Mark Mandelcorn

Dr. Mandelcorn received his medical degree from McGill University and completed basic training in Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto. He spent 2 post graduate years in research and clinical training in retinal disease at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida. Under the supervision of Dr. Robert Machemer, the inventor of vitrectomy surgery, Dr. Mandelcorn participated in the training of vitrectomy surgeons from around the world and, as his first Fellow, assisted Dr. Machemer in devising new techniques and instruments for the new procedure called vitrectomy. He collaborated with Dr. Machemer in designing and carrying out important studies dealing with the role of retinal pigment epithelial cells in producing proliferative vitreoretinopathy and complicated retinal detachments. While at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Dr. Mandelcorn also received clinical and research training from Dr. J.D.M. Gass in the field of macular diseases, such as macular degeneration, and in as well as in the technique and interpretation of fluorescein angiography, and participated in the first clinical trials of laser treatment for diabetic retinopathy.

Since returning to Toronto, Dr. Mandelcorn has combined a very busy tertiary care clinical practice concerned with retinal and vitreous disorders while at the same time has continued to engage in research into discovering the mechanisms that lead to scar tissue formation on the surface of the retina and in the vitreous. Most recently, he is acting as a co-supervisor of a PhD student investigating signaling pathways in retinal pigment epithelial cells with a view to developing agents that can interfere those signaling cascades which lead to new blood vessel production and scar tissue formation. He has continued his interest in the management of diabetic retinopathy and has been a certified investigator in recent NIH sponsored clinical controlled trials in diabetes such as the DCCT (Diabetes Control and Complications Trial) and EDIC.

His teaching of retina and vitreous disease diagnosis and treatment is greatly valued by medical students, residents, and fellows, and he regularly has with him, both in the consulting room and the operating room, post-graduate surgical trainees often from overseas who spend weeks or months observing and receiving instruction.

When Global TV asked its viewers to nominate healthcare heroes who have made a difference in their lives, a grateful husband nominated TWH retinal surgeon, Dr. Mark Mandelcorn for restoring his wife's vision at a time when it was thought that no more could be done for her.

Appointments

Department of Ophthalmology & Vision Sciences, University of Toronto
UHN - Toronto Western Hospital