Kyle Godfrey, MD, FACS

Kyle J. Godfrey, M.D. is an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medicine. He is board-certified and fellowship-trained in oculofacial plastic surgery, a sub-specialty focused on cosmetic, reconstructive, and tumor surgery of the eyelids, orbit (eye socket), lacrimal (tear drainage) system, eyebrows, and face.      

Dr. Godfrey’s clinical interests span the breadth of oculofacial plastic surgery. He is an expert in eyelid surgery, blepharoplasty, ptosis repair (drooping eyelids), correction of eyelid malposition (entropion, ectropion, retraction), Asian blepharoplasty (double eyelid surgery), congenital ptosis and pediatric eyelid malposition, congenital birth defects, tumors and cancers of the eyelids, eyelid chalazion, reconstruction of the eyelids after trauma or Mohs surgery for cancer, orbital tumors, thyroid eye disease (Graves Disease), bulging eyes, orbital decompression, orbital fractures, surgical management of intracranial hypertension (optic nerve sheath fenestration), probing and surgery for tearing or lacrimal outflow obstruction (endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy), botulinum toxin injection (e.g., Botox, Dysport), and aesthetic surgery of the eyelids, eyebrows, and face.

Dr. Godfrey has a special clinical interest in minimally invasive orbit and skull base tumor surgery. This interest has led him to collaborate with colleagues in neurosurgery and otorhinolaryngology to develop and advance techniques for minimally invasive access to orbit tumors, sinus tumors, brain tumors, and other intracranial pathology. For this work, he holds a joint appointment in the Department of Neurological Surgery. He is also a member of Weill Cornell’s multidisciplinary craniofacial team, where he collaborates closely with otorhinolaryngologists, neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons, and other allied specialists in the care of complex congenital and acquired craniofacial conditions.

In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Godfrey is a dedicated medical educator and researcher. He is the Program Director of the Ophthalmology Residency at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Presbyterian Hospital and Faculty in the New York Combined ASOPRS Fellowship Program. He is a three-time recipient of a teaching award at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. He has delivered over 100 lectures and research presentations regionally, nationally, and internationally and helps direct multiple educational conferences and courses. He is the author of over 50 peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters and serves as a frequent ad hoc scientific reviewer for the top specialty journals in his field. Recently, Dr. Godfrey was nominated to participate in the yearlong Leadership in Academic Medicine Program at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Dr. Godfrey completed a two-year fellowship sponsored by the prestigious American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS). During this training, Dr. Godfrey gained broad clinical and surgical experience by treating patients at Weill Cornell Medical Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital, Manhattan Eye Ear and Throat Hospital, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, and Park Avenue plastic surgery practices. To gain further experience in orbital, lacrimal, and eyelid surgery he traveled to the world-renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, England.      

Dr. Godfrey is a graduate of Georgetown University School of Medicine where he received the Ophthalmology Achievement Award for clinical, academic, and research excellence. His residency training was at the Shiley Eye Institute at the University of California San Diego, where he was selected to serve as Chief Resident. He is a Magna cum laude graduate of Westmont College, where he earned a B.S. in Chemistry with Major Honors distinction for his laboratory research on a novel pharmaceutical synthesis technique. As an undergraduate, he was a scholarship athlete, served as captain of the Men’s Tennis Team, and was twice honored as the College’s Golden Eagle Scholar Athlete Award recipient for high moral character, academic, athletic, and leadership achievement.