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Maria Del Valle Estopinal

Maria Del Valle Estopinal

Director of Ophthalmic Pathology Division, Associate Clinical Professor of Pathology and Ophthalmology, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine

Biography

Maria Del Valle Estopinal, M.D., is Director of Ophthalmic Pathology Division and Associate Clinical Professor of Pathology and Ophthalmology at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. She received her medical degree from University Del Norte in Colombia and completed residencies in ophthalmology at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia and anatomic pathology at the University of South Alabama. She completed fellowships in ophthalmic pathology at Baylor College of Medicine/Cullen Eye Institute and surgical oncology pathology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Del Valle Estopinal has served as principal investigator on multiple funded research projects, including studies on IgG4-related orbital disease, P16 expression in squamous cell carcinoma of the ocular surface, and melanocytic abnormalities in actinic conjunctival lesions. She received a Lions Foundation for Sight Research Grant, UC Irvine Gavin Herbert Eye Institute 20/20 Society Pilot Research Grant and CHAO Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Pilot Award. She serves as course director for the California Ophthalmic Pathology Meeting and served as academic editor for a special issue on eye pathology diagnostics. Her research has been published in journals including Ophthalmology, Cornea, and the British Journal of Ophthalmology, among others.

Del Valle Estopinal is board certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic pathology and holds medical licenses in California, Colombia, and Spain. She is a member of the College of American Pathologists, the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, the Eastern Ophthalmic Pathology Society, and the Verhoeff-Zimmerman Ophthalmic Pathology Society. She has presented her research at national and international meetings and provides volunteer ophthalmology services at the Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange, California.

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Education

  • M.D., University Del Norte, 1993
  • Residency in Ophthalmology, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 1999
  • Residency in Anatomic Pathology, University of South Alabama, 2016
  • Fellowship in Ophthalmic Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine/Cullen Eye Institute, 2010
  • Fellowship in Surgical Oncology Pathology, The University of Texas/MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2017
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Distinctions

  • Internship Year - Outstanding Performance in Colombia, University Del Norte, 1992-1993
  • Ophthalmology Residency Honors, FICIO Scholarship, Fundación Instituto de Cirugía Ocular, 1998-1999
  • Medical Doctor Degree with Honors, Salutatorian, Class of 1993, 1993
  • Member of the Medical Student Scientific Committee, University Del Norte, School of Medicine, 1987-1990
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Areas of Expertise

  • Ophthalmic Pathology
  • Ocular Surface Neoplasia
  • Orbital Tumor Diagnosis
  • Eyelid Carcinoma Histopathology
  • Conjunctival Melanocytic Abnormalities
  • IgG4-Related Ophthalmic Disease
  • Infectious Keratitis Pathogenesis

