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.