Alan D. Lacoste, MD, FACS, Ophthalmologist with The Eye Clinic, was honored on June 6, 2015, by the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans by being named the “2014 Alumnus of the Year.” He shared this honor with Charles Schibler II, MD, a gastroenterologist from New Orleans.
Dr. Lacoste was selected from a group of over 39,000 doctors who have graduated from LSU School of Medicine since its inception. He was honored in 2013 as the very first “Distinguished Alumnus” of the Department of Ophthalmology. Dr. Lacoste has served on the faculty at the LSU School of Medicine since 1980, and distinguished as “Clinical Professor” since 1987.
Dr. Lacoste has practiced with The Eye Clinic in Lake Charles, since 1978 specializing in Medical Retina. Shortly after arriving in Lake Charles, he established the first laser clinic between New Orleans and Houston. He brought the first LaserTek 40A Argon Laser in the U.S, to Lake Charles. This photocoagulator is used to treat Diabetic Retinopathy and other retinal problems. He served as head of the Institutional Review Board on the YAG PV-35 solid state laser and was the principal investigator of the FDA core study of that laser. He worked on the FDA core study of chondroitin sulfate viscoelastic, now a type of protective compound used in modern cataract surgery, and also on another FDA core study of the UV blocking intraocular lens used in cataract surgery. In 1991, he was an investigator for the FDA study of the 3M multifocal intraocular lens.
From 1992-1998, Dr. Lacoste, along with Jon Yokubaitis, MD, FACS, also of The Eye Clinic, participated in the HEDS (Herpetic Eye Disease Study) conducted by the National Eye Institute. He was the physician in charge of the original development of the Imperial Calcasieu Medical Complex and Imperial Calcasieu Surgical Center.
Dr. Lacoste is currently a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Fellow of the International College of Surgeons, Fellow of the College of Anterior Segment Laser Surgeons and Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine London, United Kingdom.
