Ali R. Djalilian is the Searls-Schenk Professor of Ophthalmology at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Illinois College of Medicine. He earned his MD from the University of Minnesota and completed his Residency at the University of Minnesota Medical School, his Fellowship in Cornea Research at the University of Minnesota, his Fellowship in Cornea and Ocular Surface Disorders at Cincinnati Eye Institute, and his Fellowship in Ocular Immunology and Uveitis at the National Eye Institute. He specializes in the cornea, particularly ocular surface diseases and immunologic diseases of the cornea and anterior segment. He is a leading expert on ocular surface reconstruction and has developed innovations in the surgical techniques for limbal stem cell transplantation.