C. Stephen Foster, MD, FACS, FACR
Founder and President
Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution (MERSI) Ocular Immunology & Uveitis Foundation
1440 Main Street, Suite 201 Waltham, MA 02451
C. Stephen Foster, MD was born and raised in West Virginia, received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry at Duke University, with Distinction and Phi Beta Kappa in 1965, and received his Doctor of Medicine Degree at Duke University Medical Center, in 1969, being elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. He trained in Internal Medicine at Duke University Hospital from 1969-1970, and at the National Heart and Lung Institute, at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, from 1970 to 1972, during which time he also taught Internal Medicine, with an appointment as Instructor in Medicine at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC. In 1972, Dr. Foster entered his Ophthalmology Residency training program at Washington University (Barnes Hospital), in St. Louis, Missouri, and having completed that in 1975, traveled to Boston to do two additional Fellowship trainings in Cornea and External Diseases, and in Ocular Immunology. He completed this training in 1977 and was invited to join the full-time faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology of Harvard Medical School, where he was a member of the Cornea Service and Director of the Residency Training Program at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He began his independent research in 1977 and has since been continuously funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health.
After 30 years on the full time faculty of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, he established his own private practice – The Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution, a state of the art practice with its own chemotherapy infusion suite and phlebotomy lab. Dr. Foster continues to direct a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution (MERSI), through the support of his newly created research foundation, the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Foundation, and continues his teaching activities and training fellows as a Professor of Ophthalmology, Part-Time, at Harvard Medical School. He has also authored 1,000 published papers and 14 textbooks.
Professional Affiliations
- American Medical Association
- American Academy of Ophthalmology, Fellow
- American College of Rheumatology, Fellow
- American College of Surgeons, Fellow
- American Association of Ophthalmology
- Massachusetts Society of Eye Physicians & Surgeons
- New England Ophthalmological Society
- Association for Research in Vision & Ophthalmology
- Contact Lens Society of America
Awards and Honors
1960 Bausch and Lomb Science Prize
1960 National Merit Scholar
1961 Beta Omega Sigma Leadership Honorary
1965 Phi Beta Kappa
1965 Graduation with Highest Distinction in Chemistry
1965 Chemistry Prize
1969 Alpha Omega Alpha
1979 Sigma XI
1985 Hippocrates Medal, Swedish Royal Academy of Medicine
1986 American Ophthalmological Society
1994 The Best Doctors in America: Town and Country Magazine
1995 Research to Prevent Blindness Senior Scientific Investigator Award
1996 The Best Doctors in America: American Health Magazine
1996 The Best Doctors in America: Ophthalmology Times
2000 America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2001 America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2002 America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medial Ltd.
2002 Kingston’s National Registry of Who’s Who – Life Member
2002 America’s Registry of Outstanding Professionals
2002 The Best Doctors in America
2003 America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2003 The Diaz Caneja Medal
2003 The International Ocular Inflammation Society Award
2004 The Clinical Uveitis Research Award
2004 America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2004 America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2005 Mildred Weisenfeld Award for Outstanding Performance: ARVO
2005 Top Doctors: Boston Herald
2005 America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2005 The Marquis Who’s Who Publication Board
2005 America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2006 America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2006 The Best Doctors in America
2006 America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2007 American Academy of Ophthalmology Life Achievement Award
2007 America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2007 The Best Doctors in America
2007 America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2008 America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2008 The Best Doctors in America
2008 Top Doctors: Boston Magazine
2008 America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2009 The Clinical Uveitis Research Award
2009 America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2009 The Best Doctors in America
2009 America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2009 McLean Medal
2009 Patients’ Choice Award, American Registry
2009 Top Doctors: Boston Magazine
2010 America’s Top Doctors Award
2010 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Silver Fellow Award
2010 Top Doctors: Boston Magazine
2010 America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2010 America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2011 Patients’ Choice Award, American Registry
2011 America’s Top Doctors: Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.
2011 America’s Top Ophthalmologists: Consumer Research Council of America
2011 Patients’ Choice Award, American Registry
2011 America’s Top Doctors Award
2011 Top Doctors: Boston Magazine
2012 America’s Top Doctors Award
2012 Top Doctors: Boston Magazine
2012 Patients’ Choice Award, American Registry
