Dr. Mona Harissi-Dagher
MD, FRCSC, DABO
Over 70,000 ocular procedures performed
Educational background
Dr. Mona Harissi-Dagher completed her undergraduate degree at McGill University where she received the Hilda Diana Oakley scholarship for her ranking as the top female student at McGill. She then completed her medical degree and specialization in ophthalmology at Université de Montréal, graduating on the dean’s honour list. Dr. Harissi-Dagher then pursued a post-doctoral fellowship training in cornea, external eye diseases, and refractive surgery at the prestigious Harvard Medical School. As an associate staff member at Harvard’s renowned Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Dr. Harissi-Dagher sub-specialized in the most elaborate corneal, intraocular, cataract and refractive surgical techniques.
Dr. Harissi-Dagher is an authority on intraocular procedures with a specific focus on corneal and refractive surgery. She has brought her expertise on keratoprosthesis surgery (a revolutionary ocular prosthesis implanted to correct corneal blindness) to Canada after conducting considerable research and clinical work at Harvard Medical School. She has also trained eminent American surgeons in performing this surgery.
As one of the first Canadian surgeons to use the IntraLase femtosecond laser, Dr. Harissi-Dagher has authored pieces as well as presented at the International Conference of Femtosecond Laser in Ophthalmology. She is also well-versed in Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking (CXL) for patients with keratoconus.
Dr. Harissi-Dagher is currently a professor at Université de Montréal where she teaches ophthalmologists-in-training, medical students, residents and fellows. She is the head of the ophthalmology department at Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), and is a very prolific researcher at Centre de recherche du CHUM. She is also currently the medical director of the LASIK MD clinic in Brossard.
After restoring sight to several Canadian patients, Dr. Harissi-Dagher was named “Personality of the Week” by La Presse and Radio-Canada.
Throughout her academic training, Dr. Harissi-Dagher was consistently on the honours list and received several scholarships. During her residency, she was given the Resident Research Award by the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation. More recently, she has received research grants from the Fonds de recherche de l’Université de Montréal, the E. A. Baker Foundation for the Prevention of Blindness, the Fondation des maladies de l’œil and the Fondation du centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal to perform pioneering work. More recently, she has had the distinct honour of being the recipient of an American Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement Award.
Dr. Harissi-Dagher has completed extensive research projects in the field of ophthalmology and more particularly, in corneal and refractive surgery. She has published numerous articles and acts as a reviewer for ophthalmological journals. She has also authored numerous works on the subjects of the cornea and external eye diseases. Dr. Harissi-Dagher has been a guest lecturer at ophthalmology conferences, nationally and internationally. In addition to her duties as chair of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society (COS) Annual Meeting, Dr. Harissi-Dagher is also a president of the Board of Directors of the COS.
- Collège des médecins du Québec
- Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec
- Association des médecins ophtalmologistes du Québec
- Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
- Canadian Association of University Professors of Refractive Surgery
- Canadian Ophthalmological Society
- Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
- American Academy of Ophthalmology
- American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery
- American Board of Ophthalmology
- Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine
- They remain up-to-date on latest laser vision technologies and techniques
- They teach surgeons-in-training at prominent universities
- They conduct ongoing research in the field of refractive surgery