Recent Publications

  • Maria Del Valle Estopinal, Connor R. Zuraski, Andreas Mitsios, Rachel Frauches, Cole Ferguson, Jonathan Lin, “Orbital Masses and Tumors” (opens in new tab), Encyclopedia of the Eye, Second Edition, Elsevier Books, pp. V2-495, 2025.
  • Ton M.-L.N., Del Valle Estopinal M., Mishra K., “Iris and anterior chamber angle melanoma masquerading as benign melanocytic lesion” (opens in new tab), American Journal of Ophthalmology Case Reports, vol. 39, 2025.
  • Andrew Browne, Geunwoo Kim, Anderson Vu, Josiah To, Don Minckler, Maria Del Valle Estopinal, Narsing Rao, Christine Curcio, “Deep learning assisted imaging methods to facilitate access to ophthalmic telepathology”, Ophthalmology Science, vol. 4, pp. 100450, 2024.
  • Christine K. Kim, Joseph T. Mekhail, David M. Morcos, Christopher D. Yang, Sanjay R. Kedhar, Cinthia Kim, Maria Del Valle Estopinal, Olivia L. Lee, “Three Cases of Recalcitrant Paecilomyces Keratitis in Southern California Within a Short Period” (opens in new tab), Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection, vol. 14, pp. 1, 2024.
  • Han MM, Dermarkarian CR, Del Valle Estopinal MD, Tao JP, “Kimura Disease of the Periorbita and Earlobe in a 15-YearOld Male: A Case Report and Review of the Literature” (opens in new tab), Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 26-33, 2023.
  • Han MM, Dermarkarian CR, Camacho MB, Estopinal MDV, Tao JP, “Metastatic Epithelioid Sarcoma of the Eyelid in a 47-Year-Old Man: A Case Report”, Ophthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. e112-e115, 2023.
  • Zada S, Tao J, Estopinal MDV, “Cutaneous Squamous cell Carcinoma with Signet Ring Cell Component and CDX2 Expression In a Patient Treated with PD-1 Inhibitor: A Case Report of Common Tumor with Unusual Differentiation”, Case Rep Pathol, vol. 2023, pp. 3378044, 2023.
  • Minckler D, Del Valle Estopinal M, Kedhar S, “Acanthamoeba keratitis, a semiquantitative study of encysted organisms in a corneal specimen”, Trends in Ophthalmology. Open Access Journal, 2023.
  • Don S. Minckler, Richard R Weiss, Maria Del Valle Estopinal, Cassiana E Bittencourt, “Demodex Folliculorum can cause pyogenic granuloma of conjunctiva”, Arch Surg Clinl Case Rep, vol. 6, pp. 212, 2023.
  • Tu Tran, Sanja Cypen, Maria Del Valle Estopinal, JeremiahTao, “Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma with ocular then orbital metastases” (opens in new tab), Case Reports in Ophthalmology, vol. 13, pp. 76-81, 2022.
  • Bhatter, P, Chhadva, P, Del Valle Estopinal M, Farid, M, “Iris Nevus (Cogan-Reese) Syndrome Presenting with Zonular Dehiscence During Cataract Extraction” (opens in new tab), Case Reports in Ophthalmology, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 435-440, 2022.
  • Del Valle Estopinal M, Swan R, Rosenberg K, “A rare presentation of metastatic renal cell carcinoma masquerading as a posterior vitritis after tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy” (opens in new tab), Diagnostics (Basel), vol. 12, no. 7, pp. 1712, 2022.
  • Del Valle Estopinal M, Middleton, LP, Esmaeli B, Patel K, Nowroozizadeh, S, Williams MD, “Primary signet ring cell/histiocytoid carcinoma of the eyelid: clinicopathologic analysis with evaluation of the E-cadherin/B-catenin complex and associated genetic alterations”, Case Rep Pathol, vol. 2021, 2021.
  • David Merriott J, Sanja Cypen G, Amir Marvasti H, Maria Estopinal D, Lilangi Ediriwickrema S, “Actinomyces Canaliculitis Complicated by Orbital Pyogenic Granuloma”, Journal of Ophthalmic Surgery, vol. 4, pp. 30-32, 2021.
  • Vamsee K. Neerukonda, Bryant Carruth, Maria Del Valle Estopinal, “Invasive carcinoma ex-pleomorphic adenoma of the lacrimal gland with a cystadenocarcinoma component: a case report and review of the literature”, Case Rep Pathol, vol. 2020, pp. 1-6, 2020.
  • Font RL, Del Valle M, Mitchell B, Boniuk, “Cat-Scratch uveitis simulating retinoblastoma confirmed by histological, serological, and molecular diagnoses”, Cornea, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 468-71, 2011.
  • Del Valle M, Font RL, “Achromobacter Keratopathy”, Ophthalmology, vol. 116, pp. 165-165. e2, 2009.
  • Font RL, Ray R, Mazow M, Del Valle M, “Mesenchymal Chondrosarcoma of the orbit. Interesting radiologic-pathologic correlation”, Ophthal Plast Reconstr Surg, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 219-22, 2009.
  • Font RL, Del Valle M, Avendano J, Longo M, Boniuk M, “Primary adenoid cystic carcinoma of the conjunctiva arising from the accessory lacrimal glands: a clinicopathologic study of three cases”, Cornea, vol. 27, pp. 494-7, 2008.
  • Abad JC, Rubinfeld RS, Del Valle M, Belin MW, Kurstin JM, “Vertical D: a novel topographic pattern in some keratoconus suspects”, Ophthalmology, vol. 114, pp. 1020-6, 2007.
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Contact Information

Email: delvallm@uci.edu

Phone: (714) 456-6141

Address: UCIMC, Bldg. 1, Rm. 3003

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This profile was created with the help of AI.

Last updated on 10/4/2026.