David F. Chang MD Presents the 2010 Rayner Medal Lecture
Posted on 13/11/2010
This year’s Rayner Medal Lecture was presented by David F. Chang, MD, at the Annual Meeting of the United Kingdom and Ireland Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (UKISCRS). Dr. Chang is an internationally recognized innovator, educator, and clinical investigator in the field of cataract surgery. In addition to his work with improving refractive IOL technology and cataract surgical techniques, he is also recognized for his involvement in efforts to tackle cataract blindness in the developing world.
The Rayner Medal was presented to Dr. Chang during the UKISCRS conference in Brighton on November 12, 2010 by Donald John Munro, Chairman and Managing Director for Rayner Intraocular Lenses Ltd.
“The successful models highlighted by Dr. Chang to perform low cost cataract surgery in developing countries where there is a shortage of ophthalmologists and no access to the latest technological resources, demonstrates that anything is possible, and this is important to recognize,” said Mr. Munro, adding, “Dr. Chang is dedicated to improving patients’ quality of life, which is what ophthalmology is all about.”
The award was given to Dr. Chang following his lecture “The Greatest Challenge in Cataract Surgery (Needed: a 5 minute, $15 cure for blindness).” The lecture reviewed key elements of a promising model for reducing the growing backlog of cataract blindness in the developing world. The Aravind Eye Hospital in Southern India, the Tilganga Eye Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Project Vision in China all perform a lower cost, low tech variation of cataract surgery in very high volumes by using streamlined delivery systems that maximize the productivity of their relatively scarce ophthalmic surgeons.
“I am particularly honoured to receive the Rayner Medal in this – the same year that marks the 100th anniversary of the company,” said Dr. Chang. “As much as any medical specialty, ophthalmology has benefited from incredible advances in technology produced through the collaboration between clinicians and industry, and the seminal example of this was the development of the first intraocular lens by Rayner and Sir Harold Ridley”, he added. “Sixty years later, this ongoing collaboration continues to produce astounding advances in IOL technology,” Dr. Chang explained. “Against this backdrop, however, is the sad irony that cataracts are the leading cause of global blindness, and my lecture focused on stemming the epidemic increase in cataract blindness in the developing world – what I consider to be the greatest challenge in our field”.
In 1978 the UK Intraocular Implant Society (UKIIS), the forerunner to the UKISCRS, invited Rayner to sponsor a special lecture to be given every two years at a meeting of the Society. That tradition continues to this day. Over the years the Rayner Medal Lecture has been presented by many of the world’s leading authorities on intraocular lenses and other aspects of cataract and refractive surgery.
About David F. Chang, MD
Dr. Chang is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School. He completed his ophthalmology residency at the University of California, San Francisco where he is now a clinical professor. He is also an adjunct clinical professor of ophthalmology at the Chinese University in Hong Kong. Dr. Chang is past chair of the ASCRS Cataract Clinical Committee, and will be the ASCRS president in 2012. He is also Chairman of the AAO Cataract Preferred Practice Pattern Panel, and was chair of the AAO Annual Meeting program committee for the past 5 years. Dr. Chang served for five years as co-chief medical editor of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today and is the author or editor of 4 cataract textbooks.
In 2006, Dr. Chang became only the third ophthalmologist to ever receive the Charlotte Baer Award honouring the outstanding clinical faculty member at the UCSF Medical School. He has received the highest honour for cataract surgery from ASCRS (Binkhorst Medal), the Asia Pacific Association of Cataract & Refractive Surgery (Lim Medal), the Canadian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (Award of Excellence), the Indian Intraocular Implant & Refractive Society (Gold Medal), and the Italian Ophthalmological Society (Strampelli Medal). Dr. Chang is also on the Board of Directors for the Pan American Association of Ophthalmology and serves on the medical advisory board of three global humanitarian organizations, Himalayan Cataract Project, Help Me See, and Project Vision.
