Chris Hampton grew up in Farmington, Connecticut. After high school, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland where he completed his BA and MS in Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University through their dual degree program and graduated with Honors. There he studied ocular development and became interested in ophthalmology. He then returned to his home state to complete his MD at the University of Connecticut, School of Medicine. During medical school he continued to pursue his interest in research and was accepted into the Medical Research Scholarship Program at the National Eye Institute (NEI). There he worked in Dr. Kapil Bharti's lab both at the NEI and at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). His focus was ocular tissue engineering using 3D bioprinting to study disease modeling. 

He subsequently completed his internship and residency in ophthalmology at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, New York, where he was elected Chief Resident. There he developed a passion for cornea and ophthalmologic surgical interventions. He is excited to join UPMC and focus on corneal diseases. 

In his free time he enjoys running, rock climbing, hiking, traveling, and trying new restaurants.