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Douglas R. Matsunaga, M.D.

"I am proud to provide high-quality retina care to patients in the Inland Empire."

Dr. Douglas R. Matsunaga is a board-certified ophthalmologist specializing in the medical and surgical treatment of diseases of the retina and vitreous at Pacific Eye Institute.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Dr. Matsunaga graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the Keck School of Medicine of USC. After completing a medical internship at the St. Mary Medical Center, Dr. Matsunaga went to the prestigious Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia for residency training in ophthalmology. For additional sub-specialty training, he completed a two-year vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at the USC Roski Eye Institute.

Dr. Matsunaga has authored numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications, case reports, and book chapters on vitreoretinal disease, and has been an invited speaker at both national and international ophthalmologic conferences. He is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Retina Specialists, and the Los Angeles Society of Ophthalmology.

Outside his work in ophthalmology, Dr. Matsunaga enjoys adventure. Where traveling the world, scuba diving, or running, biking and camping in the great outdoors. He is also an avid reader and loves trying new foods; he describes himself as an overambitious cooker.

  • College 
    B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA. Summa cum laude (2005-2009)
  • Medical School 
    Doctor of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA. USMLE Step 1:263 (2010-2015) 
  • Internship 
    Medical Internship, St. Mary Medical Center, Long Beach, CA. (2016-2017) 
  • Residency 
    Ophthalmology Residency Program, Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA (2017-2020) 
  • American Academy of Ophthalmology
  • American Medical Association
  • American Society of Retina Specialists
  • Matsunaga D, Salabati M, Obeid A, Wibbelsman T, Wu C, Mahmoudzadeh R, Ojalvo I, Bilello J, Sivalingam A, Ho A, Chiang A, Hsu J. Outcomes of Eyes with Diabetic Macular Edema that are Lost to Follow-up after Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Therapy. Am J Ophthalmol. 2022 Jan; 233:1-7. PMID: 34283979
  • Matsunaga D, Su D, Sioufi K, Obeid A, Wibbelsman T, Ho AC, Regillo CD. The Timing of Large Submacular Hemorrhage Secondary to Age-Related Macular Degeneration Relative to Anti-VEGF Therapy. Ophthalmology Retina. 2021 Apr; 5(4):342-347. PMID: 32763426.
  • Matsunaga D, Williams BK Jr, Desai KB, Shields CL. Extensive “stalagmite” epi-iridic juvenile xanthogranuloma simulating diffuse melanoma in a 16-year-old girl. JAAPOS. 2020 Aug; 24(4):253-255. PMID: 32621982.
  • Jenkins TL, Talcott KE, Matsunaga D, Ryan ME, Obeid A, Chung CA, Garg SJ. Endogenous Bacterial Endophthalmitis: A Five-Year Retrospective Review at a Tertiary Care Academic Center. Ocul Immunol Inflamm. 2020 Aug 17; 28(6):975-983. PMID: 31418616.
  • Matsunaga D, Zhang M, Penne R. Streptococcus anginosus induced pott’s puffy tumor with contiguous severe orbital abscess. Review of Ophthalmology, June 2018, 63-66.
  • Matsunaga D, Malik K, Shields C. Xanthocoria brings a 2-year-old boy to the Wills Eye Hospital. Review of Ophthalmology, February 2018, 63-66.
  • Matsunaga D, Yi J, Puliafito CA, Kashani AH. OCT angiography in healthy human subjects. Ophthalmic Surgery, Lasers and Imaging Retina. 2014 Nov-Dec;45(6):510-5. PMID: 25423629
  • Matsunaga D, Sreekumar PG, Ishikawa K, Terasaki H, Barron E, Cohen P, Kannan R, Hinton DR. Humanin Protects RPE Cells from Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Induced Apoptosis by Upregulation of Mitochondrial Glutathione. PLoS One. 2016 Oct 26;11(10):e0165150. PubMed PMID: 27783653
  • Matsunaga D, Yi J, Olmos de Koo L, Amiri H, Puliafito CA, Kashani AH. Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) of Diabetic Retinopathy in Human Subjects. Ophthalmic Surgery, Lasers and Imaging Retina. September 2015. PMID: 26431294
  • Moysidis SN, Koulisis N, Ameri H, Matsunaga D, Yi J, Isozaki VL, Kashani AH, Olmos de Koo LC. Multimodal Imaging of Geographic Areas of Retinal Darkening. Retin Cases Brief Rep. 2015 Fall;9(4):347-51. PMID: 26421892 • Wong DJL, Rao A, Avramis E, Matsunaga D, Komatsubara, KM, Atefi MS, Escuin-Ordinas H, Chodon T, Koya RC, Ribas A, Comin-Anduix B. Exposure to a histone deacetylase inhibitor has detrimental effects on human lymphocyte viability and function. Cancer Immunology Research. 2014. PMID: 24795358
  • Niehr F, von Euw E, Attar N, Guo D, Matsunaga D, Sazegar H, Ng C, Glaspy JA, Recio JA, Lo RS, Mischel PS, Comin-Anduix B, Ribas A. Combination therapy with vemurafenib (PLX4032/RG7204) and metformin in melanoma cell lines with distinct driver mutations. Journal of Translational Med. 2011 May 24;9:76. PMID: 21609436
  • Comin-Anduix B, Chodon T, Sazegar H, Matsunaga D, Mock S, Jalil J, Escuin-Ordinas H, Chmielowski B, Koya RC, Ribas A. The oncogenic BRAF kinase inhibitor PLX4032/RG7204 does not affect the viability or function of human lymphocytes across a wide range of concentrations. Clinical Cancer Research. 2010 Dec 15;16(24):6040-8. PMID: 21169256
  • Comin-Anduix B, Sazegar H, Chodon T, Matsunaga D, Jalil J, von Euw E, Escuin-Ordinas H, Balderas R, Chmielowski B, Gomez-Navarro J, Koya RC, Ribas A. Modulation of cell signaling networks after CTLA4 blockade in patients with metastatic melanoma. PLoS One. 2010 Sep 15;5(9):e12711. PMID: 20856802

