The History of Pediatric Ophthalmology at Children’s Hospital of Michigan

More Than 75 Years of Pediatric Eye Care and Education in Detroit

The history of pediatric ophthalmology at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit stretches back to 1948 when pediatric ophthalmology was only beginning to emerge as a distinct area of medicine in the United States.

Today, Children’s Eye Care partners with Detroit Medical Center to lead the Department of Ophthalmology at Children’s Hospital of Michigan (CHM). The department provides specialized pediatric eye care while continuing a longstanding commitment to educating ophthalmology residents, pediatric ophthalmology fellows, medical students and other eye-care professionals.

Its history is also part of the history of pediatric ophthalmology in Michigan.

1948: A Department Begins in a Basement

Children’s Hospital of Michigan’s Department of Ophthalmology traces its beginning to Cecil Lepard, MD, who believed children needed dedicated ophthalmic care separate from the hospital’s Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Department.

Cecil Lepard, MD

In 1948, Dr. Lepard established an eye clinic in a small room, described by some over the years as little more than a closet, in the basement of the old Children’s Free Hospital on St. Antoine Street in Detroit.

He became Chief of Ophthalmology that year and remained in the position until 1968.

Although Dr. Lepard practiced general ophthalmology and cared for patients of all ages, he had a particular interest in eye disease affecting children. In the department’s early years, care was provided by volunteer ophthalmology faculty, including Drs. Lepard, J. Conrad Gemeroy, Edmund Cooper, James Fry, Ralph Fox, Lawrence Stocker, William Cutler and Sheldon Stern.

Edmund Cooper, MD: An Early Pediatric Ophthalmologist

Dr. Edmund Cooper

Among those physicians was Edmund Cooper, MD, one of the earliest physicians in Michigan to focus his career on pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus.

By approximately the late 1950s or early 1960s, Dr. Cooper had limited his practice to the care of children. He became the first ophthalmologist in Michigan to offer post-residency training in pediatric ophthalmology and was the 10th member of the historic Squint Club, an early group of physicians dedicated to advancing the understanding and treatment of strabismus.

His work helped establish pediatric ophthalmology as a distinct field in Michigan.

1953: The Eye Clinic Gets a New Home

In 1953, the Couzens Memorial Clinic Building opened across the street from Children’s Free Hospital. The ophthalmology clinic moved from its original basement location to the west end of the building’s fourth floor.

The move gave the growing department a more permanent home as pediatric eye care continued to develop in Detroit.

1968: Gerald Davies, MD, Brings a New Era of Pediatric Ophthalmology

In 1968, Dr. Lepard recruited Gerald Davies, MD, back to Detroit to become Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Davies became the first ophthalmologist at the hospital whose practice was devoted exclusively to children.

Gerald Davies, MD

His training connected Detroit directly to some of the earliest leaders of modern pediatric ophthalmology.

After completing his ophthalmology residency at the University of Michigan, Dr. Davies spent six months in Washington, D.C., training with Frank Costenbader, MD, widely recognized as a founding figure in pediatric ophthalmology.

Dr. Davies later joined the U.S. Public Health Service, where he evaluated ophthalmology programs for grants and funding. During those years, he also volunteered in Dr. Costenbader’s pediatric ophthalmology clinic at the Washington, D.C. Children’s Hospital. Its senior staff included Dr. Costenbader and Marshall Parks, MD, another physician whose work helped shape the emerging field of pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus.

When Dr. Davies returned to Detroit in 1968, he devoted more than 60% of his professional time to the Children’s Hospital eye clinic while also establishing a pediatric ophthalmology clinic in Dearborn.

The 1970s: A New Children’s Hospital and a Growing Department

Children’s Hospital of Michigan moved into its new hospital on Beaubien Boulevard in March 1971.

In 1972, John D. “Jack” Baker, MD, joined Dr. Davies’ practice and the pediatric ophthalmology program continued to expand.

Dr. Davies died unexpectedly in a drowning accident in 1978, only 10 years after returning to Detroit. Despite the brevity of his career at Children’s Hospital, his influence helped establish pediatric ophthalmology as an important specialty in the region.

At that time, the pediatric ophthalmology staff included physicians such as Conrad Giles, MD; John Baker, MD; Robert McDonald, MD; William Cutler, MD; and Sheldon Stern, MD.

Dr. Baker became interim chief following Dr. Davies’ death.

1980–1990: Building a Regional Teaching Program

In 1980, Matthew Rabinowicz, MD, was recruited from the University of Florida to become Chief of Ophthalmology.

Drs. Rabinowicz, Baker, Cukrowski, Giles and McDonald staffed the clinic and trained ophthalmology residents from programs at Receiving Hospital, Harper Hospital, Grace Hospital and, eventually, Detroit Osteopathic Hospital.

In 1985, Drs. John Baker and Conrad Giles became co-chiefs of the department.

During this period, the pediatric ophthalmology clinic moved to the University Outpatient Building connected to Detroit Receiving Hospital. As Detroit’s ophthalmology residency programs evolved and consolidated, the department continued providing pediatric ophthalmology education to residents from throughout metropolitan Detroit.

That educational role would soon become even larger.

1991: Pediatric Ophthalmology Returns to Children’s Hospital

A major milestone came in 1991 with the opening of the Carl’s Outpatient Building at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.

The ophthalmology clinic returned to the Children’s Hospital campus, moving into a space specifically designed to support pediatric clinical eye care and ophthalmology education. The clinic was built on the west side of the first floor off the hospital lobby, where the department remains today.

