The Legacy Devers Eye Institute in Portland, Oregon, is one of the few private, non-profit centers for ophthalmological care, research, and training in the United States. The institute is affiliated with

Legacy Health Legacy Health is a non-profit hospital system located in Portland, Oregon, United States. It consists of six primary-care hospitals, a children's hospital, and allied clinics and outpatient facilities. The system employs about 14,000 staff mem ...

, a network of seven hospitals in Portland and Southwest Washington. Legacy Devers includes the Thelma and Gilbert Schnitzer Comprehensive Glaucoma Center.

Mission

The institute offers fee-for-service and charitable eye care. Part of its mission is to provide universal eye care in the Portland, Oregon, area. The institute also trains post-graduate professionals and conducts research. Scientists from Devers have refined how to interpret

visual field test A visual field test is an eye examination that can detect dysfunction in central and peripheral vision which may be caused by various medical conditions such as glaucoma, stroke, pituitary disease, brain tumours or other neurological deficits. ...

ing, a standard part of the assessment of

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...

. They have also improved

corneal transplantation Corneal transplantation, also known as corneal grafting, is a surgical procedure where a damaged or diseased cornea is replaced by donated corneal tissue (the graft). When the entire cornea is replaced it is known as penetrating keratoplasty a ...

through innovations in DLEK (deep lamellar endothelial keratoplasty) and DSEK (Descemet's stripping with endothelial keratoplasty).

History and funding

The Devers Eye Institute was founded in 1959 thanks to a million-dollar bequest from Arthur Devers, a coffee merchant who suffered from retinal degeneration. Good Samaritan Hospital hired Dr. Richard Chenoweth in 1972 as the first Chief of Ophthalmology. He was the first to publish on retinal toxicity secondary to gentamicin (a common antibiotic), acute placoid chorioretinitis from syphilis, and neuroretinopathy from intravenous contrast media. He helped develop ground-breaking treatments for diabetic retinopathy and retinal disease. He retired in 1990. He died in 2020. The second Chief of Ophthalmology and first holder of the Chenoweth Chair was Dr. Edward Michael Van Buskirk, appointed in 1990. He helped understand the vascular effects of glaucoma medications and how decreased blood flow may relate to glaucoma. He was the President of the American Glaucoma Society and inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Glaucoma. He helped to pioneer the understanding of laser trabeculoplasty, a common treatment for glaucoma today. In 2001 the Good Samaritan Foundation established the Edward Michael Van Buskirk chair for ocular research in his honor. The third Chief of Ophthalmology and second holder of the Chenoweth Chair was George A. “Jack” Cioffi, M.D, appointed in 2004. The fourth Chief of Ophthalmology was James T. Rosenbaum. He is now chief emeritus. The current Chief and holder of the Chenoweth Chair is Steve Mansberger, M.D., M.P.H. In 2007, the Schnitzer/Novack Foundation gave the Institute one million dollars to endow the Thelma and Gilbert Schnitzer Comprehensive Glaucoma Center. The Institute's total endowment is now approximately twenty-five million dollars, held primarily by the

Good Samaritan Foundation. Part of its research activity is supported through grants from the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

Staff and alumni

The Devers Eye Institute staff includes fourteen ophthalmologists, four physician fellows, two clinical optometrists, and four additional senior scientists performing research. The Discoveries in Sight Research Laboratory is headed by Claude Burgoyne, M.D., 2015 winner of the

American Glaucoma Society The American Glaucoma Society (AGS) is a subspecialty society in ophthalmology that promotes education and research about glaucoma among physicians and scientists A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge ...

Clinician Scientist Award. The clinics are directed by Steve Mansberger, M.D., M.P.H., epidemiology section editor for the

American Journal of Ophthalmology ''American Journal of Ophthalmology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering ophthalmology. It was established in 1884 and is published by Elsevier. The editor-in-chief is Richard K. Parrish II (Bascom Palmer Eye Institute). Indexing ...

. The cornea service is headed by Mark Terry, M.D., 2016 recipient of the Eye Bank Association of America R. Townley Paton Award. Notable former staff and graduates of the training program include— *Jack Cioffi, Edward S. Harkness Professor of Ophthalmology,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

*Roger A. Dailey, Lester Jones Professor of Oculoplastic and Reconstructive Surgery at

Oregon Health & Science University Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a public research university focusing primarily on health sciences with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland, Oregon. The institution was founded in 1887 as the University of Oregon Medi ...

and President emeritus of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery *J. Crawford Downs, Vice-Chair of Ophthalmology Research,

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a Public university#United States, public List of research universities in the United States, research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established i ...

* Joseph Robertson, past president of the

*Ian A. Sigal, Assistant Professor,

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

*J. Timothy Stout, Chief of Ophthalmology,

Baylor College of Medicine Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a medical school and research center in Houston, Texas, within the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical center. BCM is composed of four academic components: the School of Medicine, the Graduate Sc ...

*Michael Straiko, innovative corneal transplant surgeon *Peter Veldman, corneal transplant surgeon and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. *Ahmad M.Alshaarawy, a former cornea research fellow, now a practicing cornea surgeon in research Institute of ophthalmology, Egypt, and Cornea Clinic; a private center.

References

{{authority control 1959 establishments in Oregon Medical and health organizations based in Oregon Legacy Health Organizations based in Portland, Oregon