Get to Know Dr. Osher

Robert H. Osher, M.D. is Professor of Ophthalmology at the College of Medicine of the University of Cincinnati and Medical Director Emeritus of the Cincinnati Eye Institute. After completing his residency at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and fellowships at Bascom Palmer and Wills Eye Hospital, he returned to Cincinnati to establish the Cincinnati Eye Institute where he has limited his practice to cataract surgery for over four decades.

Dr. Osher has prioritized teaching throughout his career beginning with the Video Symposium format which he introduced in 1982. His unique approach using video to demonstrate innovative techniques for managing challenging cases and complications has resulted in “standing room” crowds at perennialcourses at the AAO, ASCRS, and ESCRS Congresses. Dr. Osher realized that he could reach larger audiences when he founded the Audiovisual Journal of Cataract & Implant Surgery in 1984. Serving as Editor for the past 40 years, the Video Journal evolved into the Video Journal of Cataract, Refractive, and Glaucoma Surgery and became a free member benefit of nearly every cataract society in the world.

Years later, he founded another educational forum, Cataract Surgery: Telling It Like It Is! which he organized for 13 years. Dr. Osher has delivered nearly 50 named lectures, won 40 awards at the ASCRS Film Festival and ESCRS Video Competition, and has co authored 5 books, numerous chapters and peer reviewed articles in the field of cataract surgery. In addition, he was invited to write 17 consecutive Guest Editorials for the JCRS. The instruments he has designed and the surgical techniques he has pioneered have aided surgeons worldwide.

Dr. Osher has received the Binkhorst and Innovator’s Awards from ASCRS; the Teaching, Kelman, and Lifetime Achievement Award from ESCRS; and the Kelman and Lifetime Achievement Award from AAO. Additional international awards include the Rayner, Optic, and Arnott Awards from England, the Canon Award from Japan, the Kelman Award from Brazil, the Lim Award from China, the Gold Medal Award from Australia, the Honor Award from Chile, the Mooney Award from Ireland, and the Excellence and Watson Awards from Canada.

Besides his interest in cataract surgery, Dr. Osher has been a proud coach of more than 70 youth baseball and basketball teams, reaching the National Championships in each sport. He has also published 17 children’s stories, donating the proceeds to local and national charitable organizations.