HomePhysiciansRobert Ritch, MD, FACS
Phone: (212) 477-7540
Fax: (212) 420-8743
Hours:

Mon - 9:00am - 5:00pm
Tue - 9:00am - 5:00pm
Wed - 9:00am - 5:00pm
Thu - 9:00am - 5:00pm
Fri - 9:00am - 5:00pm

Address
310 East 14th Street
Suite 304 South
New York, NY 10003

Introduction

Dr. Robert Ritch holds the Shelley and Steven Einhorn Distinguished Chair; is Professor of Ophthalmology; Surgeon Director & Chief of Glaucoma Services Emeritus; Director of International Ophthalmic Education and Director of Glaucoma Research at the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, New York City. He has devoted his career to broadening our understanding of the underlying etiologies and mechanisms of glaucoma and innovation in its medical, laser, and surgical treatment. When still a fellow in 1978, he performed the first laser iridotomy in New York and initiated the first course on laser treatment of glaucoma at the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He developed argon laser peripheral iridoplasty for the treatment of angle closure more complicated than pupillary block, which was instrumental in dealing with angle closure in East Asia, and taught on the diagnosis and treatment of angle closure around the world. His other major interests throughout his career have been pigment dispersion syndrome, exfoliation syndrome, and normal-tension glaucoma, to which he has made seminal contributions. Dr. Ritch received his B.A. cum laude from Harvard College and an M.A. in cell biology from Harvard University. He received his M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and, after an internship at St. Vincent’s Medical Center and a residency in Ophthalmology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, received fellowships in glaucoma from the Heed Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. A Diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology, he is a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American College of Surgeons, the International College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Ophthalmology, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and the New York Academy of Medicine, and is a member of more than 45 scientific and medical societies. Dr. Ritch has been President of the Ophthalmic Laser Surgical Society, the New York Glaucoma Society, the Section on Ophthalmology of the New York Academy of Medicine, and the New York Society for Clinical Ophthalmology. He serves on numerous medical and scientific advisory and editorial boards and is a member of the Glaucoma Research Society, the Steering Committee of the World Glaucoma Association, and the Board of Directors of the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology. In 1996, Dr. Ritch received the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Ophthalmologist of the Year award and in 1998, the Gold Medal of Merit and Honor from the Greek Glaucoma Society and the Ophthalmology Times Achievement in Ophthalmology Award. In 1999, he was one of the winners of the Louis Rudin Award for research in ophthalmology. In 2000, he received the Jesse H. Neal Award for Editorial Achievement. In 2002, Dr. Ritch was appointed to the Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors of the International Council of Ophthalmology and was elected Chairman of the Committee in 2009 and appointed to the Board of Directors of the International Council. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and served as Vice-President in 2006-2007. His awards since 2006 include the Albion O. Bernstein, MD Award of the Medical Society of the State of New York for outstanding contributions to medicine, the American Academy of Ophthalmology Lifetime Achievement Honor Award, the Leadership in Education in Ophthalmology (LEO) Award, the Dean’s Distinguished Research Award from the New York Medical College, The Glaucoma Foundation Award for Innovation and Excellence in Glaucoma, the TKC Liu Memorial Award for Leadership in Ophthalmology, the Dominick Purpura Distinguished Alumnus Annual Award from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the ARVO Distinguished Service Award, ARVO Gold Fellowship, the HRH Prince Abdulaziz Al-Saud Prevention of Blindness Award (2010), the Jose Rizal International Medal (2011), and the Maghraby International Achievement Award (2012). In 2012, he was elected to Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis. In 2017, he received the Joanne G. Angle ARVO Service Award, the SOI Honorary Award in Ophthalmology and the Presidential Award, Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology, Singapore Dr. Ritch has co-authored or edited more than ten textbooks and over 1750 medical and scientific papers, book chapters, articles and abstracts. He has presented nearly 900 lectures worldwide, including 52 named lectures. In 1985, he founded the Glaucoma Foundation and has served as Secretary, Medical Director, and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board. In 1994, he initiated the annual Optic Nerve Rescue and Regeneration Think Tank, which has attracted numerous successful researchers from other fields into glaucoma research. He also co-founded the New York Glaucoma Research Institute, a not-for-profit foundation to sponsor clinical research in glaucoma, the alt.support.glaucoma Internet newsgroup, the New York Glaucoma Support and Education Group, and the World Glaucoma Patient Association. He was one of the three organizers of the first annual World Glaucoma Day in 2008. He was co-founder of the Ophthalmic Laser Surgical Society, the New York Glaucoma Society, and the Lindberg Society, an international organization dedicated to the eradication of exfoliation syndrome; the ARVO Host-a-Research Program, the ARVO U.S.-Russia Ophthalmology Task Force, the Von Graefe Society, an international organization dedicated to the study of risk factors for glaucoma other than intraocular pressure. He has trained over 150 clinical and research fellows, many of whom occupy academic positions worldwide. The international training program that he established at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai has hosted over 100 International Council of Ophthalmology fellows and more than 140 observers from over 40 countries. He has worked and lectured extensively at the international level over the last 35 years and has organized many symposia and conferences both in the United States and abroad and helped to establish residency and teaching programs and has made fundamental contributions to the modernization of ophthalmology in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar and other countries in Asia, and in Latin America. There are Asian, Brazilian, and International Ritch Fellows Societies. He has served as Convener for the Asia-Pacifica Academy of Ophthalmology and the World Ophthalmology Congress several times. At the June 2018 World Ophthalmology Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the International Council of Ophthalmology, which Dr. Ritch served as a Member of the Board of Trustees, organized a special symposium: “Robert Ritch Forum on Medicine of the Future”, the first of a series of symposia on cutting edge technology.

