Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito

Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D., M.B.A.
Professor and Chairman
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.
Title: Professor and ChairmanThe Kathleen and Stanley J.Glaser Chair in Ophthalmology
Specialty: Diabetic RetinopathyMacular DegenerationMacular DiseasesRetinitis Pigmentosa and Retinal DegenerationsVitreoretinal Diseases and Surgery
Research Interests: Retinal pharmacotherapy and retinal imaging technology
Board Certification: American Board of Ophthalmology
Undergraduate Education: A.B., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Graduate Education: M.D., Harvard Medical School, Boston, MAM.B.A., The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Residency: Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA
Fellowship: Ophthalmic Pathology, Howe Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MAVitreoretinal Diseases and Surgery, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA

Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D., M.B.A., was appointed director of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, professor and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Miami School of Medicine and medical director of the Institute's Anne Bates Leach Eye Hospital in July 2001. Bascom Palmer Eye Institute has been rated among the nation's number one or number two eye hospitals since 1991. Dr. Puliafito holds the Institute's Stanley and Kathleen Glaser Chair in Ophthalmology.

Named one of the country's top ten medical retinal specialists in a 24-state survey of his peers, Dr. Puliafito is a board-certified ophthalmic surgeon specializing in diseases of the retina and vitreous. He is also an internationally recognized authority on ophthalmic lasers and co-inventor of the technique known as optical coherence tomography (OCT). In 2002, he received the Rank Prize, the world's most prestigious award in optoelectronics, for his work on the revolutionary OCT. He has been a pioneer in the basic investigation and clinical application of the Nd:YAG laser, diode laser, photodynamic therapy for macular degeneration and other retinal disorders, and the excimer and other lasers for refractive surgery. He holds two U.S. patents and is the author of more than 120 peer-reviewed publications in scientific literature as well as six books.

He was editor-in-chief of both Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, the leading academic journal in the field of biomedical lasers, and Ophthalmic Surgery and Lasers. He has served as president of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, vice president of the Massachusetts Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons, and trustee and president of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. He is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in the East, and Who's Who in Science and Engineering.

Dr. Puliafito joined Bascom Palmer after serving as professor and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, founding director of the New England Eye Center, Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at New England Medical Center, and adjunct professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Tufts University. He was also founding director of the Morse Laser Center at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, associate professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and associate professor in the Health Sciences Technology Division, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1997 to 2001, he served as senior vice president for Massachusetts Network Development for Lifespan, an integrated health care system.

A native of Buffalo, New York, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Harvard University, medical degree magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a residency in ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School, and there completed fellowships in both ophthalmic pathology and vitreoretinal diseases and surgery.