UC San Diego
Robert N. Weinreb, MD – a clinician, surgeon and scientist who is internationally renowned for his work with glaucoma – has been selected as the new chair of the department of Ophthalmology and director of the Shiley Eye Center at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Weinreb is currently Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and holds the Morris Gleich M. D. Chair of Glaucoma at UC San Diego. He replaces outgoing chair Stuart I. Brown, MD, who steps down as Shiley Eye Center director after 28 years at the helm.
Weinreb has been at UC San Diego School of Medicine since 1984, and has been the Director of the Hamilton Glaucoma Center since 2003. He is an avid runner, and enjoys basketball and tennis.
He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, a degree in electrical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and completed his medical residency and fellowship at UC San Francisco.
In his clinical practice, Weinreb specializes in glaucoma and cataract surgery. His innovative research in all aspects of glaucoma, particularly optic neuropathy and aging of the eye, has significantly influenced the understanding of glaucoma, its diagnosis and management. His research has led to the development of cutting-edge tools for clinical care and vision science. Weinreb has a special interest in preventing loss of vision in glaucoma – a disease affecting more than 4 million Americans and 80 million individuals worldwide – and restoring the vision of those with glaucoma blindness.
Weinreb has served as president of some of the most respected organizations within the profession, including the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the World Glaucoma Association and the American Glaucoma Society. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (2011) and the Watson Medal of the University of Cambridge (2010). He is the chief editor of the multi-volume Essentials of Ophthalmology and the journal International Glaucoma. The recipient of major teaching awards, he has trained and mentored more than 120 post-doctoral fellows, many of whom hold distinguished academic positions throughout the world.
"UC San Diego's ophthalmology department and the Shiley Eye Center have positively impacted the lives and restored vision of countless individuals with blinding eye diseases from within our community and from across the globe," said Weinreb. "Our researchers and clinicians are recognized as being among the very best in the world, and we intend to have even greater impact by more tightly tying together breakthrough vision research and exceptional eye care to focus on personalized disease prevention and management."
Based at the Shiley Eye Center, the UCSD ophthalmology department includes a complement of outstanding clinicians who provide comprehensive and specialized eye care for the full spectrum of diseases of the eye. During the past decade, departmental teams of clinicians and scientists have translated their research to improve management of a variety of vision-impairing conditions including glaucoma, macular degeneration, ophthalmic plastic surgery, childhood eye disease, diabetic eye disease, and cataracts.