Medical School
New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY
Fellowship
University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
Residency
University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
Internship
New York University Medical Center, New York, NY
Academic Affiliation
Professor, Department of Surgery, James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University
Board Certification
American Board of Ophthalmology, Board Certified
Full Biography
Dr. Mark Kleinman received undergraduate degrees in Biology and Chemistry from Emory University and his medical degree from New York University. While in medical school, he devoted significant time to basic science research and was awarded several grants relating to his work in the role of vascular stem cells in the formation of new blood vessels. After completing a surgery internship at NYU, Dr. Kleinman was recruited to the University of Kentucky to perform ground-breaking vascular biology research in the field of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) where he co-discovered the role of specific inflammatory mediators in the progression of dry and wet AMD. This technology has since been licensed and is currently in clinical trials.
He remained at the University of Kentucky for his ophthalmology residency and a 2 year vitreoretinal surgery fellowship. Throughout his training, he won several prestigious awards including the AUPO/RPB Resident Research Forum Award, the Ronald G. Michels Fellowship, the Heed Fellowship, and the Evangelos S. Gragoudas Award from Macula Society. He remained on faculty at the University of Kentucky where he was funded by several career development grants from the National Eye Institute, Foundation Fighting Blindness, Research to Prevent Blindness, and American Federation for Aging Research. Dr. Kleinman is also very active with clinical research and was a principal investigator on multiple clinical trials studying wide-field retinal imaging, drug delivery implants for inflammatory retinal diseases, and the treatment of retinal vein occlusions with anti-VEGF-A antibodies.
Dr. Kleinman has given clinical and scientific lectures across the globe and has over 25 peer-reviewed scientific articles in some of the top journals in the world including New England Journal of Medicine, Science, and Nature. He is committed to helping patients suffering from age-related macular degeneration and other blinding retinal diseases through his clinics at Southeastern Retina in the Tri-cities area and through his NIH funded laboratory at East Tennessee State University where he is a Professor of Surgery. Dr. Kleinman is actively pursuing the growth of clinical research trials in the East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia areas to offer novel treatments to patients who may not benefit from our current standard of care.
While away from work, Dr. Kleinman loves to spend time with his wife and children exploring the great outdoors of East Tennessee.