Meet Our Medical Directors
Tom Lindquist
Medical Director
Thomas D. Lindquist, MD, PhD, has been serving as Medical Director at SightLife since 1987. Lindquist is a cornea transplant surgeon and is Chief of Cornea and External Diseases at Group Health Cooperative in Redmond, Washington. Prior to this, he was Director of Cornea and External Service at Virginia Mason Hospital for nine years and also taught for nine years at the University of Washington, reaching the rank of professor.
He is a member of various professional organizations, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Cornea Society, Ocular Microbiology and Immunology Group, Paton Society, and the Washington Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons. He has served on many organization's boards, advisory panels, committees, and projects, including the Cornea Donor Study, working on medical standards, long-range planning, eye care, scientific programs, research, statistical reporting, etc.
His medical training includes:
- Fellowships in Cornea & External Disease and Glaucoma at the University of Minnesota Department of Ophthalmology, 1985-1987
- Ophthalmology residency at University of Washington School of Medicine, 1982-1985
- Internal medicine residency at University Hospitals, New Jersey, 1981-1982
- MD from New Jersey Medical School University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, 1981
- PhD in physiology from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, 1978
- BS with Honor, Wheaton College, Illinois, 1971
Dr. Lindquist is the 2009 recipient of the Eye Bank Association of America's R. Townley Paton Society Award for Eye Banking, the EBAA's highest honor for cornea physicians in recognition of outstanding contribution to the EBAA's development and for exemplifying the precepts of R. Townley Paton, MD, father of modern eye banking and founder of the first eye bank established in the U.S. He received the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Senior Honor Award in 2002. He has been listed in the Best Doctors in America numerous times and listed in Seattle Magazine's "Top Docs."
He has served on the Editorial Advisory Board for Clinical Investigation for the Western Journal of Medicine and has been a scientific reviewer for publications including the American Journal of Ophthalmology, British Journal of Ophthalmology, Archives of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology, Cornea, Comprehensive Ophthalmology Update, Current Eye Research, Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, etc.
Recent publications include two articles in Ophthalmology in 2008 — one on the effect of donor age on cornea transplantation outcome and the other on endothelial cell loss five years after successful cornea transplantation — as a member of the Cornea Donor Study Investigator Group. He has over 75 published papers, more than 40 book chapters, has co-authored five editions of Ophthalmic Surgery, published by Mosby-Year Book Medical Publishers, written numerous abstracts, and given many presentations on a variety of medical topics.
Dr. Lindquist’s research interests include axonal transport in normal and regenerating nerve, glial-axon interactions, astigmatism management, cornea wound healing, light-induced maculopathy, immunocytochemistry, and infectious keratitis, including protozoal organisms. Dr. and Mrs. Lindquist’s four children are all working, studying, or interning in healthcare-related endeavors.
Paul J. Dubord, MD, FRCSC
Associate Medical Director
Paul J. Dubord, MD, FRCSC, has been serving as Associate Medical Director at SightLife since 2002. Dr. Dubord is a Clinical Professor at the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia.
Globally, he is a member of the World Health Organization's specially appointed Expert Advisory Panel on Human Cell, Tissue & Organ Transplantation to promote access, quality and safety in all areas of transplantation. He is the founder of Eyesight International (ESI), which develops local, self-sustainable eye care in the developing world with programs in Asia, Africa, and Central America. In 2012, India's L.V. Prasad Eye Institute named him Cornea Department Chair.
Dr. Dubord is a member of the Eye Bank Association of America's Medical Advisory Board, Paton Society Committee, and is a past board member. He currently serves on the Eye Bank at Tokyo Dental College Medical Advisory Board in Chiba, Japan.
He is a Board Certified Diplomat of the American Board of Ophthalmology and is an Ophthalmology Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada (FRCSC).
His medical training includes:
- Fellowship in Cornea and External Disease at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, England, 1981
- Fellowship in Cornea and External Disease at University of Iowa Hospital, Iowa City, 1980-1981
- Ophthalmology residency at University of British Columbia, 1977-1980
- Internship in medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand. 1975-1977
- Doctor with distinction from the University of Alberta, 1971-1975
- B. Med. Sc in medicine from the University of Alberta, 1969-1973
In 2001, Dubord was awarded the R. Townley Paton Society Award for Eye Banking by the EBAA, the only non-American recipient of this award and the EBAA's highest honor for cornea physicians in recognition of outstanding contribution to the EBAA's development and for exemplifying the precepts of R. Townley Paton, M.D., father of modern eye banking and founder of the first eye bank established in the U.S.
In 2003, he was awarded the Canadian Standards Association’s (CSA) Award of Merit, and in 2001, he received the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Achievement Award. He also received the Faculty of Medicine Honors for Long-Term Contribution (25 completed years) from the University of British Columbia in 2008.
He has co-authored over 32 publications, including a publication for the American Academy of Ophthalmology in Eye Banking and Corneal Transplantation in the developing world with the CSA. He was a lead author in the publication of the most comprehensive set of medical standards for all cell tissue and organ transplantation in the world.
Dr. Dubord has been involved in eye banking in the developing world since 1989. He has worked with the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute (the Ramayamma International Eye Bank in Hyderabad, India) since 1990. In 1990, 25 cornea transplants were performed in Hyderabad. In 2008, almost 1,500 cornea transplants were performed. The Ramayamma International Eye Bank is one of the largest eye banks in the developing world.
Dr. Dubord, through ESI, has developed a center of excellence in eye banking and cornea transplantation through the Ramayamma International Eye Bank. Since 2001, this eye bank has served as a resource center not only for India but the whole developing world. Over 115 ophthalmologists received subspecialty fellowships in Corneal Transplantation and Eye Banking (15 months duration) and over 70 ophthalmologists in the short term (at least 3 months fellowships in Transplantation and Eye Banking). In addition, hundreds of eye bank managers and technicians from all over the developing world have been trained in professional eye banking.
Currently, with the L.V. Prasad Institute, Ramayamma International Eye Bank, and three other eye banking partners supported by ESI and SightLife, a population of over 150 million individuals in India are having their cornea transplantation needs met. This is the largest program of its type in the world.
For over ten years, Dr. Dubord has worked with Health Canada and the Canadian Standards Association, chairing both committees to develop the most comprehensive medical standards for all tissue and organ transplantation that exists. Currently, portions of the standards are referred to in Canadian Federal Regulations, a unique model in the world.
Douglas Holsclaw, MD
Associate Medical Director
Douglas S. Holsclaw, MD, has been serving as Associate Medical Director at SightLife since 2009. His practice as Director of the Cornea and External Disease Service is at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group in Redwood City, California. Dr. Holsclaw is also the Director for Northern California Kaiser Permanente.
Holsclaw holds ancillary positions, all since 1995, as Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California’s San Francisco School of Medicine; Research Ophthalmologist at Francis I. Proctor Foundation for Research in Ophthalmology, University of California; and Director of Ocular Cicatricial Pemphigoid Clinic, Francis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California.
His medical training includes:
- Fellow, Cornea, External Disease and Uveitis, at Francis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, 1993-1994
- Resident in Ophthalmology at University of Texas' Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, 1990-1993
- Intern (transitional) at University of Texas' Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, 1989-1990
- Doctor in Medicine from Columbia University, New York, 1989.
- B.S. in Biology, Cum Laude, from the University of California, 1979-1984
He feels fortunate to continue to participate in many of his academic interests at the University of California San Francisco including subspecialty clinics and teaching and training the next generation of cornea surgeons. He lectures, leads workshops, and moderates regionally and nationally. He has co-presented numerous scientific papers, publishes textbook chapters, performs clinical research, and has co-authored articles and abstracts. In 2011, Dr. Holsclaw received the Sidney R. Garfield Exceptional Contribution Award for his work bringing SightLife to northern California.
Holsclaw is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Association of Proctor Fellows, Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists, Frederick C. Cordes Eye Society, Max Fine Corneal Society, Ocular Microbiology and Immunology Group, and Pacific Coast Oto-Ophthalmological Society.
Holsclaw has a long-standing interest in international ophthalmology. He actively participates in the training of international cornea fellows and is involved with research and clinical efforts to prevent and treat cornea blindness in the developing world.
Outside of medicine, his passion is adventure travel — the further and wilder the better. Closer to home he enjoys scuba diving, tennis and photography.
Matt Oliva, MD
Associate Medical Director
Matthew S. Oliva, M.D., has been serving as Associate Medical Director at SightLife since 2007. His private practice in ophthalmology, specializing in cornea/external diseases and refractive surgery, is at the Medical Eye Center in Medford, Oregon. Dr. Oliva is a licensed physician in Washington and Oregon states.
His medical training includes:
- Corneal & Refractive Surgery Fellowship at the Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, 2003-2004
- His ophthalmology residence was at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine in Seattle, Washington, 2000-2003.
- He interned in medicine/surgery (transitional) at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, 1999-2000.
- Dr. Oliva obtained his Doctor in Medicine with honors from the University of Washington’s School of Medicine in June 1999.
Prior to medical school, his education includes Cambridge University’s Institute for Study in economics & political science in Cambridge, England, completing his studies there in 1992. He then attended Duke University, obtaining his BA in Economics in 1994, during which time he was a research assistant at Duke Eye Center in Durham, North Carolina.
Oliva received the Roy O. Scholtz Award for outstanding medical student work in ophthalmology from the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
He currently serves as a Board member on the Himalayan Cataract Project, a non-profit NGO operating in Asia and Africa to eliminate treatable blindness through the provision of eye surgery, training physicians, and the development of world-class eye care infrastructure. He is also a Corneal Consultant and Instructor for the Tilganga Eye Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, as well as an Affiliate Assistant Professor at Oregon Health Sciences University(Casey Eye Institute) in the Division of International Ophthalmology.
Dr. Oliva is an investigator for the Cornea Donor Study and the Fuchs Endothelial Genetics Study. Recent group publications include two articles in Ophthalmology in 2008 — one on the effect of donor age on cornea transplantation outcomes and the other on endothelial cell loss five years after successful cornea transplantation.
Dr. Oliva spends several months per year working in Asia and Africa teaching and performing corneal transplants and high volume cataract surgery. He frequently hosts and arranges corneal fellowship training for overseas surgeons to expand their capacity to treat corneal blindness in their home countries.
