He received a BS in Chemistry from the University of Miami in 1984 and an MD from the University of Miami School Of Medicine in 1988. He completed an ophthalmology residency at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1992 and a fellowship in Cornea and External Disease at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in 1993. He was formerly Director of the Corneal and External Disease Section, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Texas Health Science Center- San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas until 1999 and served as Residency Program Director for a portion of his time there. His area of research interest involves infectious and inflammatory diseases of the ocular surface and corneal surgery.