The Surgeon Behind the System

Dr. Md Iftekher Iqbal is an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Ispahani Islamia Eye Institute and Hospital, Dhaka, and a Consultant Ophthalmologist specializing in glaucoma, cataract, and complex anterior segment surgery, practising also at Bangladesh Eye Hospital (Uttara and Mirpur branches).

From the very beginning of his career he has worked with an interventional glaucoma mindset — the conviction that glaucoma should be addressed early and decisively, with procedural and surgical intervention brought forward rather than held in reserve after years of escalating drops. At a time when that philosophy was largely absent from practice in Bangladesh, he built his training, his research, and his surgical repertoire around it.

That commitment is what earned him international recognition as the MIGS Pioneer of Bangladesh. He was the first surgeon in the country to introduce TrabEx Pro, Gonioscopy-Assisted Transluminal Trabeculotomy (GATT), and Bent Ab Interno Goniectomy (BANG), and the first Bangladeshi to publish MIGS cases in internationally indexed journals — establishing minimally invasive glaucoma surgery as a viable standard of care in a resource-conscious health system.

He serves as invited faculty, invited speaker, and presenter at national and international meetings, including the Asia-Pacific Glaucoma Congress (APGC), the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) Congress, the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) Congress, the European Society of Ophthalmology (SOE) Congress, the Asia-Pacific Vitreo-Retina Society (APVRS) Conference, the Nepal Ophthalmic Society Conference (NOSCON), and the Nepal Glaucoma Society (NGS) Conference, among many others.

He reviews on a regular basis for indexed journals including the European Journal of Ophthalmology (EJO), the Journal of Glaucoma, Clinical Ophthalmology, Critical Public Health, Clinical Case Reports, Cureus, and the Journal of International Medical Research, among others. Alongside this, he mentors residents and fellows and produces the MIIQ surgical teaching series.