He completed a residency at the LSU Eye Center in New Orleans and fellowships in corneal surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and in New York, New York on Project ORBIS. Dr. Slade is a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American College of Surgeons. He is an active teacher of surgical techniques and has taught, lectured to, and certified over 8,000 surgeons on LASIK and lamellar refractive surgery.

In 1991, along with Stephen Brint MD, Dr. Stephen Slade performed the first LASIK in the United States. Later he performed the first Custom LASIK ablation based on topography in the United States. He has since done tens of thousands of cases.

Stephen Slade, M.D. has remained on the cutting edge, having the nation’s longest experience with laser cataract surgery, all-laser LASIK, accommodating IOLs (Crystalens), and the implantable contact lens (ICL). In fact, Dr. Slade was a lead investigator and presented the data to the FDA for panel approval for both the Crystalens and the implantable contact lens. Of unique note, Dr. Slade is considered a “surgeon’s surgeon”. Over 450 of his fellow eye surgeons have chosen him for their own eye surgery. He is an active researcher and the U.S. medical monitor for several new technologies including the Intralase laser for All-Laser LASIK, the implantable corneal contact lens, and the Wavelight laser. He has received numerous awards including 11 named lectures, Refractive Surgeon of the Year, two China Service Medals, the Summit Technologies Pioneer of Refractive Surgery Award, the Casebeer Award, and the Lans Lectureship.

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