Dr. Geoffrey Tabin is Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences and Director of the Division of International Ophthalmology at the John A Moran Eye Center, University of Utah. He graduated from Yale University and then earned an MA in Philosophy at Oxford University on a Marshall Scholarship. He brought his interest in moral philosophy and health care delivery to Harvard Medical School where he received his MD in 1985.
After completing an ophthalmology residency at Brown University and a fellowship in corneal surgery in Melbourne, Australia, Dr. Tabin returned to Nepal to work with Dr. Sanduk Ruit, the first Nepali ophthalmologist to use intraocular lens implants. Dr. Tabin adopted Ruit’s methods for delivering high quality cataract surgery at a very low cost and began teaching other Nepali ophthalmologists while running the eye hospital in Biratnagar, Nepal’s second largest city.
Dr. Tabin spends at least three months per year in Asia working with his Nepalese counterparts directing Tilganga Eye Centre’s efforts to provide an international standard of eye care and participating in the outreach programs. As the director of the Himalayan Cataract Project, he has over ten years experience administering an international charitable organization, which includes: coordinating fundraising; recruiting American faculty; soliciting donations of equipment; and facilitating the logistics of transporting donations and volunteers to Asia.
He is a leader in both the local ophthalmologic community and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He is a member of the International Education Committee for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and teaches a course on cataract surgery at both the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons.
Treating every single eye as being as valuable as a life, and striving for excellence in every surgery and surgeon he trains, Dr. Tabin embodies the compassion that is the core of the medical profession. Through his work as co-director of the Himalayan Cataract Project, Dr. Tabin is making a significant difference in the world.
