Robert Kinast, MD

Clinical Scientist, Legacy Research Institute
Associate Director, Glaucoma Fellowship, Legacy Devers Eye Institute
Clinical Associate Professor, OHSU Casey Eye Institute

My favorite part of residency at CPMC from 2007-2010 was the people – the community felt like family. Faculty became mentors, co-residents, and lifelong friends. When I started ophthalmology residency, I was quite anxious, wondering if I should have pursued a career in psychiatry instead! Fortunately, Associate Program Director Erich Horn, Chief Resident (and future Associate Program Director) Taliva Martin, and co-resident Jon Wender helped me through my initial doubts. The residency provided a top-notch education with personal attention. Chair and Program Director Susan Day was a force of nature, a mind reader. One of my co-residents once warned me not to lie to Dr. Day because she would know what I was thinking before I did! Drs. Lieberman, Tanaka, and Bacharach inspired me to go into glaucoma. Dr. Lieberman also introduced me to Diamond Heart meditation, Tanaka to a love of angle closure, and Bacharach to my fellowship director, leading to my fellowship and current positions at the Devers and Casey Eye Institutes in Portland.

I loved teaching junior CPMC residents, and teaching is still an important part of my job as Associate Fellowship Director and Residency Site Director. Building upon CPMC research projects, I am a Clinical Scientist at the Legacy Research Institute with NIH funding and several patents. Mentors Emmett Cunningham and George Tanaka continue to kindly advise me to this day.