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Lawrence J. Singerman, MD, FACS
After completing his retinal training at the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Singerman established Retina Associates of Cleveland in 1974. With 9 other retinal specialists and over 120 employees, the practice sees patients throughout Northeastern Ohio.
Dr. Singerman is active in the field of clinical research and has been a principal investigator in more than 100 multicenter clinical trials sponsored by NIH and pharmaceutical companies. Many of these studies of treatments for diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and other vitreoretinal diseases have led to FDA-approval of new drugs. He attributes his interest in research studies to the great opportunity he had to participate in the original Diabetic Retinopathy Study when he was a retinal fellow with Dr. Arnall Patz. The results of this study led to a dramatic worldwide reduction in blindness from diabetic retinopathy, inspiring Dr. Singerman to devote much of his professional effort to clinical trials. His research center has been a leading recruiter for such studies nationally and internationally.
Dr. Singerman is a clinical professor of ophthalmology at Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals of Cleveland and a voluntary professor of clinical ophthalmology at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami. He was awarded the first outstanding teacher award by the ophthalmology residents at University Hospitals of Cleveland and has received other teaching awards.
Dr. Singerman serves on editorial boards for major ophthalmology journals. He is the editor of three textbooks and has authored over 300 publications. He has chaired or organized over 100 national and international courses and symposia on macular and retinal vascular disease.
In 1977, Dr. Singerman founded the Macula Society, an international association of leading investigators and clinicians in the field of retinal diseases. He has been continuously re-elected to the position of Executive Secretary of the Society. In 1999, he received the Society’s J. Donald M. Gass Medal for Outstanding Contributions in the Study of Macular Diseases, and in 2009 he was awarded the Arnall Patz Medal for outstanding contributions in the study of retinal vascular diseases.
Dr. Singerman was the Vice Chair of the Council of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and a member of the Executive Committee of the Academy’s Board of Directors. He was given the Academy’s Life Achievement Honor Award in 2006. He is past President of the Ohio Ophthalmological Society, the Cleveland Ophthalmological Society, and the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland (DAGC). The DACG has named him its first Honorary Board Member for Life and has given him the Dietrich Diabetes Research Institute’s Diabetes Research Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a member of over 40 professional organizations. Dr. Singerman has been listed over 25 times as one of the best medical retinal disease specialists in The Best Doctors in America and was named 1 of 111 best ophthalmologists and 1 of the 10 best medical retina specialists in America by Ophthalmology Times.
