The venue of the conference is the fully equipped International Convention Center in Hyderabad. There
are numerous hotels around the convention center with periodic shuttle bus service to the venue.
The Meeting website at http://www.eyetumors.comhas further details. Online registrations and abstracts
submissions begin September 1. If you have any specific questions or concerns, please contact Drs. Arun
Singh and Santosh Hanoavar per the information below:
Arun Singh, MD, Chairman
Santosh G. Honavar, MD, Organizing Secretary
ICOO Secretariat
LV Prasad Eye Institute
LV Prasad Marg, Banjara Hills
Hyderabad 500034, India
Telephone: (ϩ91) 40-23548267
Fax: (ϩ91)40-23548271
e-mail honavar@lvpei.org, icoo@eyetumors.com
Research To Prevent Blindness Selects Four Scientists To Receive RPB Career Development Awards and
Five Scientists To Receive RPB Lew R. Wasserman Merit Awards
Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB), the voluntary health organization supporting eye research, has
selected four scientists to receive RPB Career Development Awards in the amount of $200,000 each over
a four-year period. They have also has selected five scientists to receive RPB Lew R.Wasserman Merit
Awards of $55,000 each.
The recipients of the Career Devleopment Awards are: Natalie A. Afshari, MD, of Duke University School
of Medicine; Peter L. Gehlbach, MD, PhD, of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Valery I.
Shestopalov, PhD, of the University of Miami School of Medicine, and Michael E. Zuber, PhD, of SUNY
Upstate Medical University.
The RPB Research Career Development Award was established in 1990 to attract young physicians and
basic scientists to eye research. To date, the program has recruited 99 vision scientists to research
positions in departments of ophthalmology at universities across the country.
The recipients of the Lew R. Wasserman Merit Awards are: David J. Calkins, PhD, of the University of
Rochester School of Medicine; Scott W. Cousins, MD, of the University of Miami School of Medicine;
Bret A. Hughes, PhD, of the University of Michigan School of Medicine; David A. Leib, PhD, of
Washington University School of Medicine, and Dennis W. Rickman, PhD, of Duke University School of
Medicine.
Established in 1995, the RPB Lew R. Wasserman Merit Awards provide unrestricted support to mid-career
MD and PhD scientists who are actively engaged in eye research within departments of ophthalmology at
medical institutions in the United States. To date, 69 vision researchers at 34 institutions have received
the RPB Lew R. Wasserman Merit Award.
Since its founding in 1960, RPB has channeled hundreds of millions of dollars to medical institutions
throughout the United States. As a result, RPB has been identified with nearly every major breakthrough
in eye research in that time, including the development of laser surgery now used to treat diabetic
retinopathy, glaucoma, macular degeneration, myopia, retinal detachment and astigmatism.
Headquartered in New York City, RPB has helped create eye institutes in every geographical area of the
country to conduct research, enhance ophthalmic education and provide improved vision care to the
public. It also spearheaded the movement that established the National Eye Institute within the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1968. RPBϭs professional staff of ten is among the smallest of all major
organizations in the voluntary health field. More information about RPB can be found at www.rpbusa.org.
The AJO congratulates each of the recipients of the RPB Research Career Development and Lew R.
Wasserman Merit Awards.
Donald Gass Presents the First Robert Haimovici Lecture at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute 39th Annual
Resident’s Day Meeting
Presentations by faculty, fellows, and residents during the June 19 –21, 2003, meeting at Bascom Palmer
Eye Institute in Miami, Florida were highlighted by Mark S. Blumenkranz, MD, who presented the Edward
W. D. Norton Lecture and by Jean Marie Parel, PhD, who was honored for his major contributions to
ophthalmology and for his research endeavors at the institute.