surgeons have performed more than 600,000 LASIK procedures. Dr. Machat has personally performed more than 54,000 excimer laser procedures, including more than 45,000 LASIK procedures and more than 9,000 PRK procedures over the past 12 years. He has also performed more than 10,000 Custom LASIK procedures. Among the very first handful of surgeons to perform PRK in North America, and years ahead of all other surgeons in Toronto to perform LASIK. In fact, Dr. Machat was the first surgeon to do Custom LASIK in Canada in March 2000. He was also the first surgeon to perform Bladeless LASIK using the Intralase in Canada in February 2003 and has successfully completed thousands of those. He has helped pioneer many of the techniques and instruments used by other LASIK surgeons today. In fact, hundreds of patients with LASIK complications have sought him out for his expertise in correcting their vision problems.

MEMBERSHIPS: Dr. Machat has lectured internationally in more than 20 countries over the past decade and has been a member of many international refractive societies including the American Academy of Ophthamology, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the International Refractive Surgery Society, and the European Refractive Surgery Society. He has lectured in Madrid at European Congress of Ophthalmology, in Brazil at the South American Society of Refractive Surgery, at Videorefractiva in Italy and as far away as Australia, China and Korea. He has trained well over a thousand eye doctors in LASIK techniques.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Dr. Machat authored two primary textbooks on laser refractive surgery, Excimer Laser Refractive Surgery: Practice and Principles; and The Art of LASIK. He has pioneered both instruments and techniques for PRK and LASIK. He has been a consultant to several manufacturers for both LASIK microkeratome and excimer laser technology. He has used more than 15 excimer lasers from seven manufacturers including Summit, Visx, Bausch & Lomb Technolas, LaserSight, Nidek, Autonomous LADARVision and the WaveLight Allegretto and a multitude of microkeratomes used to create LASIK flaps. He is one of the few surgeons worldwide to have been certified on the IntraLase laser to create LASIK flaps. His CustomLASIK experience is extensive having performed thousands of wavefront optimized and wavefront guided procedures with multiple systems for more than 5 years, including Bausch & Lomb Zyoptix, WaveLight Allegretto Wave and Visx WaveScan. He has treated many VIPs from hundreds of fellow eye doctors, to athletes, to race car drivers and Fortune 500 CEOs, to the best man at his wedding (a neuroradiologist) to several members of his own family. As cofounder of TLC Laser Eye Centers in 1993, his dedication to the small important details and the reassuring manner in which he talks patients through their LASIK procedure may be his greatest accomplishment.

Downloadable Doctors Bio

TRAINING: Dr. Nianiaris received his medical degree in 1988 from the University of Toronto. His Ophthalmology residency training followed at the University of Toronto. He continued training and completed a Fellowship in Ophthalmic Research (including excimer laser studies) at Mt. Sinai Hospital. He is Ophthalmology certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and he is a Diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology. He has trained and practiced extensively in laser refractive procedures with some of the worlds foremost authorities in refractive surgery. Dr. Nianiaris is also an expert in small incision cataract surgery.

LASER EXPERIENCE: TLC affiliated surgeons have performed more than 600,000 LASIK procedures. Dr. Nianiaris has personally performed over 20,000 laser procedures. Several thousand of these were PRK procedures followed by many more thousands of LASIK procedures, most commonly performed today. As a leading authority in laser vision procedures, Dr. Nianiaris has corrected the vision of eye doctors and surgeons, pilots, professional athletes, police and firefighting recruits and patients from all vocations and backgrounds. He has lectured to hundreds of eye care professionals and continues to train other ophthalmic surgeons in refractive surgery techniques. People come from around the world to have surgery performed by Dr. Nianiaris. He attends international meetings and is involved in many refractive surgery studies.

Dr. Nianiaris has experience with, and continues to use, some of the most advanced lasers in the world. These include the VISX, Bausch & Lomb Technolas, Lasersight, WaveLight Allegretto and Autonomous LADARvision lasers. He has been doing custom, abberometry and wavefront driven refractive surgery long before the majority of North American refractive surgeons. He currently is one of a handful of surgeons around the world certified to use the INTRALASE femtosecond laser to make Lasik flaps.

MEMBERSHIPS: Dr. Nianiaris has been a member of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, the Canadian Ophthalmologic Society, College of Physician and Surgeons of Ontario, the Ontario Medical Association and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

APPOINTMENTS: Dr. Nianiaris has been a Medical Director of TLC Toronto since 1994. He is Chair of the Ethics Review Board of TLC Toronto and is a member of the TLC Toronto Advisory Board. He is also a Clinical Instructor at the University of Toronto. Dr. Nianiaris is the current Chief of Ophthalmology at Toronto East General Hospital where he sits on several committees and performs his cataract and various microsurgical procedures.

Downloadable Doctors Bio

TRAINING:Dr. Smith studied Human Biology at University of Guelph, and then went on to complete a Doctorate of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Still in Toronto, he completed his residency in ophthalmology and was named fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada in 1989. Dr. Smith was initially trained in Laser Vision Correction in 1994 and has trained with some of the leading refractive surgeons in the world since that time.

SURGICAL EXPERIENCE:TLC affiliated surgeons have performed more than 600,000 LASIK procedures. Dr. Smith has personally performed more than 15,000 refractive surgery procedures to date. These include PRK, LASIK, Lensectomy, Astigmatic Keratotomy, Implantable Contact Lenses and Epi-LASIK. He has had extensive experience with six different excimer laser platforms, including custom ablation, and a variety of microkeratomes used to create LASIK flaps. Dr. Smith currently is one of a handful of surgeons around the world certified to use the INTRALASE femtosecond laser to make Lasik flaps.

MEMBERSHIPS: Aside from being a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada and the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Smith is a member in good standing of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:Dr. Smith is past chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, Trillium Health Centre (formerly Queensway General and Mississauga General Hospitals), and has served on the Laser Safety Committee. Dr. Smith has worked extensively with companies that manufacture excimer lasers and corrective implants he was the first surgeon in Canada to insert an astigmatism correcting implant. Aside from treating many close friends and family members, Dr. Smith has performed LASIK on several eye doctors and VIPs, including news anchors, restauranteurs, and CEOs.

Downloadable Doctors Bio