Book Chapters

  • Matsunaga D, Haller J (2021). Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine Toxicity. In Gervasio K, Peck T (Ed.), The Wills Eye Manual: Office and Emergency Room Diagnosis and Treatment of Eye Disease (8th edition). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. In Press
  • Matsunaga D, Benson B (2021). Cone Dystrophy. In Gervasio K, Peck T (Ed.), The Wills Eye Manual: Office and Emergency Room Diagnosis and Treatment of Eye Disease (8th edition). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. In Press
  • Matsunaga D, Haller J (2021). Optic Pit. In Gervasio K, Peck T (Ed.), The Wills Eye Manual: Office and Emergency Room Diagnosis and Treatment of Eye Disease (8th edition). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. In Press
  • Matsunaga D, Haller J (2021). Solar Retinopathy. In Gervasio K, Peck T (Ed.), The Wills Eye Manual: Office and Emergency Room Diagnosis and Treatment of Eye Disease (8th edition). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. In Press
  • Matsunaga D, Benson B, Gupta O (2021). Stargardt Disease. In Gervasio K, Peck T (Ed.), The Wills Eye Manual: Office and Emergency Room Diagnosis and Treatment of Eye Disease (8th edition). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. In Press
  • Matsunaga D, Mehta S (2020). Syphilitic Chorioretinitis. In Chiang C, Hsu J (Ed.), The Retina Pocket Ophthalmology Guide. Thorofare, NJ: Slack inc.
  • Matsunaga D, Park C (2020). Coats Disease. In Chiang C, Hsu J (Ed.), The Retina Pocket Ophthalmology Guide. Thorofare, NJ: Slack inc.
  • Academic Presentations
  • Matsunaga D, Moshfeghi A. Uncommon presentation of something uncommon. Oral presentation at Zooming in on Retina; October 2020.
  • Matsunaga D, Su D, Kareem S, Obeid A, Wibbelsman T, Haller J, Ho A, Regillo C. Submacular hemorrhage secondary to age-related macular degeneration in a treat and extend regimen: Clinical characteristics and correlations. Oral presentation at the Retina Society 2019 Annual Meeting; September 2019. London, United Kingdom.
  • Matsunaga D, Su D, Regillo C. Submacular hemorrhage in age-related macular degeneration: a retrospective review. Oral presentation at the 2018 Annual Wills Eye Hospital Conference. March 2018. Philadelphia, PA.
  • Matsunaga D, Al-Saleh A, Bahman C. Perioperative decision making in a neurosurgical emergency case in the setting of thyrotoxicosis and non-STEMI. Poster presented at the 2016 American College of Physicians Southern California 2016 Meeting. October 22, 2016. San Diego, CA.
  • Matsunaga D, Yi J, Puliafito C, Kashani A. Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Diabetic Retinopathy in Human Subjects. Poster presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting for the Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. May 2015. Denver, CO.
  • Matsunaga D, Yi J, Puliafito C, Kashani A. Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Diabetic Retinopathy in Human Subjects. Oral and Poster presentation at the 2015 Keck Medical Student Research Forum. April 7, 2015; Los Angeles, CA.
  • Matsunaga D, Yi J, Puliafito C, Kashani A. Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Human Subjects. Poster presentation at the Frontiers of Optical Coherence Tomography 2015 Conference. February 14, 2015. Pasadena, CA.
  • Matsunaga D, Ishikawa K, Sreekumar P, Kannan R, Hinton D. Protection of Human RPE Cells from Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress by Humanin: Relationship to Antioxidant Enzymes and Mitochondrial GSH. Oral presentation at the International Society of Eye Research XXI Biennial Meeting; July 23, 2014; San Francisco, CA.
  • Matsunaga D, Kuremoto K, Yamzon J, Choi I, Lee K, Koh C. FGF10/FGFr2b Signaling in Quiescent Murine Urothelial Maintenance. Poster presentation at the 2012 Keck Medical Student Research Forum; April 2012; Los Angeles, CA.

