Zeynel A. Karcioglu (born June 12, 1946) is a medical and surgical practitioner, researcher and medical educator. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology, specializing in Ophthalmic Oncology and Pathology particularly in areas of retinoblastoma, external eye tumors, and primary and metastatic orbital neoplasms. Karcioglu is also residency and fellowship trained in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology and certified by the American Board of Pathology.
Karcioglu is a Turkish-American who was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1946. In 1969, he received his medical degree at the Hacettepe University School of Medicine in Ankara,following residency trainings at Tulane University and Emory University School of Medicine in Ophthalmology and Pathology, respectively. He is American board certified in Ophthalmology and Pathology.
Karcioglu has been married to Guler L. Karcioglu, also a medical doctor, for over 45 years. They have one son and two grandchildren.
Karcioglu started his profession as a surgical pathologist at Emory University in Atlanta and later made a career move to ophthalmology, completing his residency at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. After his residency, he joined the ranks of the Tulane faculty and served as a clinician and educator with distinction for approximately 25 years, until Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005; Karcioglu currently holds the rank of Professor Emeritus at Tulane University.
He has worked at schools in the southern United States, including Emory, Tulane, the University of Tennessee and the University of Virginia (UVA).
In 1995, Karcioglu was appointed to the endowed chair of George Haik Sr./St. Giles Foundation Professor of Ocular Oncology at Tulane and held the position until he left Tulane as an Emeritus Professor in 2005.[1]
He is known as a prolific scientific writer in clinical ophthalmology and ophthalmic pathology. Karcioglu has produced numerous scientific papers, book chapters and books and has delivered many presentations and lectures in his areas of expertise at regional, national and international medical meetings. He has held numerous leadership offices in his field including the office of the president of The American Association of Ocular Oncologists and Pathologists (AAOOP), and has been acknowledged on several occasions as an outstanding medical educator, to his students, residents and fellows. Karcioglu served as the ophthalmology residency program director for more than ten years at Tulane University. During his tenure in this post he was recognized by his residents on numerous occasions with best teacher/ophthalmologist awards. In 1998 he received the State Recognition for Exceptional and Laudatory Contributions to Louisiana Higher Education. In 2016 he received the Zimmerman Medal of ASOOP and delivered the honorary Zimmerman Lecture at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in Chicago, IL.
During a sabbatical leave, Karcioglu served as Director of Research and Chief of the Ophthalmic Oncology Division at King Khalid Eye Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In addition to his regional research and clinical work, during his tenure in Riyadh he was involved in collaborative investigative projects with other medical institutions in Europe and the Middle and Far East.
Karcioglu has also been active in the classification and staging work of ophthalmic tumors under the auspices of the American Joint Commission of Cancer and has been an active participant to the functions of the International Society of Ocular Oncology and Pathology. Currently, he is employed by University of Virginia (UVA) as a Professor of Ophthalmology and Pathology. Karcioglu is also a member of the Emily Couric Cancer Center in the same institution.
Karcioglu's tangential interest has been the eye diseases of the artists and the effects of these problems on their work. To this end, he studied on particular instances of artists' diseases, and has produced a variety of publications and presentations.