Steven Wilson Laboratory

Steven Wilson, MD

Staff
Location: Cleveland Clinic Main Campus

Research

Biography

Steven E. Wilson, MD, received a bachelor’s degree in biology from California State University Fullerton and a master’s degree in molecular biology and biochemistry (Irvine) and an MD (San Diego) from the University of California.

His postgraduate training included an internship in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, a residency in ophthalmology at the Mayo Clinic, and a fellowship in refractive surgery and cornea at the LSU Eye Center.

Dr. Wilson has received numerous awards from the medical community, including being listed in "The Best Doctors of America" numerous times. He was an RPB William and Mary Greve International Research Scholar and received the Manpower Award from the Research to Prevent Blindness, a RPB Physician-Scientist Award, the Senior Honor Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and he was elected to the honorary American Ophthalmological Society. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Ophthalmology. Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today named him as one of the 50 most influential doctors in cataract and refractive surgery in May 2006. He received the Lans Distinguished Lecturer Award from the International Society of Refractive Surgery-American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2006. He received the Richard Lindstrom Career Award from CLAO at ASCRS in 2014. He received the 2020 Barraquer Award and Lecture from the International Society of Refractive Surgery-American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Wilson has edited many medical journals and papers, held national and international committee responsibilities under the auspices of organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, the Eye Bank Association of America, and Fight for Sight. He is a former trustee and vice president for the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) the largest vision research organization in the world and served on the executive board for ISRS-AAO and is the program chairman for ISRS-AAO for 2006.

Wilson holds various medical patents; is a highly trained and skilled scientist and surgeon; has been awarded numerous research grants in the field of ophthalmology and vision research; and he has authored and presented more than 250 papers, medical books and book chapters. His research focuses on gene delivery to human cells using viral vectors, wound healing, and cytokines and receptors in eye tissues and breast tissues. His laboratory is funded by the National Eye Institute and the Department of Defense (DOD). He is also a leading expert in Dry Eye and Ocular Surface and helped design and implement the phase III clinical trial for topical cyclosporine for dry eye.

Dr. Wilson was selected as a finalist for the Benjamin Franklin Award for 2004 in the category Best New Voice in Fiction for his first international thriller Winter in Kandahar. His second international thriller, Ascent from Darkness, was released September 1, 2007 and was an honoree at the New York Book Festival and Hollywood Book Festival in 2007. The Benghazi Affair, the third book of The Stone Waverly Trilogy, was released in 2018 and was the Benjamin Franklin Award Audio Book of the Year in Fiction for 2019, as well as a finalist for the Eric Hoeffer Book of the Year award and a B.R.A.G. gold medal finalist for 2019. Dr. Wilson's fourth Novel "The Ghosts of Anatolia: An Epic Journey to Forgiveness: was published in 2010 and won the Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Award in Multicultural Fiction in 2010 and wasthe Runner-up Award for general fiction in the Hollywood Book Festival in 2011. His memoir "The Making, Breaking and Renewal of a Surgeon-Scientist: A Personal Perspective of the Physician Crisis in America" was published in 2019. All Dr. Wilson's books are available exclusively on Amazon.com and Audible.com.

Education & Professional Highlights

Education & Fellowships

Fellowship - LSU Medical Center- University Hospital
Cornea & External Disease
LA USA
1990

Residency - Mayo Clinic
Ophthalmology
Rochester, MN USA
1988

Internship - Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Internal Medicine
Los Angeles, CA USA
1985

Medical Education - University of California-San Diego School of Medicine
La Jolla, CA USA
1984

Graduate School - University of California, Irvine
Molecular biology and biochemistry
Irvine, CA USA
1977

Undergraduate - California State University at Fullerton
Biology
CA USA
1974

Professional Highlights

• NIH, NEI EY10056 RO1 grant Corneal Epithelial Growth Factors and Receptors, 1993 to 2021
• DOD grant VR180066 Corneal basement membranes and injury-related scarring, 2019-2022
• DOD grant  VR210001 Inhibition of scarring fibrosis and neovascularization after corneal injury, 2022 to 2025
• Physician-scientist Award, 2007, Research to Prevent Blindness, New York, NY
• Lans Distinguished Lecturer Award, International Society of Refractive Surgery-American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2006
• Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), Elected to Board of Trustees Cornea Section Representative (2001-2006), Vice-President (2005-2006)
• Richard Lindstrom Career Award from CLAO at ASCRS in 2014.
• Best Doctors in America (2003-2023)
• Cleveland Magazine Best Doctors (2005-2023)
• Barraquer Award and Lecture (2020) International Society of Refractive Surgery-American Academy of Ophthalmology

Certifications

• Ophthalmology

Awards & Honors

• Research to Prevent Blindness William and Mary Greve International Research Scholar (July 1, 1992– February 1, 1994)
• Manpower Award, Research to Prevent Blindness (July 1, 1994-June 30, 1995)
• Honor Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology (1995)
• Everett-Kinsey Lecturer for 1998 CLAO Meeting
• Chancellor’s Award in Neuroscience & Eye Research, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, La. (September 2000)
• Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), Elected to Board of Trustees Cornea Section Representative (2001-2006), Vice-President (2005-2006)
• Irvine Memorial Lecture. Doheny Eye Institute Annual Meeting, May, 2002, Los Angeles, Calif.
• American Academy of Ophthalmology, Executive Board, ISRS-AAO, 2001  to 2006
• Elected to American Ophthalmological Society, 2002
• Senior Honor Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2004
• America’s Top Doctors, 2004-2016, Castle Connolly Guides, top 1% of medical specialists in America
• Best Doctors in America (2003-2016)
• 50 Most Influential Doctors, Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today, May, 2006
• Lans Distinguished Lecturer Award, International Society of Refractive Surgery-American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2006
• Distinguished Service Award, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, 2007
• Physician-scientist Award, 2007, Research to Prevent Blindness, New York, NY
• Horizons Grant Award, 2007
• NIH, NEI EY10056 RO1 grant Corneal Epithelial Growth Factors and Receptors, 1993 to 2021
• President's Career Recognition Award International Society of Refractive Surgery 2009
• Barraquer Award and Lecture (2020) International Society of Refractive Surgery-American Academy of Ophthalmology
• Military Health System Research Outstanding Research Accomplishment for Individual Academia/Industry in 2023 for the invention of Topical Losartan treatment for corneal scarring.

Memberships

• American Academy of Ophthalmology
• American Ophthalmological Society
• Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
• International Society for Refractive Surgery
• International Society for Eye Research