Specialities

Gender
Male
Languages
English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, Hebrew, Arabic, Thai, Hindi
Focus

Glaucoma

Roles

Specialist

Referral Status

From Patients

From Physician

From Website

Medicare Status

Does Not Accept

Education
Undergraduate

Harvard College

Medical School

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Internship

Saint Vincent's Medical Center

Residency

Mount Sinai School of Medicine 1973-1976

Fellowship

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Heed Foundation Fellow, Glaucoma 1976-1977

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, National Eye Institute Fellow, Glaucoma 1976-1978

Professional Achievements
Board Certifications

Diplomate, American Board of Ophthalmology 1977
Diplomate, American Board of Laser Surgery 1985

Academic Titles

Singapore Eye Research Institute 2016 - Adjunct Senior Principal Research Scientist

New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai 2014 - Director of Glaucoma Research

New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai 2014 -Director of International Education

New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai 2014 – Professor of Ophthalmology

New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, 2009- , Professor of Ophthalmology
NY Eye & Ear Infirmary, New York, NY, 2007-, Shelley and Steven Einhorn Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology
Hong Kong University, ong Kong, PRC, 2008- , Honorary Professor, Dept Anatomy
Mount Sinai School of Medicine New York, NY, 2005-, Adjunct Professor
Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore, 1997-, Adjunct Senior Scientist
Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital, New York, NY, 1988-, Consultant
NY Medical College, Valhalla, NY, 1983-2009, Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology
NY Eye & Ear Infirmary, New York, NY, 1983-, Chief, Glaucoma Service, 1991-, Surgeon Director
Beth Israel Med Center , New York, NY, 1989- , Attending, 1977-1978, Director, Glaucoma Clinic
Mt Sinai Sch Med, New York, NY, 1980-1982 Assoc Prof, 1978-1980 Asst Prof 1977-1978 Instructor, 1977-1978 NIH Fellow, 1976-1977 Fellow, Heed Ophthalmic Fdn, 1975-1976 Chief Resident, 1973-1975 Resident
City Hosp Ctr at Elmhurst, Queens, NY, 1981-1982, Director, 1979-1981, Acting Director, Dept Ophthalmology, 1976-1978 Asst Clinical Ophthalmologist, 1978-1982 Director, Glaucoma Service
VA Hospital, Bronx, NY, 1977-1982, Consultant Ophthalmologist
St Vincent's Med Ctr, New York, NY, 1972-1973, Intern
Rice University, Houston, Tex, 1967-1968, Lab Instructor, Biology
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1966-1967, Lab Instructor, Biology

Professional Organizations

Ophthalmic Laser Surgical Society, 1981
New York Glaucoma Support and Education Group, 1983
The Glaucoma Foundation, 1984
New York Glaucoma Society, 1991
alt.support.glaucoma, 1996
New York Glaucoma Research Institute, 1995
Lindberg Society, 1998
World Glaucoma Patient Association, 2004
Von Graefe Society, 2008
World Glaucoma Day, 2008

