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Dr. Mathew MacCumber

Mathew W. MacCumber, MD, PhD completed an AB at Princeton University and an MD and PhD in Neurosciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

He served as a resident and the Assistant Chief of Service at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins. His retina training was under Robert Machemer, MD at the Duke University Eye Center when he received the Heed Fellowship and the Ronald G. Michels Fellowship. In 1996, Dr. MacCumber joined Illinois Retina Associates and Rush University Medical Center, where he now holds the positions of Professor and Research Director for the Department of Ophthalmology.

He has been very active in organized ophthalmology. He completed the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Leadership Development Program, and served as the delegate to the American Medical Association and as a councilor to the AAO Council both from the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS). He recently was the Chair of the AAO Council (2016-2017) and a member of the AAO Board of Trustees (2014-2017). He completed a six-year term on the Board of Directors of the Macular Society as Website Chair and served on the Board of Directors of the ASRS. He is a Past-President of the Chicago Ophthalmological Society. He currently serves on the board of the Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness.

Dr. MacCumber has been an examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology (ABO) and, from 2006 thru 2014, directed the vitreoretinal fellowship program at Rush University Medical Center and Illinois Retina Associates. He has received the AAO Achievement Award (2004), the AAO Senior Achievement Award (2015), the ASRS Honor Award (2005), the ASRS Senior Honor Award (2009) and two Secretariat Awards from the AAO for Education and Advocacy (2008).

He has personally authored or co-authored 44 peer-reviewed articles (overall participated in 172 articles), 11 book chapters, and edited the text Management of Ocular Injuries and Emergencies. He is a frequent speaker nationally and internationally. He has served as Principal Investigator for over 25 multicenter clinical trials including the NIH-funded Submacular Surgery Trials, the Studies of the Ocular Complications of AIDS and several protocols for the DRCR Retina Network. He currently serves on the executive committee of the DRCR Retina Network and co-chairs the National Eye Institute-funded multi-center “Randomized Trial Comparing Immediate versus Deferred Surgery for Symptomatic Epiretinal Membranes.” Research interests include pharmacologic, cellular, and surgical treatments for age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, epiretinal membrane, retinal degeneration, and uveitis.  Dr. MacCumber is on staff at several area hospitals and sees patients at Illinois Retina’s Oak Park, Rush University Medical Center and Lincoln Park office locations.

Clinical Trials/Research Studies

  • Principal Investigator, Longitudinal Study of the Ocular Complications of AIDS (L-SOCA)
  • Principal Investigator, Submacular Surgery Trials
  • Principal Investigator, Vitrectomy for Diffuse Diabetic Macular Edema
  • Principal Investigator, Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network
  • Principal Investigator, Safety Assessment of Intravitreal Lucentis for AMD (SAILOR and HARBOR)
  • Investigator, ThromboGenics Study

Articles In The Following Scientific Journals

  • Archives of Ophthalmology
  • Retina
  • Ophthalmology
  • Journal of Neuroscience
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Science

Societies And Organizations

  • American Society of Retina Specialists, board member 2010-present
  • Macula Society, board member 2009-present
  • Chicago Ophthalmological Society, annual meeting program director, 2002; board member 2008-present
  • American Academy of Ophthalmology, councilor, 2010-present
  • Retina Society
  • Illinois Association of Ophthalmology
  • Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
  • American Medical Association
  • American Academy of Ophthalmology
  • American Society of Retina Specialists

Chief Residency

  • Ophthalmology – The Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital

Fellowship

  • Retinal Specialist – The Duke University Eye Center

Residency

  • Ophthalmology – The Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital

Internship

  • Franklin Square
  • Hospital Center

Doctoral Degree

  • Ph.D. – Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Medical School

  • M.D. – The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

College

  • B.A. – Princeton University