Patricia bath biography video

1942-2019

Who Was Patricia Bath?

Patricia Bath was a groundbreaking Black doctor who invented the Laserphaco Probe, improving treatment for cataract patients.

Following her childhood interest in science, she became a doctor and the first Black person train in ophthalmology at Columbia University in 1969. Bath developed innovative ways to expand eye care access to poor communities, including co-founding the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness in 1976, which established that “eyesight is a basic human right.” A decade later, she invented the Laserphaco Probe to better treat cataracts.

Bath patented the device in 1988, becoming the first African American female doctor to receive a medical patent. She died in May 2019 at age 76. In 2022, she became one of the first Black women inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Patricia Era Bath
BORN: November 4, 1942
DIED: May 30, 2019
BIRTHPLACE: New York, New York
SPOUSE: Be