Dr. George Cioffi, MD

Dr. George A. (Jack) Cioffi is an internationally recognized glaucoma scientist and clinician and is the Edward S. Harkness Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons since 2012. He also holds the Jean and Richard Deems Endowed Professorship and is the Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. From 2014 to 2023, Dr. Cioffi served as the President of ColumbiaDoctors, the multi-specialty faculty practice organization of more than 2,500 clinicians from Columbia University Irving Medical Center and was concurrently appointed Vice Dean of Clinical Affairs. Dr. Cioffi formerly held the Richard G. Chenoweth Chair of Ophthalmology at the Devers Eye Institute and was the Chief Medical Officer & Senior Vice President at Legacy Health System in Portland, Oregon. He received his medical degree at the University of South Carolina, completed a residency in ophthalmology at the University of Maryland where he also served as Chief Resident, and a fellowship in Research & Clinical Glaucoma at Devers Eye Institute under Dr. E. Michael Van Buskirk. Subsequently, he completed the inaugural Harvard Business School program in Managing Healthcare Delivery. Dr. Cioffi is the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Academic Ophthalmology, the official journal of the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO). As well, he is Editor Emeritus of the Journal of Glaucoma, after serving for 10 years as the Editor-in-Chief, and he is the past Chair of the Basic and Clinical Science Course for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He is the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Glaucoma Research Foundation in San Francisco. He is a past President of the Oregon Academy of Ophthalmology and has served as a member of the FDA Ophthalmology/Dermatology Advisory Committee for drug approval. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Medical Excellence and was selected by the Governor John Kitzhaber to serve on the Oregon Health Policy Board?s Outcomes & Quality taskforce. Dr. Cioffi, a physician for more than 30 years, has published over 250 articles, has enjoyed support from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health for more than two decades. He has delivered numerous named lectures and has received the Honor Award, the Senior Honor Award and two Secretariat Awards from the AAO. He has mentored more than 50 clinical and post-doctoral fellows over his career. These clinicians and scientists are now at academic institutions and in practices around the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia.