Benjamin J. Frankfort, M.D., Ph.D. 

Benjamin J. Frankfort, M.D., Ph.D., is a Professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience and holds the Clifton R. McMichael Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology at Baylor College of Medicine. He was an undergraduate at Duke University and received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Baylor College of Medicine in 2005. His Ph.D. was obtained in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics and focused on the development of the Drosophila retina. He completed a residency in Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2009 and a fellowship in glaucoma surgery at the Cullen Eye Institute of Baylor College of Medicine in 2010. 

After his fellowship, Dr. Frankfort joined the faculty at Baylor College of Medicine and continued his research training with two career development awards under the supervision of Dr. Samuel Wu—a K08 (Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award) from the National Eye Institute and a Career Development Award from Research to Prevent Blindness. Dr. Frankfort’s research focuses on the impact of eye pressure changes on the visual system. His lab uses a variety of techniques to assess anatomic, physiologic, and molecular changes in injured rodent tissue with resolution ranging from single cells to whole organs. Dr. Frankfort currently holds two R01s (Research Projects) from the National Eye Institute and maintains funding from several foundations. 

As faculty at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Frankfort maintains a busy clinical practice that focuses on the medical and surgical treatment of refractory and advanced glaucoma; he receives referrals from all over Texas, Louisiana, and Mexico. Dr. Frankfort is highly active in the education of medical students, graduate students, residents, clinical fellows and post-doctoral fellows. Dr. Frankfort holds a major institutional leadership role at Baylor College of Medicine as the Co-Director and of the NIH-funded Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP).