• Role: Founder & Chairman, Andrew Dougherty Vision Foundation

• Practice: Medical Director, Dougherty Laser Vision (DLV Vision)

• Education: University of Pennsylvania; UCLA School of Medicine

• Notable: Leads ADVF World Vision Project surgical missions

Dr. Paul Dougherty is recognized as among the nation’s most experienced laser and lens-based vision correction surgeons. Beyond his clinical practice, he is the passionate founder and driving force behind the Andrew Dougherty Vision Foundation (ADVF), leading its mission to bring world-class eye care to underserved communities and make treatable blindness a thing of the past by 2050.

His career, spanning over two decades, reflects a commitment to both surgical innovation and humanitarian service, having performed more than 40,000 vision correction procedures and serving as a key clinical investigator in the FDA approval process for sight-restoring technologies.

Professional Leadership & Innovation

Dr. Dougherty is the Medical Director of Dougherty Laser Vision (DLV Vision), which operates offices in key Southern California locations including Westlake Village, Camarillo, San Luis Obispo, and Beverly Hills. His dedication to advancing the field is evident in his academic role as an Assistant Clinical Instructor of Ophthalmology at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute.

He was an early U.S. surgeon authorized to perform laser eye procedures and has continually served as a principal investigator for multiple FDA clinical trials. These trials cover technologies such as CATz topography-guided LASIK, the Visian ICL, Raindrop Implants for presbyopia, and advanced Tetraflex and Softec HD intraocular lenses for cataract patients. This expertise has earned him the informal nickname, “the doctor’s doctor,” as many physicians and surgeons trust him with their own vision correction procedures.

He is the author of the patient guide, See For Yourself: The Eye-Opening Guide to Permanent Vision Correction, and has been recognized as a “Top Doctor” by Los Angeles Magazine for his clinical impact.

Education & Credentials

Dr. Dougherty completed his undergraduate work at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating summa cum laude with Phi Beta Kappa honors. He then attended the UCLA School of Medicine, where he completed his medical degree.

He completed his Ophthalmology residency at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute, followed by a fellowship in corneal and refractive surgery under pioneer Dr. Richard Lindstrom at the Phillips Eye Institute.

He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha.

A Legacy of Service: The ADVF Mission

The Andrew Dougherty Vision Foundation was founded in 2007 following the passing of Dr. Dougherty’s five-year-old son, Andrew. The organization channels this personal legacy into a global mission: ensuring access to sight-restoring surgery for people facing poverty, war, and disaster.

Dr. Dougherty leads volunteer surgical teams on humanitarian missions worldwide. His work has taken him to refugee regions in Palestine and Lebanon, and famously to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, where he was featured on ABC’s Nightline performing surgeries for patients blinded by cataracts. This foundation represents the core philosophy of his life: to use his surgical gifts to empower the most vulnerable populations.