Foundation Fighting Blindness & Gavin Herbert Eye Institute Host Orange County Shine the Light Gala In Support Of Sight-Saving Research
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Irvine, CA (Feb. 6, 2012) — The Foundation Fighting Blindness, a national nonprofit focused on driving sight-saving research, is partnering with the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute at UC Irvine to host the Orange County Shine the Light dinner on Thursday, March 22, at The Fairmont, Newport Beach. The event will honor three ophthalmic industry leaders: Tibor Juhasz, Ph.D., vice president, surgical instrumentation, research and development, LenSx, and professor, the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute and the UCI Department of Biomedical Engineering; and Stephen J. Ryan, M.D., president, Doheny Eye Institute, will receive the Foundation’s Visionary Award, and Richard Kratz, M.D., D.Sci., will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Shine the Light will benefit the Foundation Fighting Blindness’ research efforts for vision-robbing retinal degenerative diseases, as well as the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute’s building of a new state-of-the-art facility expected to be complete in 2013. “As we highlight cutting-edge research and clinical trials lighting the way to treatments and cures for blinding eye diseases, it’s only appropriate to recognize three visionaries who have impacted the ophthalmic field in such significant ways,” said William T. Schmidt, CEO, Foundation Fighting Blindness. “We’re lucky to partner with the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, another organization intently focused on saving and restoring sight, to bring together “With Upon completion, the new $31 million, 70,000-square-foot institute will be a national center of excellence for eye care and research and the only university-based, full-service multispecialty eye center between Honored with the Visionary Award at Shine the Light will be Dr. Juhasz, who has served as Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Ophthalmology at UCI since 2004, after nearly 10 years at the University of Michigan. He co-founded LenSx Lasers, Inc., which commercialized the first femtosecond laser for cataract surgery and was acquired by Alcon in 2010. Prior, he co-founded and served as chief technical officer and vice president of research and development of IntraLase Corporation. Honoree Dr. Ryan, also founding president of the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR), is an internationally recognized expert in the field of retinal diseases and ocular trauma who has published nine books and authored over 270 peer-reviewed articles. After serving as USC’s Department of Ophthalmology Chair for over 20 years, he is currently president of the affiliated Doheny Eye Institute, as well as the Grace and Emery Beardsley Chair and the Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology at USC. A pioneer in cataract surgery, Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Dr. Kratz was one of the first to teach and improve the modern cataract surgery called phacoemulsification with intraocular lenses, a procedure that significantly improved patient rehabilitation from months to weeks. A retired Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at both UCI and USC, he is also a member of the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute Steering Committee, the Board of UCI’s Beckman Laser Institute, the Grieshaber Foundation, and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Life Extension Foundation. Co-chairing Shine the Light with Dr. Steinert are William J. Link, Ph.D., co-founder and managing director, Versant Ventures; and Jim Mazzo, president, Abbott Medical Optics, and senior vice president, Abbott Laboratories. Preceding the Shine the Light dinner from 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at The Fairmont,
Individual tickets are available for $500 each and sponsorship packages begin at $10,000. For ticket and sponsorship information, contact Events Manager Donna Cohen at
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or 310-450-2910. To RSVP as a member of the media or to coordinate an interview with an event spokesperson, contact Allie Gebhardt at 410-423-0643 or
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