Eyeworld Daily News

EyeWorld Daily News • The official ASCRS•ASOA Boston Show Daily April 26, 2014 Philip C. Hessburg, MD Keiki R. Mehta, MS, DO, FIOS ASCRS Honored Guests welcomed P hilip C. Hessburg, MD, and Keiki R. Mehta, MS, DO, FIOS, are this year's Honored Guests. At today's ASCRS Opening General Session, they will be honored for their contributions to ophthalmology. Dr. Hessburg's career has served as a sterling example of leadership through service, as evidenced by his commitment to numerous profes- sional organizations, including serving as an associate examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmol- ogy, president of the Michigan Ophthalmological Society, and two full terms on the Council of the American Academy of Ophthalmol- ogy. He has been or is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgery Society, the Welsh Cataract Congress, and the American Intraocular Implant Society. The long list of awards pre- sented to Dr. Hessburg include the Secretariat Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology's Board of Trustees in 2004, its Senior Achievement Award in 2006, and the Statesmanship Award of the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology. Dr. Hessburg was founder and board chairman of Health Applications Network and of Mediventures Inc. and is past president of Medical Eye Services of Michigan. He invented the Hessburg anterior chamber IOL, the Hessburg/Barron corneal trephine, and the Hessburg subpalpebral lavage system. free eye hospital in a rural area of Karjat. Dr. Mehta is currently med- ical director and chief of surgery for the Mehta International Eye Insti- tute and Colaba Eye Hospital, which he founded; it is now considered to be Asia's most advanced ophthalmic institute. He holds a professorship at the D. Y. Patil Medical College and Hospital in Mumbai and serves as chairman and organizing secretary of the EyeAdvance Congresses. Over the course of his long and distinguished career, Dr. Mehta performed the first IOL implantation and the first LASIK procedure in India and has earned a reputation as the "father of Indian phacoemul- sification" for his efforts in that field. Dr. Mehta has operated live on Video Cataracta, Europe's largest live surgery conference, held in Milan, Italy. Dr. Mehta's numerous awards include the AIOIS's prestigious Appreciation Award for creation of the first soft IOL, and the National Eye Research Foundation's Grand Honors Award for ophthalmology research. EW Dr. Hessburg was founder and volunteer president of the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to ophthalmic education, research, and aid to the visually impaired. He is currently the medical director for the institute and for Henry Ford Health System's Division of Education and Research. Although he retired in December 2005 from active ophthalmic practice at Grosse Pointe Ophthalmology/Henry Ford Health System, he was asked to rejoin the senior staff of the Department of Ophthalmology in June 2012 at the time of the merger of the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology and the Henry Ford Health System. The second Honored Guest is Dr. Mehta, a prolific teacher and clinician. Dr. Mehta is one of India's top eye surgeons and a pioneer in cataract and refractive surgery in the region. In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Mehta conducts free eye camps nationwide; is chairman of the Low Vision Centre at Maharashtra; and runs a 25-bed, Sen. Rand Paul, MD (R-KY), was the featured guest speaker at the ASCRS•ASOA Government Relations Session on Friday. Sen. Paul spoke to a jam-packed session room about his objections to the ACA, SGR, and ICD-10.

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