Author: Dr. Gelareh Abedi, MD - Ophthalmologist

Dr. Gelareh Abedi is a board-certified ophthalmologist and vitreoretinal surgeon practicing at Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Medical Center in Woodland Hills, California. Raised in Southern California, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1998, where she was awarded the UCLA Alumni Scholarship and the UCLA Roth’s Scholarship for academic excellence, and completed a Master of Science in Neuroscience at UCLA in 2000, conducting laboratory research on neuronal signaling pathways under faculty mentorship in the Department of Physiological Science .

After graduating magna cum laude, Dr. Abedi pursued her Doctor of Medicine at the Robert Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, earning her MD in 2004 and being honored with the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, the Medical Alumni Scholarship in 2002, the University of Vermont Research Fellowship Award in 2001, the Lee and Ruth Tracy Scholarship in 2000, and the Aldo Leani Scholarship, reflecting her early commitment to research and compassionate care
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She completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Yale–New Haven Hospital from 2004 to 2005 and a residency in Ophthalmology at Yale University School of Medicine from 2005 to 2008, where she developed a passion for diagnosing and surgically treating complex retinal disorders such as retinal detachments, macular holes, and diabetic eye disease.

Dr. Abedi then specialized through a Surgical Retina and Vitreous fellowship at Boston University Medical Center from 2008 to 2010, gaining advanced training in vitrectomy and macular surgery and contributing to clinical research on imaging modalities and novel therapeutic approaches
. Following her fellowship, she joined the faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio as an Assistant Professor, balancing patient care with resident education and research initiatives, and she received the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2011 for her dedication to medical education. In 2012, Dr. Abedi accepted a leadership role with Southern California Permanente Medical Group, where she now serves as Director of Retina Service, overseeing clinical operations and mentoring a multidisciplinary team in delivering high-quality, patient-centered retinal care
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. In her current practice at Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills, she is widely recognized for her compassionate communication and evidence-based management of conditions such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, complex retinal detachments, and macular pucker, consistently earning top patient satisfaction ratings
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. Dr. Abedi maintains active board certification through the American Board of Ophthalmology for the periods 2012–2022 and 2023–2032 and participates in its Continuing Certification program, which includes lifelong learning modules, patient safety initiatives, and periodic knowledge assessments to uphold the highest standards of care; her California medical license remains valid through September 30, 2026.

An accomplished clinician–researcher, she has co-authored influential studies on transitioning from Stratus OCT to Cirrus OCT using Lin’s concordance coefficient, evaluating the role of intravenous immunoglobulin in acute retinal necrosis, and leading a double-masked clinical trial comparing bevacizumab versus ranibizumab in neovascular age-related macular degeneration—a study cited over 70 times in peer-reviewed literature .
Throughout her career, Dr. Abedi has combined clinical excellence, teaching, and scholarly activity to advance the field of vitreoretinal surgery, earning honors such as the Patrick T. Mathews Award from Yale University in 2007 .