James C. Tsai, MD

James C. Tsai, MD, became Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science effective October 1. Dr. Tsai previously directed the glaucoma division at the Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York.Dr. Tsai is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Amherst College and alumnus of the Stanford University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at the Doheny Eye Institute at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Following his residency, he completed glaucoma fellowships at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami and at Moorfields Eye Hospital and Institute of Ophthalmology, in London. Dr. Tsai also received a M.B.A. degree from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.

Dr. Tsai serves on the editorial boards of Highlights of Ophthalmology and Glaucoma Today and is an editorial panel member of Academy Express. In addition, he has served as a scientific reviewer for 15 peer-reviewed journals, including Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Experimental Eye Research, and Ophthalmology.  He has authored a wide range of scientific articles, abstracts, and book chapters in glaucoma, as well as the medical textbook Medical Management of Glaucoma. As department chair, Dr. Tsai is following in the footsteps of two highly respected experts in glaucoma care and research, Marvin L. Sears, MD, who founded the department in 1971; and M. Bruce Shields, MD, who has served as chair since 1996.

Dr. Tsai’s vision for the department is to make it an internationally recognized leader in patientcare, vision research and medical education, building on the department’s considerable resources in all three areas. Dr. Tsai will be recruiting additional clinicians and basic scientists with a focus on translational studies to bring discoveries to the bedside.

Dr. Tsai’s own research has concentrated on three areas related to glaucoma: the search for molecules with the potential to protect the optic nerve from damage directly, without lowering intraocular pressure; the evaluation of surgical outcomes in glaucoma patients; and the development of advanced techniques of vision testing. His lab is exploring the neuroprotective value of erythropoietin, a hormone made by the kidney that aids in red blood cell formation and which is often used to treat anemia.

Dr. Tsai is a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American College of Surgeons and the Royal Society of Medicine in the United Kingdom. He is an officer of the American Glaucoma Society and an elected member of the American Eye Study Club and the New York Ophthalmological Society. He serves on the board of directors of the Glaucoma Foundation, the New York State Ophthalmological Society, and the Chinese-American Ophthalmological Society. 

He also currently serves as a panel consultant for the Ophthalmic Devices Panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and as a committee member of the National Eye Health Education Program Planning Committee of the National Institute of Health.

To contact Dr. Tsai, call 203-785-2020. Visit the Glaucoma and Anterior Segment Surgery Section for more information about Dr. Tsai.