About us
The Macula Clinic provides specialized retina and macular care to patients throughout Ontario
The Macula Clinic
Increasing Accessibility to Macular Disease Treatment
Driven by the demand for eye injections and the burden they were placing on patients and their family members, Dr. Sanjay Sharma – an internationally recognized retina specialist and professor of Ophthalmology at Queen’s University – wanted to make a difference.
The desire to help others in remote locations is part of his DNA.
“I grew up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, watching my father do house calls in the middle of winter. And back then, they were real winters; one of my earliest memories was seeing him clean the snow off chains on his tires before leaving. He would drive two hours to take care of people and deliver babies. We grew up hearing inspirational stories of service around the table.”
The desire to deliver specialized care to patients of Southeastern Ontario became the goal.
“50 years later, while the winters are not as bad as those in Cape Breton, we are living in a precarious situation with respect to the environment. I also thought: does it make sense for 200 people to drive a few hours to see me, or can I drive out to see them?”
And so it started in 2013 with a single outpost down the 401 from Kingston, in Belleville.
Six locations later, The Macula Clinic is serving patients in ex-urban locations across the province with common macular conditions including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and retinal vein occlusion.
Ophthalmologist and Retina Specialist
Dr. Sanjay Sharma
Sanjay Sharma MD, is an ophthalmologist and retina specialist. A professor of ophthalmology at Queen’s University, Dr. Sharma has authored over 300 scientific articles that have been cited over 10,000 times, and 3 books including the American Medical Association Press’s Evidence-Based to Value-Based Medicine. An active researcher in macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, the microbiome, senescence and medical education, he has received significant awards from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The founder of Queen’s University’s fellowship in retinal diseases, Dr. Sharma has trained eye doctors from around the world. He is the creator of Optocase – an upskilling platform used by over 24,000 eye doctors worldwide and MEDSKL – a medical education platform used by students from over 500 medical schools. Dr. Sharma, who has performed over 250,000 retina procedures, completed his medical training at Wills Eye Hospital & Harvard University.
Ophthalmologist
Dr. Manny Bal
Manny Bal MD, is an award-winning ophthalmologist and retina specialist. Dr. Bal completed his medical school at McMaster University and his residency in ophthalmology at University of Ottawa. After completing his fellowship in retina from Queen’s University, he served as an attending physician at Queen’s University as an assistant professor. Dr. Bal is an active researcher in macular degeneration, ocular stroke and eye injections. Dr. Bal has performed over 100,000 ocular procedures.