HMRI hosted the 41st Visiting Retina Professor Lecture Series in December 2015. This lecture series began in 1993 and has hosted many esteemed vitreoretinal specialists including Drs. Harry Flynn, Jennifer Lim, Bill Mieler, Jose Pulido, Rick Spaide, Alan Bird, Jason Slakter, Mark Humayun, and Don Gass, and many more. The Visiting Professor Lecture Series is a unique opportunity to bring an expert in the field to educate the ophthalmology community in Hawaii on particular areas of research that are currently taking place around the world. For Drs. Kokame, Lai, and Wee, the lecture series is a chance to invite previous mentors and colleagues to Hawaii.
This year, the 41st visiting retina professor lecturer was Dr. Mark Johnson from the Kellogg Eye Center of the University of Michigan. He is a vitreoretinal surgeon with a special interest in the pathogenesis and treatment of vitreomacular disorders such as epiretinal membrane, vitreomacular adhesion, and macular hole. Dr. Lai was especially excited about Dr. Johnson’s visit, as Dr. Johnson was a mentor of Dr. Lai, and Dr. Lai spent time in Dr. Johnson’s lab as a medical student at the University of Michigan. Dr. Lai describes Dr. Johnson, “as one of the most unassuming and humble physicians in our field.”
Dr. Johnson gave a lecture entitled “Posterior Vitreous Detachment: Evolution, Complications, and Treatments of its Early Stages.” He took us through the pathogenesis of a posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) and various treatments of the complications associated with this entity. A PVD is a common finding in all ophthalmic practices and is one of the causes of the symptom “floaters” in which many of our patients complain. His presentation sparked many questions and discussion among the ophthalmic providers in attendance. Lastly, Dr. Johnson lectured on “Cases That Scared My Socks Off,” in which he shared some of his most intriguing and exciting patient cases. His visit was very much enjoyed by the Hawaiian ophthalmologists.
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