First Black female doctor to receive a medical patent after inventing a cataract treatment. She studied physics and chemistry at Manhattan's Hunter College, earning a bachelor's degree in 1964 and a medical degree in 1968 from Howard University. She co-founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness in 1970. She was the first Black surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center and became the first woman on the faculty of the ophthalmology department of UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute. Her work with cataract patients and related research in the 1980s led her to develop the Laserphaco Probe, which uses laser technology to remove cataracts. After five years of research and testing, she applied for a patent, which was granted in 1988. The device is now used to restore or improve the vision of millions of patients around the world. She held 5 U.S. patents and authored more than 100 papers. She retired from UCLA in 1993. She was preceded in death by her parents, Rupert Bath and Gladys (Elliott) Bath. She is survived by her daughter, Eraka Bath; granddaughter, Noa Raphaelle Bath Fortuit - both of Los Angeles; and brother, Rupert Bath of NY.
Induction into the Black Inventors Hall of Fame on May 30, 2021; One of the first two Black women to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame on May 5, 2022.
Induction into the Black Inventors Hall of Fame on May 30, 2021; One of the first two Black women to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame on May 5, 2022.
First Black female doctor to receive a medical patent after inventing a cataract treatment. She studied physics and chemistry at Manhattan's Hunter College, earning a bachelor's degree in 1964 and a medical degree in 1968 from Howard University. She co-founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness in 1970. She was the first Black surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center and became the first woman on the faculty of the ophthalmology department of UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute. Her work with cataract patients and related research in the 1980s led her to develop the Laserphaco Probe, which uses laser technology to remove cataracts. After five years of research and testing, she applied for a patent, which was granted in 1988. The device is now used to restore or improve the vision of millions of patients around the world. She held 5 U.S. patents and authored more than 100 papers. She retired from UCLA in 1993. She was preceded in death by her parents, Rupert Bath and Gladys (Elliott) Bath. She is survived by her daughter, Eraka Bath; granddaughter, Noa Raphaelle Bath Fortuit - both of Los Angeles; and brother, Rupert Bath of NY.
Induction into the Black Inventors Hall of Fame on May 30, 2021; One of the first two Black women to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame on May 5, 2022.
Induction into the Black Inventors Hall of Fame on May 30, 2021; One of the first two Black women to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame on May 5, 2022.
Bio by: Nancy Foye-Cox
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