Academic Presentations

  • Matsunaga D, Moshfeghi A. Uncommon presentation of something uncommon. Oral presentation at Zooming in on Retina; October 2020.
  • Matsunaga D, Su D, Kareem S, Obeid A, Wibbelsman T, Haller J, Ho A, Regillo C. Submacular hemorrhage secondary to age-related macular degeneration in a treat and extend regimen: Clinical characteristics and correlations. Oral presentation at the Retina Society 2019 Annual Meeting; September 2019. London, United Kingdom.
  • Matsunaga D, Su D, Regillo C. Submacular hemorrhage in age-related macular degeneration: a retrospective review. Oral presentation at the 2018 Annual Wills Eye Hospital Conference. March 2018. Philadelphia, PA.
  • Matsunaga D, Al-Saleh A, Bahman C. Perioperative decision making in a neurosurgical emergency case in the setting of thyrotoxicosis and non-STEMI. Poster presented at the 2016 American College of Physicians Southern California 2016 Meeting. October 22, 2016. San Diego, CA.
  • Matsunaga D, Yi J, Puliafito C, Kashani A. Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Diabetic Retinopathy in Human Subjects. Poster presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting for the Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. May 2015. Denver, CO.
  • Matsunaga D, Yi J, Puliafito C, Kashani A. Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Diabetic Retinopathy in Human Subjects. Oral and Poster presentation at the 2015 Keck Medical Student Research Forum. April 7, 2015; Los Angeles, CA.
  • Matsunaga D, Yi J, Puliafito C, Kashani A. Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Human Subjects. Poster presentation at the Frontiers of Optical Coherence Tomography 2015 Conference. February 14, 2015. Pasadena, CA.
  • Matsunaga D, Ishikawa K, Sreekumar P, Kannan R, Hinton D. Protection of Human RPE Cells from Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress by Humanin: Relationship to Antioxidant Enzymes and Mitochondrial GSH. Oral presentation at the International Society of Eye Research XXI Biennial Meeting; July 23, 2014; San Francisco, CA.
  • Matsunaga D, Kuremoto K, Yamzon J, Choi I, Lee K, Koh C. FGF10/FGFr2b Signaling in Quiescent Murine Urothelial Maintenance. Poster presentation at the 2012 Keck Medical Student Research Forum; April 2012; Los Angeles, CA.

Dr. Matsunaga’s Patient Reviews

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