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Corneal & External Eye Disease


Hussam Banna, MD


Sinthu Ranjan, MD

Mohammad Soleimani, MD

Bonnie Sklar, MD

The University of North Carolina Department of Ophthalmology staffs four American Board of Ophthalmology board-certified, fellowship-trained ophthalmologists who specialize in medical and surgical management of injuries, allergies, inflammation, dry eye disease (DED), dystrophies and other conditions that harm the clear outer layer at the front of the eye — the cornea.  Our specialists treat patients for a wide range of corneal and external ocular conditions, including complex anterior segment reconstruction, various keratoplasty techniques, corneal implants, and ocular surface surgeries.

Our corneal disease faculty experts Assistant Professor Hussam E. Banna, MD, Assistant Professor Sinthu Ranjan, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology Mohammad Soleimani, MD, FICO, and Assistant Professor Bonnie Sklar, MD, offer corneal disease consultative and diagnostic services at UNC Kittner Eye Center in Chapel Hill. These eye specialists surgically treat patients at UNC Hospitals Hillsborough campus and UNC Eye Holly Springs Hospital ORs. The Department’s four corneal disease specialists additionally practice at other UNC Health locations across the Triangle where UNC Ophthalmology offers medical and surgical clinical services: 1) UNC Eye Holly Springs (Banna, Sklar); 2) UNC Park Ophthalmology in North Raleigh (Ranjan); and 3) UNC Hospitals Hillsborough (Banna, Ranjan, Soleimani, Sklar).

Dr. Banna’s scope of corneal disease practice includes cornea cross-linking and keratoconus management.  Dr. Ranjan’s procedural scope of practice includes corneal transplantation. Dr. Soleimani’s scope of expertise related to treating corneal and other types of ocular disease includes keratoplasty, cataract surgery, refractive surgery, femtosecond laser-assisted surgery, ocular surface and stem cell transplantation. Dr. Sklar’s range of corneal disease practice includes corneal disease & transplantation (PK, DSEK, DMEK) and corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL).

Contact UNC Kittner Eye Center at 984-974-2020 to learn more about corneal disease patient care offered by UNC Ophthalmology and to schedule a consultation. To learn more about conditions that affect the cornea and cause various types of corneal disease, visit the NIH National Eye Institute (NEI)’s At a Glance: Corneal Conditions page.