International Society for Self-Tonometry – Honorary Chairman 2008-

Middle East African Council of Ophthalmology, Advisor, 2009-

Middle East African Glaucoma Society, Advisor, 2009-

Asia-Pacific Glaucoma Society 2012-

Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis 2012

Awards

Harvard College Honorary Scholarship - 1964
NSF Summer Research Program - 1964
BA Cum Laude - 1964
NSF Predoctoral Fellowship - 1965-1967
Harvard Traveling Fellowship - 1967-1968
Distinguished Service Award, International Center in N.Y. - 1981
Honorary Member, Philippine Soc Ophthalmol - 1981
Honorary Member, Louisiana-Mississippi O&O Society - 1984
Founders Award, National Exhibits by Blind Artists - 1985
Executive Director's Award, International Center in N.Y. - 1985
Honor Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology - 1985
Honorary Member, Thailand Ophthalmologic Society - 1985
Honorary Member, Canadian Implant Society - 1987
Listed, Who's Who in the World, Who’s Who in America - 1987-present
1990 Special Honoree, The Glaucoma Foundation - 1990
Excellence in Research Award, The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary - 1991
Listed, Best Doctors in America, Town & Country - 1991
Listed, Best Doctors in New York, New York Magazine - 1991-present
Listed, Best Doctors in America, Woodward/White, 1994-present Listed, Best Doctors in America, Castle Connolly Guide, 1994-present
Knight of Grace, Sovereign Order of the Orthodox Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem - 1994
Honorary member, Italian Assoc for the Study of Glaucoma - 1995
Senior Honor Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology - 1995
Listed, 111 Best Ophthalmologists in America, Ophthalmology Times - 1996
Ophthalmologist of the Year, Heed Ophthalmic Foundation - 1996
Guest of Honor, New England Ophthalmologic Society - 1997
Gold Medal of Merit and Honour of A. Anagnostakis and A. Trantas Greek Glaucoma Society- 1998
Commander of Grace and Lieutenant Knight Hospitaller of the Sovereign Order of the Orthodox Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem, 1998
Ophthalmology Times Achievement in Ophthalmology Award, 1998
1998 Louis Rudin Award for Research in Glaucoma, 1999
Honoree, Helen Keller Foundation, 2000
Man of the Year, The Glaucoma Foundation, 2000
Jesse H. Neal Award for Editorial Achievement, 2000
John Kearny Rodgers Physician of the Year Award New York Eye and Ear Infirmary 2005
Albion O. Bernstein, MD Award of the Medical Soc State of N.Y., 2006
American Academy Ophthalmology Lifetime Achievement Honor Award, 2007
Leaders in Education in Ophthalmology (LEO award) Am Acad Ophthalmol, 2007
Dean’s Distinguished Research Award, New York Medical College, 2007
TKC Liu Memorial Award for Leadership in Ophthalmology, Hong Kong, 2008
Glaucoma Foundation Award for Innovation and Excellence in Glaucoma, 2008
Ronald F. Lowe Gold Medal of the Australia-New Zealand Ophthalmol Soc, 2008
Dominick Purpura Distinguished Alumnus Annual Award Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 2009
ARVO Distinguished Service Award, 2009
ARVO Gold Fellow, 2009
HRH Abdul Aziz Ahmad Al-Saud Prevention of Blindness Award, 2010
Jose Rizal International Medal, 2011
Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement Award, 2011
Revolution Award, Tunisia, 2011
Lifetime Award for Excellence in Human Research Protection, 2011
El-Maghraby International Award, 2012
Elected to Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis, 2012

Ahti Tarkkanen Medal of the Nordic Opthalmologic Congress, 2012

Inaugural Asia-Pacific Glaucoma Society International Award, 2012
American Glaucoma Society honoree, 2013

World Glaucoma Association Recognition Award, 2013

Moacyr Alvaro Gold Medal (Brazil), 2014

Grand Hospitaller of the Sovereign Order of the Orthodox Knights, 2014

Hospitaler of St. John of Jerusalem Russian Grand Priory, 2014

Guest of Honor, Asia-Pacific Glaucoma Congress, Hong Kong, 2014

Presidential Award, Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology, Singapore 2017

Joanne G. Angle ARVO Service Award, 2017

SOI Honorary Award in Ophthalmology, 2017