Eugene May, MD

Undergraduate Education: BS (Engineering), Tulane University, 1982

Medical School: MD, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, 1987

Post-Graduate Education:

Internship: Transitional, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 1988
Residency: Neurology, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 1991
Fellowship: Neuro-ophthalmology, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 1992
Board Certification: American Board of Neurology

Memberships: Washington Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons (WAEPS); American Academy of Neurology (AAN)

Sub-Specialty Societies: North American Neuro-ophthalmology Society (NANOS)

Dr. May was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and studied Biomedical Engineering at Tulane University in New Orleans. He was co-valedictorian of his graduating class and received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in 1982. He received a US Army Health Professions Medical Scholarship to the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, where he became interested in the brainstem neuroanatomy of the eye-movement control system. He dedicated a year between his pre-clinical and clinical studies to research with Dr. Robert McCrea on single-cell studies of eye movement control. He graduated in 1987.

Dr. May completed a Neurology residency and then a Neuro-ophthalmology fellowship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC, where he received the residents’ research award. He was assigned to the Ophthalmology and Neurology training programs at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he was on the faculty between 1992 and 1997. He received several teaching awards from the neurology and ophthalmology residents, and published papers and presented posters at national meetings with many of them.

Between 1997 and 2022, he was on the medical staff of Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, and a neuro-ophthalmologist at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute. He was a member of and chaired multiple committees, mostly involving medical education, and worked with the other neuro-ophthalmologists in the Pacific Northwest to host several highly successful regional neuro-ophthalmology conferences. He was involved with multiple clinical research studies as well as with University of Washington and Madigan resident education, and continued to receive teaching awards.

Since April 2022, he has been on the full-time faculty at the University of Washington, with clinical appointments in Ophthalmology and Neurology. He sees patients at the Eye Institute, Harborview 4W Clinic, and Veterans Administration Hospital. With the support of the University of Washington Multiple Sclerosis Center, he has established a neuro-ophthalmology clinic within the MS Center on the Northwest Hospital campus, dedicated to addressing the visual issues that individuals with multiple sclerosis face. In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. May remains committed to resident education and clinical research.

Harborview Medical Center 908 Jefferson St., 7th Floor Seattle, WA

Clinic Phone: 206-744-2020 Clinic Fax: 206-520-9310

Mailing Address: Box 359608 325 Ninth Ave. Seattle, WA 98104 Academic office phone:  206-543-7250

"My goal at work every day is to make sure that each of my patients is fully heard. Not only do I want to understand and treat their neuro-ophthalmic medical problem, but also to address their functional and emotional needs, and empower them to live their fullest lives."

2022, 2023, 2024     Seattle Magazine Top Doctor

2018     Ophthalmology Residents’ Teaching Award for Clinical Faculty, University of Washington

2015     Health Professional Hall of Fame, National Multiple Sclerosis Society

2015     Ophthalmology Residents’ Teaching Award for Clinical Faculty, University of Washington

2009     Advocacy Hall of Fame, National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Dr. May’s clinical interests include optic nerve disorders, eye movement disorders, and the neuro-ophthalmic complications of multiple sclerosis.

Dr. May’s research focuses on participating in multi-center observational and treatment trials in neuro-ophthalmology