Professor Jacob J. Pe’er, born in Tel Aviv, graduated from the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School in 1974. He specialized in Ophthalmology at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, and the Ophthalmic Pathology Department of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Washington, DC.
In 1998 Professor Pe’er was appointed Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center. He served as President of the International Society of Ophthalmic Pathology (2000 – 2004), President of the International Society of Ocular Oncology (2007 – 2011), member of the Board of Trustees of the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) (2002 – 2012), and member of the Board of Trustees and Vice President of Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) (2008 – 2013). In 2014, he was elected to the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis (AOI). His clinical and research interests center on the fields of ocular oncology and ophthalmic pathology.
Since 1980, Professor Pe'er has been involved in the education of ophthalmologists from developing countries. He worked in the department of ophthalmology at Nakuru Provincial General Hospital in Kenya during its early years. During his tenure on the ICO Advisory Board, he led the committee to focus on countries that had a minimal presence of ophthalmology. In the 20 years he served as Chairman of the department of ophthalmology at Hadassah Hospital, Professor Pe’er continued the commitment towards the progress of eye care in developing countries.
Professor Pe'er has published over 250 papers and over 60 chapters in books. He co-authored the book "Clinical Ophthalmic Oncology". He has presented over 580 lectures at national and international meetings, including over 100 invited lectures.
Professor Pe’er is married to Dr. Edith Pe'er and has three children and two grandchildren.