News from the ASCRS Foundation
The ASCRS Foundation introduces its Volunteer of the Year, Omar Shakir, MD, and gives a wrap-up of the Party for a Purpose and its symposium at the ASCRS Annual Meeting.
Browse articles on EyeWorld.org from the ASCRS News section. EyeWorld is the award-winning member publication of ASCRS. The magazine provides news and updates from the Society as well as clinical features in the areas of cataract, refractive, cornea, glaucoma, and practice management. It publishes quarterly with editorial direction from its medical editorial board and staff.
The ASCRS Foundation introduces its Volunteer of the Year, Omar Shakir, MD, and gives a wrap-up of the Party for a Purpose and its symposium at the ASCRS Annual Meeting.
ASCRS Government Relations Committee Chair Susanne Hewitt, MD, gives an overview of the Government Relations activities at the ASCRS Annual Meeting and encourages members to attend the Alliance of Specialty Medicine Legislative Fly-In.
The second Business of Refractive Cataract Surgery (BRiCS) Summit will take place October 3–5 in Chicago, Illinois, giving a new set of surgeon-implementor teams the opportunity to gain insights and resources to enhance their advanced-technology IOL practice.
One of the authors of the recently published study “Analysis of intraocular lens packaging weight and waste,” which highlighted the differences between packaging waste of various IOLs and their paper or e-IFUs, discussed the study and the disparities in packaging across different IOL models, identifying key opportunities for reducing waste.
The ASCRS Foundation Board proudly announced its selection of Elena Barraquer, MD, for the 2025 Chang-Crandall Humanitarian Award. For many years, Dr. Barraquer has led the Elena Barraquer Foundation, a nonprofit organization that fights avoidable blindness due to cataract in developing countries.
The ASCRS Foundation is honoring Foundation Board member Michael Colvard, MD, by posthumously naming him co-recipient of the 2023 Chang-Crandall Humanitarian Award, along with Helena Ndume, MD, his long-time partner with SEE International in Namibia. Dr. Colvard, a beloved ophthalmologist, humanitarian, and educator, passed away in September 2024.
In this article, Parag Parekh, MD, outgoing chair of the ASCRS Government Relations Committee, reflected on his tenure, and incoming chair Susanne Hewitt, MD, shared how she got involved with ASCRS and her goals for the future.
The ASCRS Foundation spotlighted the humanitarian efforts of Carl Zeiss Meditec, shared details of the Party for a Purpose at the ASCRS Annual Meeting, congratulated its award winners, and more in this issue’s ASCRS Foundation Update column.
ASCRS Annual Meeting Program Chair Thomas Samuelson, MD, spoke to EyeWorld about the upcoming Annual Meeting and what he’s looking forward to in Los Angeles, California.
Richard Lindstrom, MD, has been a member of ASCRS for decades, almost since the Society’s inception, serving in various leadership roles for 40 years. This year, Dr. Lindstrom is stepping down from leadership and will be inducted into the ASCRS Ophthalmology Hall of Fame.