Mark S. Borchert, MD

Mark S. Borchert, MD earned a medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. He completed his residency in the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Southern California, and a fellowship in neuro-ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Harvard University. Dr. Borchert is the Director of Eye Birth Defects, leading the world’s largest study into optic nerve hypoplasia. Dr. Borchert, who has been listed in “Best Doctors in America,” also has received honors from the Pan American Association of Ophthalmology, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and Society of Heed Fellows, as well as several teaching awards from the Keck School of Medicine. His research on the development of the retina and optic nerve in rats was part of an experiment on the NASA space shuttle.

Borchert investigates the development of the optic nerve and its retinotopic connections in the tectum (part of the midbrain) and thalamus (part of the forebrain). He is interested in the role that inaccurate or inadequate development of these connections plays in the pathogenesis of optic nerve hypoplasia, the leading cause of blindness in infants in the United states and Europe. His research focus also includes developing diagnostic tools using spectroscopic methods in the measurement of glucose levels in the eye.

• Keck School of Medicine of USC: Resident Teaching Award, 1991
   – 1994
• Keck School of Medicine of USC: Senior Resident Teaching Award, 1994
• Keck School of Medicine of USC: Resident Teaching Award, 1996
• Keck School of Medicine of USC: Resident Teaching Award, 1999
• Keck School of Medicine of USC: Resident Teaching Award, 2001
• American Academy of Ophthalmology: Achievement Award, 2002
• America’s Top Doctors, 2006
   – 2009
• Best Doctors in America Award, 2006
• Pasadena Magazine Top Doctors Award, 2008
• LA Magazine Best Doctors in Southern California, 2009
• Best Doctors in America Award, 2009
• LA Magazine: Super Doctors Award, 2010
• Pasadena Magazine Top Doctors Award, 2010
• Pasadena Magazine Top Doctors Award, 2013
   – 2014

• Baylor College of Medicine — MD — 1983
• USC Roski Eye Institute — Ophthalmology Residency — 1987
• Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary — Neuro-Ophthalmology Fellowship — 1988

• Chang, Melinda
• Shahidi, Mahnaz
• Nagiel, Aaron
• Berry, Jesse
• Goran, Michael
• Thompson, Paul