Our Doctors

Laser Eye Surgeon Merrillville and Hobart

Deen-Gross Eye Centers strongly believes that physician availability is of the utmost importance. In the event of an emergency, our doctors are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our physicians offer a full range of eye care services for both adults and children.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Christopher Deen

Dr. Christopher Deen received his M.S. in Ophthalmology and completed his residency in ophthalmology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist. Dr. Deen has been providing comprehensive eye care needs to people of all ages in Northwest Indiana for over 30 years. He focuses on caring for patients with diabetes, cataracts, glaucoma and also performs routine vision exams.

 

Dr. David Gross

Dr. David Gross received his medical training at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his residency in Ophthalmology at Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist. Dr. Gross provides comprehensive eye care to people of all ages in addition to specializing in no-stitch, no-patch cataract surgery using the state-of-the-art phacoemulsification and foldable intraocular lens technique. He is also certified to implant the new ReSTOR and Toric lenses. Dr. Gross performs laser procedures for the treatment of glaucoma, secondary cataracts,  and laser vision correction, including LASIK surgery. Dr. Gross has performed over 20,000 lens implant surgeries!

Dr. Varun Malhotra

Varun Malhotra, MD, is Fellowship trained in Glaucoma and specializes in the management of difficult glaucoma, as well as general ophthalmology treatment.  Dr. Malhotra’s professional interests include glaucoma filtration surgery, glaucoma tube shunt surgery, glaucoma laser surgery, new minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, and cataract surgery.

Dr. Malhotra grew up in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, where he attended Carl Sandburg High School.  He went on to complete his undergraduate training at Dartmouth College, where he received a Bachelor’s of Arts degree.  He completed his medical doctorate at New York University.  Dr. Malhotra completed his internship at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois.   He returned to complete his ophthalmology residency training at New York University and the esteemed Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital, where modern cataract surgery was pioneered.  Dr. Malhotra then moved on to complete a fellowship in glaucoma at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary at the University of Illinois at Chicago. 

Dr. Malhotra has participated in research and educational projects at New York University, University of Illinois at Chicago, Rush University, and Loyola University.  Dr. Malhotra is also a clinical instructor at Loyola University, where he teaches ophthalmologic surgery and clinical skills to residents and medical students. 

Dr. Malhotra’s personal interests include travel, music, playing sports, and cooking. 

Dr. John Tanner 

(Photo to come)

 

Dr. Tanner was born and raised in British Columbia, Canada.  He received his Bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University and his Doctor of Optometry degree from Indiana University.  He completed disease and pre/post surgical care externships at The Eye Institute of Utah in Salt Lake City and at Commonwealth Eye Surgery in Lexington. 

For the past 14 years, Dr. Tanner has enjoyed diagnosing and treating diseases of the eye in medically oriented clinics.  He is a member of the American Optometric Association, the Indiana Optometric Association, as well as the Northwest Indiana Optometric Society.

Dr. Tanner is fluent in spanish.  He enjoys coaching soccer and spending time with his wife and four children.

 

Dr. Jamie Taffora

(formerly Dr. Jamie Joyce)

Dr. Jamie Taffora, received her Optometric training at Illinois College of Optometry. She is a Board Certified Optometrist who has been practicing in the area for over 12 years. Dr. Taffora specializes in primary care optometry, contact lenses and the optical management of intraocular lenses. Dr. Taffora enjoys caring for patients with diabetes and cataracts in addition to treating children and performing routine vision exams for people of all ages.

 

 

Our Staff

     

Deen-Gross Eye Centers wants you to meet our friendly and knowledgable staff. Our staff strives to ensure that your visit to our eye care center is  pleasant and comfortable!