Dr. Natalia Villate, MD

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Get to know Ophthalmologist Dr. Natalia Villate, who serves patients in Florida.

Dr. Villate is a highly-trained ophthalmologist who specializes in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of patients with medical and surgical diseases of the retina. She has a special interest in macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, uveitis, and the surgical treatment of cataract complications at Fort Lauderdale Eye Institute.

Located in Broward and Palm Beach County, Dr. Villate uses state-of-the-art surgical and laser techniques to treat various conditions such as: retinal detachments, macular holes, epiretinal membranes, and vascular conditions affecting the eye.

Considering herself as a dynamic physician who has a diverse yet specific set of vital skills, she is interested in ocular manifestations of systemic diseases and strives to treat every patient in a comprehensive and individualized fashion. She enjoys patient care and strives to maintain high quality and compassionate communication with her patients. 

Born in Columbus, Ohio and raised in Bogota, Colombia, Dr. Villate received her medical degree from Universidad Del Rosario where she graduated in the top 10% of her class. She then travelled to Paris, France to complete an internship in internal medicine at The Pitie–Salpetriere Hospital and a postgraduate immunology course at the Pasteur Institute, followed by a pre–residency research fellowship in uveitis at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research. In 1992, she received the Award for Best Research Paper presented at the Pan–American Association of Ophthalmology Meeting in Seville, Spain.

Soon after, she returned to Bogota where she did her residency in ophthalmology at Fundacion Oftalmologica Nacional, followed by a year of fellowship training in vitreoretinal surgery. After completing several successful years as a vitreoretinal surgeon in the country of Colombia, she decided to relocate back to the United States. 

While at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, Dr. Villate completed an internship and a three-year residency in ophthalmology within the Department of Ophthalmology, where she served as chief resident. She also completed a medical retina fellowship at the prestigious Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

During her Fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Dr. Villate was involved in innovative research on macular degeneration, macular imaging techniques, and image analysis. She actively participated in the clinical trials with photodynamic therapy and in large phase II/III studies that led to the approval of Lucentis™ for wet macular degeneration. She also acquired extensive experience on ophthalmic ultrasound and served as a certified angiography reader for clinical trials at the DARC in New York for seven years.

An authority in her field, she is board-certified in ophthalmology by the American Board of Ophthalmology (ABO). The ABO is an independent, non-profit organization responsible for certifying ophthalmologists in the United States of America. 

A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, she is a member of the American Society of Retinal Specialists and the Palm Beach County Ophthalmology Society. 

Ophthalmology is a branch of medicine and surgery, which deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. Ophthalmologists are experts in the diseases, functions, and anatomy of the eye. They may provide routine care such as vision testing, as well as prescribe and fit eyeglasses or contact lenses. However, ophthalmologists are also surgeons. They repair traumatic injuries to the eye and perform cataract, glaucoma, and corneal surgery.

As a testament to her success, Dr. Villate’s work has been published in several peer-review journals and she has been a presenter at numerous national and international ophthalmic meetings. She has also co–authored several book chapters of the Optical Coherence Tomography of Ocular Diseases.

On a more personal note, she is fluent in English, Spanish, and French.

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