About Dr. Foster

C. Stephen Foster, MD, FACS, FACR

DR.FOSTER_HEADSHOT_23-199x300

President and CEO, Massachusetts Eye Research & Surgery Institution
Founder and President, Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation

Read Dr. Foster’s full CV

Dr. Foster was born and raised in West Virginia, received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry at Duke University, with Distinction and Phi Beta Kappa in 1965, and received his Doctor of Medicine Degree at Duke University Medical Center, in 1969, being elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. He trained in Internal Medicine at Duke University Hospital from 1969-1970, and at the National Heart and Lung Institute, at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, from 1970 to 1972, during which time he also taught Internal Medicine, with an appointment as Instructor in Medicine at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC. In 1972, Dr. Foster entered his Ophthalmology Residency training program at Washington University (Barnes Hospital), in St. Louis, Missouri, and having completed that in 1975, traveled to Boston to do two additional Fellowship trainings in Cornea and External Diseases, and in Ocular Immunology. He completed this training in 1977 and was invited to join the full-time faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology of Harvard Medical School, where he was a member of the Cornea Service and Director of the Residency Training Program at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He began his independent research in 1977 and has since been continuously funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health.

After 30 years on the full time faculty of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, he established his own private practice – The Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution, a state of the art practice with its own chemotherapy infusion suite and phlebotomy lab. Dr. Foster continues to direct a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution (MERSI), through the support of his research foundation, the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation, and continues his teaching activities and training fellows as a Professor of Ophthalmology, Part-Time, at Harvard Medical School. He has also authored 1,000 published papers and 14 textbooks.

Read Dr. Foster’s full CV

Professional Affiliations

  • American Medical Association
  • American Academy of Ophthalmology, Fellow
  • American College of Rheumatology, Fellow
  • American College of Surgeons, Fellow
  • American Association of Ophthalmology
  • Massachusetts Society of Eye Physicians & Surgeons
  • New England Ophthalmological Society
  • Association for Research in Vision & Ophthalmology
  • Contact Lens Society of America

Awards and Honors:

1960                Bausch and Lomb Science Prize
1960                National Merit Scholar
1961                Beta Omega Sigma Leadership Honorary
1965                Phi Beta Kappa
1965                Graduation with Highest Distinction in Chemistry
1965                Chemistry Prize
1969                Alpha Omega Alpha
1979                Sigma XI
1985                Hippocrates Medal, Swedish Royal Academy of Medicine
1986                American Ophthalmological Society
1994                The Best Doctors in America: Town and Country Magazine
1995                Research to Prevent Blindness Senior Scientific Investigator Award
1996                The Best Doctors in America: American Health Magazine
1996                The Best Doctors in America:  Ophthalmology Times
2000                America’s Top Doctors:  Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2001                America’s Top Doctors:  Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2002                America’s Top Doctors:  Castle Connolly Medial Ltd.
2002                Kingston’s National Registry of Who’s Who – Life Member
2002                America’s Registry of Outstanding Professionals
2002                The Best Doctors in America
2003                America’s Top Doctors:  Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2003                The Diaz Caneja Medal
2003                The International Ocular Inflammation Society Award
2004                The Clinical Uveitis Research Award
2004                America’s Top Doctors:  Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2004                America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2005                Mildred Weisenfeld Award for Outstanding Performance: ARVO
2005                Top Doctors: Boston Herald
2005                America’s Top Doctors:  Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2005                The Marquis Who’s Who Publication Board
2005                America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2006                America’s Top Doctors:  Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2006                The Best Doctors in America
2006                America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2007                American Academy of Ophthalmology Life Achievement Award
2007                America’s Top Doctors:  Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2007                The Best Doctors in America
2007                America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2008                America’s Top Doctors:  Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2008                The Best Doctors in America
2008                Top Doctors: Boston Magazine
2008                America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2009                The Clinical Uveitis Research Award
2009                America’s Top Doctors:  Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2009                The Best Doctors in America
2009                America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2009                McLean Medal
2009                Patients’ Choice Award, American Registry
2009                Top Doctors: Boston Magazine
2010                America’s Top Doctors Award
2010                Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Silver Fellow Award
2010                Top Doctors: Boston Magazine
2010                America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2010                America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2011                Patients’ Choice Award, American Registry
2011                America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2011                America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2011                Patients’ Choice Award, American Registry
2011                America’s Top Doctors Award
2011                Top Doctors: Boston Magazine
2012                America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2012                America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2012                Patients’ Choice Award, American Registry
2012                America’s Top Doctors Award
2012                Top Doctors: Boston Magazine
2012                Academy of Ophthalmology, Life Fellow Award
2012                Vitals, Most Compassionate Doctor Award
2013                America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2013                Patients’ Choice Award, American Registry
2013                America’s Top Doctors Award
2013                Top Doctors: Boston Magazine
2013                Vitals, Most Compassionate Doctor Award

Major Committee Assignments

International
1999-Present    International Society of Ocular Pharmacology and Pharmaceutics – Organizing Executive Committee
1999-Present    International Ocular Inflammation Society – Executive International Council
2003-Present    International Uveitis Study Group

National
1992-Present    American Uveitis Society, Executive Committee
1994-1997        American Uveitis Society, Director, AUS Course on Uveitis, American Academy of Ophthalmology
1994-Present    American Uveitis Society, Executive Committee
1998-Present    American Uveitis Society, Chairman, Committee on Investments
1999-Present    American Uveitis Society, Director, Scientific Meeting
1999-2000       American Uveitis Society,  Subcommittee on Immunomodulatory Therapy for Ocular Inflammatory Diseases
2000-Present    Medical Advisory Board, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Foundation
2003-Present    American Academy of Ophthalmology – Director- Uveitis Subspecialty Day
2004-2008       American Academy of Ophthalmology, Basic and Clinical Science Course – Faculty
2011-2013       President Elect American Uveitis Society
2013-2015       President American Uveitis Society

  • Educational Audio

    Click here to listen to
     Uveitis and Steroid-Sparing Therapy

    Presented by C. Stephen Foster, MD, FACS, FACR

    Audio-Digest Ophthalmology Volume 56, Issue 15

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