Heroes of Orbis - Dr. John Downing

Meet Dr. John Downing, an exceptional ophthalmologist, long-standing member of the Orbis Volunteer Faculty, and generous philanthropist who has supported Orbis since his very first sight-saving project in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1989!

Dr. John E Downing, Orbis Volunteer Faculty member, wears Orbis scrubs and hat

Volunteer Faculty member Dr. John Downing has been with Orbis since 1989!

The talented Dr. Downing balanced leading a busy private practice in southern Kentucky while serving as Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Vanderbilt University since 1971. Throughout his 60-year career he received many teaching awards and traveled the world sharing specialized skills with local eye doctors, creating long-lasting relationships to improve vision care.

He described the joy of restoring sight, saying: “Helping someone to see who has been blind... the look on their faces of amazement of being able to see is priceless. And it is one of the major reasons that I do it. It’s a wonderful feeling to help somebody like that.“

Through the John E. and Sheryl M. Downing Family Charitable Foundation, Dr. Downing and his family have kindly helped Orbis deliver training projects in communities stretching from Peru to China. Thanks to their support, Orbis has launched a vision center in the city of Huamachuco, a remote mountainous region of Peru, where access to care was scarce. The vision center serves around 70,000 people, conducting screenings in the region and treating, on average, 250 people each month.

Patients wearing eye patches outside an Orbis-supported vision center in the highlands of La Libertad, Peru

Patients in La Libertad, Peru, after sight-restoring surgery made possible by John E. and Sheryl M. Downing.

To support the vision center, the Downings funded a number of training projects with the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, improving techniques in cataract, glaucoma, and optometry, as well as the training of three ophthalmic nurses.

Dr. Downing says: "The Orbis model of working with doctors in their country and exchanging information with them I think is the most effective way that we can help improve eye care. Orbis has been a real leader in this, and we’ve made contacts and ongoing relationships with patients and physicians all around the world.”

Career and Expertise

Dr. Downing went to Georgetown College and Baylor University earning his Bachelor of Science degree in biology with honors. He earned his medical degree from the University of Louisville. After his medical internship at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, he joined the U. S. Navy and attended the School of Aerospace Medicine, where he became a flight surgeon. He undertook his residency training at the Naval Hospital, Wills Eye Hospital, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Downing left active duty with the Navy in 1971 to start a private practice. However, he remained in the Naval Reserve until he retired as a Navy Captain with 21 years of service. His primary areas of practice are cataract surgery, intraocular lens implant surgery, and refractive surgery, as well as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.

Teaching With Orbis

An Orbis Volunteer Faculty member safely escorts a patient down the stairs of the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital in 2005

Dr. Downing helps a patient down the steps of the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2005.

Dr. Downing, now 87, first heard about Orbis through a friend. The very first cataract removal procedure he taught in Bangladesh would go on to change countless lives. He said: “I was asked to go on my first mission with Orbis because I did a very simple manual cataract extraction, and one that could be taught easily with very little equipment to local doctors. Being able to see them learn the procedure and know that they are going to be helping many, many people after I leave was a great feeling.”

He recalled one of his most successful teaching stints in Bangladesh, a country that has seen enormous improvements in eye care since Orbis started working there. “I’ve been very privileged to have been associated with Orbis since 1989. In Bangladesh, Orbis started a program of supporting small private eye hospitals way out in the countryside. I went to one in Naogaon the first time, taught a course in small incision extra cap (a type of cataract surgery typical in low-income countries) and I think that was probably the best program that I had.”

His approach to patient care is to treat everyone equally with respect as if they are his own family members. “Improvement and maintenance of vision is very important in how we function and enjoy life. I do my best to help everyone see and maintain their vision.”

He told us about his most memorable patient during his time with Orbis, saying: "When I was in Ethiopia, I did cataract surgery on an 18-year-old young lady who was blind from cataracts and had been for several years. The look on her face when she could see was priceless, and I know that changed her life. I was able to follow up with her a couple of years later and she was back in school.

Images: Dr. Downing volunteering through the years

In 2023, Dr. Downing funded a special project focused on patients over age 65 who were referred from the Leoncio Prado Hospital in Huamachuco, Peru. The objective of the Downing family-funded campaign was to carry out treatment for blinding cataracts — in a context where it is difficult to access specialized eye care services due to geographical, economic, and cultural reasons.

Most recently, he is partnering with Orbis to build on the successes of our work in Huamachuco by expanding the scope of our model regionally. From 2025 through 2023, Dr. Downing has committed to helping Orbis launch five more vision centers across Peru, taking our successes to scale so that thousands more families can access the eye care they need to thrive.

And what's so special about working with Orbis? He tells us: “It’s very gratifying to work somewhere and then come back a couple of years later and see that people are using the techniques you taught. That’s a lot of fun.”

An enormous thank you to Dr. Downing for sharing his unique skillset with eye teams to improve the sight and lives of patients in underserved communities. And another thanks for his and his family’s remarkable generosity in funding special ophthalmic projects that create a long-lasting legacy of eye care.

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