About The Glaucoma Care Center of New Jersey.
The Glaucoma & Cataract Center of New Jersey was founded by Amir Cohen MD, MBA with the mission of providing individualized medical and surgical treatment plans to maximize the vision of patients suffering from glaucoma or cataracts. Dr. Cohen has performed over 8,000 surgeries and specializes in complex and combined cataract and glaucoma surgery, as well as other treatments. He is committed to preserving the vision of patients suffering from cataracts, at risk of developing glaucoma (glaucoma suspect) or requiring glaucoma medical therapy, glaucoma laser treatment or glaucoma surgery.
Dr. Cohen was raised in the Bronx. As a son of a physician and teacher, he developed an interest in medicine at a young age. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and competed in the Westinghouse mathematics competition.
Dr. Cohen graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with magna cum laude honors. As a college student he witnessed his maternal grandmother lose her vision to glaucoma and macular degeneration. The young Dr. Cohen saw his grandmother lose not only her ability to see but also her identity, independence and sense of self-worth. Without the ability to cook, she lost a favorite form of self-expression as well as the ability to nourish others. “Grandma Hannah’s” blindness had a strong impact on his outlook on life and motivated him to attend medical school and pursue ophthalmology.
Dr. Cohen was awarded an academic merit full tuition scholarship to attend Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University Business School joint MD/MBA program. At Rutgers he was awarded The New Jersey Academic Achievement Award scholarship. He was also awarded the Dean’s Housing Subsidy Scholarship by the Dean of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Cohen completed his internship year at Cornell University’s Transitional Year Surgery and Internal Medicine Internship program. He completed his residency at New York Medical College where he served as Chief Resident.
Dr. Cohen completed his fellowship at Yale University. Under the tutelage of Drs. Bruce Shields and James Tsai, he honed his glaucoma and cataract surgical skills. At Yale University he developed a patent on implanting intraocular pressure sensors into the eye and participated in a glaucoma screening program for low-income patients throughout the state of Connecticut.
After completing his fellowship at Yale, Dr. Cohen served as the Associate Director of the Glaucoma division at Rutgers University/New Jersey Medical school for over 10 years. In addition to treating patients, he conducted research and taught residents to perform cataract and glaucoma surgeries. He was awarded resident teaching awards two years in a row for teaching surgery. Dr. Cohen was awarded the Zul-Latifatu Zahiratu African Culture Humanitarian Award for his service to the Newark community.
As a participant in the humanitarian mission at St. George’s University, Dr. Cohen has performed glaucoma and cataract surgery for the underserved in the Caribbean island of Grenada.
Dr. Cohen is a thought leader in the field, consults for diagnostic medical device and pharmaceutical companies, holds medical patents, performs research and conducts medical trials. He is uniquely experienced at treating difficult presentations including combined glaucoma and cataracts, monocular and advanced stage patients.
Dr. Cohen serves as medical director of the Livingston Surgery Center at Barnabas Health and cares deeply about patient safety and outcome. He is committed to treating every patient with the same level of care and compassion as he would his own Grandma Hanna.
Dr. Cohen lives with his wife Miriam Y. Cohen, and their three young children in Livingston, NJ.