Attending Union College, Syracuse University, and SUNY College of Optometry, Manhattan, Dr. Cortese received a bachelor’s degree with honors in biology and doctorate in optometry in 1981. Additional externships were completed at The Staten Island Developmental Center, Martin Luther King Medical Center, Bronx, and the Northport Veterans Hospital, Long Island.

Following many years in private optometric practice, Dr. Cortese became the Clinical Director for TLC Laser Eye Centers, Albany, NY from 2003 to 2019 and TLC Northeast Regional Director from 2008 to 2013. He also worked with ophthalmology residents and cornea fellows through Cornea Consultants of Albany and Albany Medical College from 2012 to 2019.  Dr. Cortese has specialties in pediatric optometry, specialty contact lens fittings, anterior segment disorders, and refractive vision correction. He has successfully planned and co-managed more than 17,000 laser procedures at this time.

As a member of the National Keratoconus Foundation, Dr. Cortese designs and fits specialty contact lenses for irregular or scarred corneas and has concentrated on the many areas of dry eye therapy.

Through research and data collection, Dr. Cortese participated in and coauthored multiple peer reviewed international papers utilizing the PAR Topography System and the Oculus Pentacam Tomography.