The American Academy of Ophthalmology and Academy President Daniel J. Briceland, MD are pleased to recognize Cynthia A. Bradford, MD as a guest of honor at AAO 2023.
Cynthia A. Bradford, MD, holds a Presbyterian Health Foundation presidential professorship, is a retired professor of ophthalmology at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and current clinical professor at Dean McGee Eye Institute in Oklahoma City.
Dr. Bradford served as Academy president in 2017 and prior to that as senior secretary for advocacy. She served on the Committee of Secretaries as Secretary for State Affairs. Her initial Academy committee service was in education, which led to serving as executive editor for two versions of Basic Ophthalmology. Her interests were then redirected to advocacy, and she served on the Secretariat for State Affairs. The Academy Leadership Development Program (LDP) was developed through State Affairs, and she served as LDP program faculty from the second class through 2017. She received the Academy’s Senior Achievement Award and Academy secretariat awards from the Secretary of Clinical Education in 2003 and from the Secretary of Member Services in 2009.
Dr. Bradford graduated from Texas A&M University, then spent a year on bench research. She attended medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, followed by ophthalmology residency at University of Oklahoma Department of Ophthalmology/Dean McGee Eye Institute. She joined the faculty and developed primary care and medical student education in ophthalmology. She practiced comprehensive ophthalmology, teaching residents eye muscle surgery and ultimately taught cataract surgery to residents. She was part of the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Cataract Study and the Implantable Miniature Telescope for the treatment of visual acuity loss resulting from end-stage age-related macular degeneration.