Dr. Reay H. Brown is a cataract and glaucoma specialist who founded Atlanta Ophthalmology Associates in 1999. He received his training at Harvard, University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins, and Bascom Palmer. He was previously Pamela Firman Professor of Ophthalmology at Emory. He has more than 40 patents for innovations in cataract and glaucoma surgery. Many of these patents are in conjunction with his wife, Dr. Mary Lynch. Their patents on trabecular bypass are fundamental to MIGS technology and cover aspects of many innovative devices including the iStent (Glaukos, Inc.) and the Hydrus (Alcon, Inc.). He was the Chairman of the ASCRS Glaucoma Committee and Glaucoma Editor of EyeWorld for many years. He has received the 2013 Distinguished Alumnus Award from Johns Hopkins, the 2014 Innovator Award from the American Glaucoma Society and the 2017 Charles Kelman Innovator Award from the ASCRS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfAx4BmYea8&t=4s).
Dr. Brown has authored more than 100 publications. Dr. Brown developed the first internal mechanical trephine device to perform an ab interno filtering operation. This concept is being developed currently by Sanoculis under the term MIMS. (Brown RH, Lynch MG, Denham DB, Parel JM, Palmberg P, Brown DD: Internal sclerectomy with an automated trephine for advanced glaucoma. Ophthalmology 1988;95:682). He was the first to patent a trans-corneal drainage device—an approach that is being developed as the Beacon by MicrOptix. He was the first person to describe and name “blebitis” ( Brown, RH, Yang LH, Walker SD, Lynch MG, Martinez LA, Wilson LA. Treatment of bleb infection after glaucoma surgery. Arch Ophthalmol 1994;112:57).
Drs. Brown and Lynch, were the first to describe a technique for producing small eye drops and the first to show that smaller drops with higher concentrations were more effective and safer (Brown RH, Wood TS, Lynch MG, Schoenwald R, Chien DS, Jennings LW. Improving the therapeutic index of topical phenylephrine by reducing drop volume. Ophthalmology 1987;94:847, Lynch MG, Brown RH, Goode SM, Shoenwald RD, Chien DS. Reducing phenylephrine drop size in infants achieves equal dilation with decreased systemic absorption. Arch Ophthalmol 1987;105:1364). They wrote the first paper describing pars plana vitrectomy for the surgical treatment of malignant glaucoma (Lynch MG, Brown RH, Michels RG, Pollack IP, Stark WJ. Surgical vitrectomy for pseudophakic malignant glaucoma. Am J Ophthalmol 1986;102:149.)
Dr. Brown developed the triple post lid speculum that is the first speculum to provide a central post to support the middle of the lid. (Brown RH, Lynch MG, Hovis KL. Triple-post lid speculum: Maximizing exposure for cataract surgery. J Cataract Refract Surg 2010;37:209–210).
He wrote the first paper showing that clear lens extraction could treat uncontrolled eye pressure in angle closure glaucoma (Brown RH, Zhong L, Lynch MG. Clear lens extraction as treatment for uncontrolled primary angle-closure glaucoma. J Cataract Refract Surg 2014;40:840–841.)
Drs. Brown and Lynch started the Madeleine Jude Brown Foundation in 2009 (https://www.madeleinejudebrown.com/). Their foundation gives college scholarships to students from Atlanta High Schools. To date, 25 students have received scholarship awards.
Dr. Brown continues to practice ophthalmology and in 2019 became the Chief Medical Officer of Sight Sciences. He continues to work on new innovations in glaucoma surgical technology.