(PRESS RELEASE) FAIRFAX, VA – The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) announces that it will induct I. Howard Fine, MD, and the late David Maurice, Ph.D., into the ASCRS Ophthalmology Hall of Fame on Saturday, April 14. The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., during the ASCRS Opening General Session of the ASCRS•ASOA Annual Meeting, April 13–17.
The ASCRS Ophthalmology Hall of Fame was created in 1999 to honor pioneers in the field who have laid the foundation for the modern practice of ophthalmology—and to celebrate their contributions and distinguished careers. ASCRS has inducted 59 members into the ASCRS Ophthalmology Hall of Fame, and annual meeting attendees may view an extensive virtual collection of photographs, books, personal effects and other memorabilia at the ASCRS Ophthalmology Hall of Fame Lounge, which will be located in the exhibit hall from Saturday, April 14- Monday, April 16.
I. Howard Fine, MD
Dr. Fine did his undergraduate training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his medical and ophthalmology training at the Boston University Medical Center. Specializing in cataract/IOL and refractive surgery, he has been in private practice for nearly 50 years in Eugene, Oregon.
Dr. Fine is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, and a co-founder of the Oregon Eye Surgery Center. He has held several international leadership positions within organized medicine and ophthalmology. He has served as the president of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and the president of the International Intraocular Implant Club.
Dr. Fine is listed in all editions of Best Doctors in America®, in two editions of Marquis’ Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare, and in the 2011-16 editions of Who’s Who in America. He has received the ASCRS Innovator’s Medal, the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Senior Honor Award and Kelman Lecture Award, the Maumenee Award from the Baylor/Welsh Cataract and Refractive Surgery Congress, the Rayner Medal from the United Kingdom and Ireland Societies for Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the Brazilian Phaco Club Award, the Boston University School of Medicine Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Oregon Health and Science University Meritorious Achievement Award, the Golden Orchid Award from the National Healthcare Group in Singapore, Ophthalmologist of the Millennium Medal from the International Academy for the Advances in Ophthalmology in India, the Strampelli Medal from the Italian Society of Ophthalmology, the Charles Kelman Medal from Videocataracttarefrattiva, in Milan, Italy, the Charles Kelman Medal from the Brazilian Society of Cataract and Implantation Surgery, the Binkhorst Medal from the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the Kelman Medal from the Hellenic (Greek) Society of Intraocular Implant and Refractive Surgery, the International Intraocular Implant Club Medal, and the Philip M. Corboy, MD, Memorial Award for Distinguished Service in Ophthalmology from the Hawaiian Eye Foundation.
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In 1999, Dr. Fine was named one of the 25 most influential ophthalmologists of the 20th century by a vote of 16,000 ophthalmologists worldwide. Dr. Fine has been a visiting professor at 30 medical schools in the United States and abroad, and has delivered 25 named lectureships.
His research activities have led to new instruments and implants and he has innovated many surgical procedures including cortical cleaving hydrodissection, chip and flip, crack and flip, and choo-choo chop and flip phacoemulsification techniques, the temporal approach to cataract surgery and the self-sealing clear corneal incision. Dr. Fine has contributed hundreds of publications to refereed medical journals and the medical press, written chapters and edited textbooks and surgical atlases, and lectured, taught and demonstrated live surgery extensively throughout the world.
David Maurice, PhD
Dr. David Maurice (1922-2002) was a British ophthalmologist, noted for his contributions to the development of the specular microscope used for examination of the cornea.
Dr. Maurice received in a B.Sc. General in 1941 and a B.Sc. in Special (Physics) in 1942 from the University of Reading. After serving in the military during World War II from 1942 to 1946, he received his Ph.D. in physiology from University College, London in 1951. From 1950 to 1968, he did research in ophthalmology at the Institute of Ophthalmology, University of London. From 1968 to 1993, he was a senior scientist and then professor of ophthalmology at Stanford University Medical School. From 1993 to 1996, he was a professor of ocular physiology in the Department of Ophthalmology in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. From 1996 to 2002, he was an adjunct professor of ocular physiology in the Department of Ophthalmology, Columbia University. From 1951–1952, he was a British Council Scholar at the University of Rome. From 1957–1958, he was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. And, from 1979–1980 he was a Guggenheim Fellow at the University of Paris.
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His Ph.D. thesis on corneal permeability introduced the pump-leak hypothesis for the corneal endothelium. At the Institute of Ophthalmology in London, he worked on the explanation of the physical basis of corneal transparency, aqueous humor dynamics, and other topics in the physiology of the eye. He introduced fluorescein for the investigation of aqueous humor flow, now an important technique in ocular research.
In 1968, he moved to the United States. He settled at Stanford University, where he became a research professor of ophthalmology. He continued to develop a specular microscope, which subsequently has become a widely used, routine tool for evaluating the corneal endothelium in health and disease. It is also used for screening donor corneas for transplantation. Together, with a long list of fellows, he developed highly original methods for impression cytology of the conjunctiva, penetration of drugs into the eye and measurements of toxic side effects to the eye.
He was a founding member of the journal, Experimental Eye Research, and a member of its editorial board until 2001. In 1998, he published a theory of REM-sleep oxygen supply to the cornea.
Upon his death, he was survived by his wife, his ex-wife, three daughters and four grandchildren.
For more information on the ASCRS Ophthalmology Hall of Fame Ceremony and the 2017 ASCRS•ASOA Annual Meeting, visit annualmeeting.ascrs.org.
