Dr. Markowitz is the director of the Low Vision Rehabilitation Program in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto and works at the Toronto Western Hospital within the University Health Network. He is a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Toronto.

Currently Dr. Markowitz serves as section editor for vision rehabilitation for the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology. He is co-chair of the Sub-Committee on Low Vision Rehabilitation for the Eye Health Council of Ontario, a member of the Executive Committee of the International Society for Low Vision Research and Rehabilitation, a member of the Scientific Committee of the WHO-International Consensus Task Force on Low Vision Rehabilitation standards, a past member of the International Scientific Committee preparing the 9th International Low Vision Conference in Montréal, and a past member of the Vision Rehabilitation Committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Dr. Markowitz is an ophthalmology fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and also holds certification from the American Board of Ophthalmology. He is a fellowship trained glaucoma subspecialist with a certificate from the University of Toronto and also holds a diploma in low vision rehabilitation from the New York Lighthouse International Institute.

Dr. Markowitz has been involved in clinical practice, teaching and research in low vision rehabilitation for the past 18 years. He is active in research and practice in the following domains: accessibility and barriers to low vision rehabilitation, characteristics of scotomata and of preferred retinal loci, identification of residual potential visual acuity, rehabilitation with surgical telescopic magnification, and with prisms toward PRL, rehabilitation of residual oculomotor characteristics including stereopsis, fixation location and fixation stability, microperimetry assessment, residual chromatic vision, restitution of vision in older children with amblyopia, field expansion in stroke, retinitis pigmentosa and end-stage glaucoma, interventions to promote brain plasticity and development of indoor navigation systems for the visually impaired and retinal prosthesis applications in low vision.

Dr. Markowitz has published many research papers in low vision rehabilitation in leading national and international journals and has lectured on those topics locally, nationally, and internationally. In 2003, the university approved a Low Vision Rehabilitation Fellowship program within the Department of Ophthalmology that was initiated by Dr. Markowitz. Today, graduates from this program practice low vision rehabilitation in Canada and as far away as Singapore.

Dr. Markowitz was recognized with the Secretariat Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology for service and leadership in the development of scientific and continuous education programs at the 2003 to 2006 Annual Meetings; in 2007 with the Distinguished Service Award from the Low Vision Rehabilitation Section of the American Optometric Association for professional accomplishments in Low Vision Rehabilitation; in 2009 with the Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology for professional accomplishments in Low Vision Rehabilitation, and in 2009 for outstanding service to the profession of ophthalmology by the American Academy of Ophthalmology for the development and maintenance of the Preferred Practice Patterns guidelines. In 2014, Dr. Markowitz was recognized by and formally introduced to Her Majesty the Queen Mathilde of Belgium on the occasion of a special presentation that was given during De Markgrave Conference on Low Vision Rehabilitation in Antwerp on the “State of the art for low vision rehabilitation.” The Queen was in attendance during the presentation.

Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization:

1. LumiThera 
   
2. eSight