Patient volume increased significantly following the move.

So did the department’s educational reach.

Ophthalmology residents from programs across metropolitan Detroit began rotating through Children’s Hospital to receive dedicated training in pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus. Over the years, these programs have included Kresge Eye Institute, Henry Ford, William Beaumont Hospital and Detroit-area osteopathic ophthalmology programs.

The faculty at the time included Drs. Baker, Giles, Cukrowski, McDonald and John Roarty.

The Pediatric Ophthalmology Fellowship Begins

Also in 1991, the department established its Pediatric Ophthalmology Fellowship.

The fellowship became accredited through what is now the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology Fellowship Compliance Committee (AUPO-FCC), further expanding Detroit’s role in educating the next generation of pediatric ophthalmologists.

1999–2004: John Baker, MD

Dr. Baker became the sole Chief of Ophthalmology in 1999.

During this period, the department included Drs. Cukrowski, Giles, McDonald, Roarty, Brian Bachynski, Patrick Dennehey and Rajesh Rao.

Another milestone came in 2002, when Lisa Bohra, MD, became the first woman to join the Department of Ophthalmology at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.

In 2004, Dr. Baker stepped down as Chief when he became Chairman of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Board of Trustees.

His decades of clinical care, teaching and leadership had a lasting impact on pediatric ophthalmology in Detroit and on generations of ophthalmologists who trained at Children’s Hospital.

2004–2020: John Roarty, MD

Dr. John Roarty

John Roarty, MD, became Chief of Ophthalmology in 2004 and served in the role for 16 years.

Dr. Roarty brought an unusually broad background to the position, having completed a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and a pediatric residency before completing his ophthalmology residency, ocular pathology fellowship and pediatric ophthalmology fellowship.

During his tenure, the department’s physicians included Drs. Roarty, Bachynski, Baker, Bohra, Dennehey, Giles, Rao, Leemor Rotberg, Elena Gianfermi, Reecha Bahl and Alexandra Apkarian.

The department also worked with subspecialists including Steven Dunn, MD, in cornea and Michael Trese, MD, in pediatric retina to provide care for children with complex ophthalmic disease.

2020–Present: Lisa Bohra, MD

In September 2020, Lisa I. Bohra, MD, was named Chief of Ophthalmology at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.

Today, the department brings together pediatric ophthalmologists and orthoptists from Children’s Eye Care along with physicians from Kresge Eye Institute.

The mission that began in a small basement room in 1948 continues: provide specialized eye care for children while teaching the physicians who will care for the next generation.

A Unique Center for Pediatric Ophthalmology Education in Detroit

One of the most distinctive aspects of the Department of Ophthalmology at Children’s Hospital of Michigan is its role in ophthalmology education.

Rather than training residents from a single institution, the department has historically served ophthalmology residency programs throughout metropolitan Detroit.

Today, residents from four ophthalmology residency programs rotate through the department for pediatric ophthalmology training. Pediatric ophthalmologists and orthoptists teach residents through direct patient care, giving young ophthalmologists experience diagnosing and managing pediatric eye disease, strabismus and complex childhood ophthalmic conditions.

The department also maintains its AUPO-FCC accredited Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus Fellowship, continuing a fellowship program established in 1991.

Together, these programs have allowed Children’s Hospital of Michigan to influence pediatric eye care far beyond the patients seen within its own clinic.

More Than 75 Years Later

The physical setting has changed dramatically since Dr. Cecil Lepard found a small room in the basement of Children’s Free Hospital in 1948.

The purpose has not.

For more than 75 years, physicians at Children’s Hospital of Michigan have cared for children with eye disease while helping educate future ophthalmologists and pediatric ophthalmologists.

From Drs. Lepard and Cooper, through Drs. Davies, Baker and Roarty, to the department led today by Dr. Lisa Bohra, each generation has built on the work of the one before it.

What began as a tiny eye clinic in Detroit has become a longstanding center for pediatric ophthalmology, strabismus care, fellowship training and ophthalmology resident education in Michigan.

Children’s Hospital of Michigan Department of Ophthalmology Faculty

The Department of Ophthalmology at Children’s Hospital of Michigan brings together pediatric ophthalmologists, strabismus specialists and orthoptists from Children’s Eye Care and Kresge Eye Institute. Together, the faculty provides specialized pediatric eye care while helping train ophthalmology residents and pediatric ophthalmology fellows in Detroit.

Attending Ophthalmologists

Lisa I. Bohra, MD
Chief of Ophthalmology | Children’s Eye Care

Leemor B. Rotberg, MD
Fellowship Director | Children’s Eye Care

Shaza Al-Holou, MD
Children’s Eye Care

Alexandra O. Apkarian, MD
Children’s Eye Care

Reecha Bahl, MD
Kresge Eye Institute

Elena M. Gianfermi, MD
Children’s Eye Care

Conrad L. Giles, MD
Kresge Eye Institute

Amanda A. Ismail, MD
Children’s Eye Care

Rajesh C. Rao, MD
Children’s Eye Care

Kevin Roumayah, DO
Kresge Eye Institute

Orthoptists

Nina M. Apple, CO, COT
Children’s Eye Care

Stephen Burwell, CO, COT
Children’s Eye Care

Katrina Callus, CO, COT
Children’s Eye Care

Mary DeYoung-Smith, CO, COMT
Children’s Eye Care