Dr. Aliaa Hamed Abdelhakim is a board-certified ophthalmologist and retina specialist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center’s Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute. She cares for adults with medical and surgical diseases of the retina and also serves patients and families affected by inherited eye conditions. As an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and an Assistant Attending at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Abdelhakim combines advanced diagnostics with individualized treatment plans to protect and restore sight. Her academic path spans medicine, genetics, and basic science. She earned her MD at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, completed ophthalmology residency and a vitreoretinal surgical fellowship at the Harkness Eye Institute, and pursued additional fellowship training in Medical Genetics and Genomics at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York. Prior to medical training she completed a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology at MIT and a postdoctoral fellowship in structural and cell biology at Harvard Medical School/Children’s Hospital Boston. Recognized for excellence with honors including Alpha Omega Alpha, the Heed Ophthalmic Fellowship, and selection as the inaugural Burch-Chang Scholar, Dr. Abdelhakim is dedicated to compassionate, evidence-based retinal care and to advancing the field through research and teaching.