Kavita K. Rao, MD

• Eye Care Services

• American Board of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology

• English
• Spanish
• Marathi

Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
University of Texas at HoustonOphthalmology Research Fellow

Baylor College of MedicineInternal Medicine

University of Texas at HoustonOphthalmology

• Associate Professor — Department of Ophthalmology, UCI School of Medicine
• Member — American Academy of Ophthalmology
• Member — American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin 
• Member — Orange County Society of Ophthalmology

Dr. Kavita K. Rao is a board-certified UCI Health ophthalmologist who specializes in eye diseases and disorders. Her clinical interests include dry eye, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, meibomian gland disease, blepharitis and ocular graft versus host disease.

Rao earned her medical degree at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine in Chicago, Ill., followed by an internship in internal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She completed a residency in ophthalmology at the University of Texas at Houston's McGovern Medical School. She also completed a research fellowship at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.

Her research interests include open globe injuries, ultrasound biomicroscopy as a tool in glaucoma evaluation and intravitreal treatment for diabetic proliferative retinopathy. Her work has been published in academic publications, including Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science and Expert Review of Ophthalmology. Prior to joining the UCI Health and the UCI School of Medicine, she worked at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Rao, who speaks Spanish and Marathi, sees patients in Irvine and Orange.

View this physician's faculty bio ›