Dr. Gregg Kokame is a nationally and internationally known retina specialist who performed the first bionic eye surgery in the Asia Pacific region in 2015 and the first gene therapy procedure in Hawaii in 2021, which involved surgical placement of a vector in the sub-retinal space to induce the eye to produce its own medication for wet AMD. He served as president of the Eye Surgery Center of Hawaii for 10 years and founded Retina Consultants of Hawaii in 1993. He is the only retina specialist in Hawaii who is a member of the Macula Society and the American Ophthalmological Society.

Dr. Kokame graduated from Pomona College and received his M.D. from UCLA, where he also trained at the internationally renowned Jules Stein Eye Institute. He completed a vitreoretinal fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, considered the No. 1 training program in the nation. He currently serves as Chief of Ophthalmology at the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine.

Dr. Kokame has given 146 lectures on all 6 populated continents and has received many accolades from the American Academy of Ophthalmology including the Honor Award, the Secretariat Award and the Senior Achievement Award. His most cherished award, the J. Donald Gass Medal from the Macula Society, is named in honor of the most influential retina specialist of the 20th century and Dr. Kokame’s former professor.

Dr. Kokame is medical director of the Hawaii Macula and Retina Institute, which has run over 80 clinical trials.

Dr. Kokame is most proud of his wife, Carol, and daughters, Kristina and Kelli. As a family, they have enjoyed traveling, stand-up paddling, tennis, skiing, snowboarding and their dogs. He and his daughters are proud graduates of ‘Iolani School.