Friends, peers and industry executives say Dr. Roger Steinert was “a giant in the world of ophthalmology.”
The former chairman of the department of ophthalmology at the University of California-Irvine, where he was director of the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, revolutionized laser vision surgery, also helping to foster UCI’s standing as the industry’s go-to academic partner.
Steinert died at age 66 on June 6 at his home in Colorado after years of battling brain cancer.
The Massachusetts native joined UCI in 2004 after spending 23 years on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, replacing Dr. Peter McDonnell, who left to head the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
Former Allergan Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive David Pyott, who met Steinert in early 1998 when Steinert was advising Allergan on a surgical product, said he helped recruit him. The company is now Allergan PLC.
“You choose the very best,” Pyott said, referring to Steinert’s role as a physician-adviser, adding that Steinert brought a “New England intellectual vigor” to the work.
Steinert’s early time at Harvard helped lay the foundation for LASIK refractive surgery using excimer lasers—ultraviolet lasers that can reshape the eye’s surface. He was one of the first U.S. ophthalmologists to demonstrate that lasers can safely sculpt the eye and cure common vision problems, such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism.
He also helped improve corneal transplantation by replacing an existing hand-held surgical blade with the Intralase fematosecond laser, a device that uses near-infrared light to cut corneal tissue at precise depths and in various patterns. A corneal transplant replaces part of a damaged cornea with corneal tissue from a donor. Steinert developed a zigzag pattern that’s been shown to demonstrate faster recovery and a decreased amount of astigmatism compared to the traditional blade method.
“I’ve seen him operate, and he’s got great hands—so steady, and just … it’s an art,” said Jim Mazzo, global president of ophthalmic devices at Carl Zeiss Meditec AG in Jena, Germany, and former chairman and chief executive of medical device and eye care company Advanced Medical Optics in Santa Ana.
Mazzo said corneal transplants require doctors to attach tiny stitches after surgery to help the wound heal, and that while the stitches are absorbed by the body over time, “You need pretty steady hands to pull off something like that.”
The company that made the Intralase was acquired by Advanced Medical Optics in 2007 for approximately $822 million, and Advanced was in turn bought by Abbot Laboratories in Chicago about two years later for $2.8 billion and renamed Abbott Medical Optics Inc. The device maker was again sold this year to Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, N.J. for $4.3 billion and changed its name to Johnson & Johnson Vision.
Researcher
Steinert was also crucial in building up the reputation of the university and the eye institute.
UCI is the youngest member of the Association of American Universities, an organization founded in 1900 comprised of 62 universities in the U.S. and Canada. Members are selected based on the number of federal funding awarded for academic research. Last year, UCI and the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute received $11.4 million in research grants, according to a university spokesperson.
“The importance of having an institution like the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute is to attract the best talent so we can take care of patients and also advance research and innovation,” Mazzo said, crediting Steinert and Allergan founder Gavin Herbert Sr. as key players in fostering the project. The 70,000-square-foot eye institute—built for $39 million—is dedicated to developing therapies for a wide array of eye disorders, including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, corneal disease and refractive surgery. It works closely with local ophthalmology companies, including startups.
Mentor
Pyott called Steinert a Renaissance man, “a great technician, a great surgeon … but just tremendous all around.”
He was particularly impressed with Steinert’s willingness to focus his attention on his patients and nurture members of his team.
“I can tell you not all department chairs are like that. I’ve met department chairs across the world, [and] some that can be intellectual giants but terrible leaders. But not Roger. That’s why I have all the respect for Roger.”
Indeed, Dr. Howard Federoff, who took the post of vice chancellor of health affairs and dean of the school of medicine in 2015, described Steinert as someone who acted selflessly and generously. “He subordinated his own excellence to let those around him really shine.”
Two eye institute colleagues trained under Steinert as residents and fellows—head of cornea surgery Dr. Marjan Farid and Dr. Sumit “Sam” Garg—agreed with Federoff on Steinerit’s influence.
Farid said Steinert “shared his knowledge and took great pride in the training of residents and fellows,” adding that “we are all better doctors, surgeons, educators and humans because of his influence in our lives.”
Garg said that Steinert, beyond being a mentor, was also one of his best friends.
“Roger was a giant amongst giants in ophthalmology, but he would never, ever say it. It was largely because of his dedication that we were able to construct the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute.”
Lover
Steinert’s wife, April, who took care of him for the more than 2 ½ years since he was diagnosed, said her husband’s list of achievements and accolades doesn’t fully capture his prolific humanity.
“His love for all six of his children and grandchildren. His sharp sense of humor. His selflessness. His love for his patients. His love of teaching residents, fellows, or anyone with a question about ophthalmology, which was his passion. If you asked, he listened,” she said.
April said Steinert was a lover of love who “wanted to squeeze the marrow out of every day” while battling his brain cancer.
He enjoyed snowboarding, hiking, traveling, reading, biking and spending time with friends and family, particularly in the mountains of Vail, Colo.
The university will announce a new ophthalmology department chairman this month or early next month. Federoff said the nominee is someone that, “If [Steinert] was still with us, he would have felt that the torch has been passed to somebody qualified.
