Feldman named ophthalmology chair
at UT Medical School at Houston
HOUSTON – (Dec. 23, 2008) – Robert M. Feldman, M.D., an expert in the treatment of glaucoma and other degenerative eye disorders, has been named chairman of the Richard S. Ruiz, M.D. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.
Robert M. Feldman, M.D.
Feldman, the interim chair since August, succeeds the department’s namesake, Ruiz, who led the department for 37 years until he stepped down in the fall. “I am grateful to Dr. Feldman for his recent leadership as interim chair, and I am certain that he will provide the leadership to take this department to the next level,” said Giuseppe Colasurdo, M.D., dean of the UT Medical School at Houston “Please join me in welcoming him to this new administrative role and thanking Dr. Richard S. Ruiz, who has done an outstanding job as the founding chairman of the department.”
As chairman, Feldman will oversee the clinical, educational and research activities of 25 faculty members, nine residents and five fellows. He also will supervise the clinical practice, which includes approximately 3,000 patient visits each month at the Cizik Eye Clinic in Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza and Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital.
“It is a privilege to work with such a distinguished and diverse group of faculty, staff and students,” Feldman said. “Through our clinical, teaching, and research efforts and the strong support of the medical school and the university we will continue to work toward advancing the national and international reputation of the department.”
In 1995, Feldman joined the UT Medical School faculty as a clinical assistant professor of ophthalmology. Since then he has repeatedly been recognized for his achievements as a teacher, researcher and clinician. In his first year at the university, he was named Outstanding Teacher in Ophthalmology. He has been the recipient of an Honor’s Convocation Dean’s Excellence Award three times. Former Houston Mayor Lee Brown presented Feldman with a Community Service Award in 1998 for community glaucoma awareness. During his career, he also has earned the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Achievement Award and has been recognized for his work to advance research and technology in the field of ophthalmology.
Feldman sees patients at the Cizik Eye Clinic, 6400 Fannin, and is an attending physician at Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center and LBJ General Hospital. His current areas of research include glaucoma, cataracts and macular degeneration.
Feldman graduated in 1986 with a medical degree from Chicago Medical School. He completed the Glaucoma Research Fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia before beginning an internship in internal medicine in 1987 at the New York Infirmary at Beekman Downtown Hospital in New York. He completed his ophthalmology residency in 1992 at University of California-San Diego and a glaucoma fellowship in 1993 at Baylor College of Medicine. He was a staff physician at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary before joining the UT Medical School faculty.