Message from the Chair: A Vision for 2020

The year 2020 at the John A. Moran Eye Center is shaping up to be one of dramatic advances driven by the passionate, talented members of our faculty who are seeing new possibilities and acting on them.

They aren’t satisfied with the status quo—nor should they be. When you focus everything on improving life for your patients, amazing things happen.

In the past year, we had the distinct honor of being ranked among the nation’s Top 10 programs in an Ophthalmology Times poll of chairs and residency program directors. A new collaboration spearheaded by Moran’s Douglas Marx, MD, will benefit thyroid eye disease patients with an interdisciplinary care team and surgical options previously unavailable in the Mountain West.

Additionally, several translational research efforts are poised to change the future of eye care.

In this issue of Focus, you’ll meet Berna Gomez—the first blind person to test the Moran | Cortivis Visual Prosthesis to create artificial vision. Our own Dick Normann, PhD, made it happen through an international collaboration that has built on his foundational body of research. The results are phenomenal, and I’m looking forward to future patient studies.

Paul S. Bernstein, MD, PhD, and research associate Lydia Sauer, MD, are uncovering a multitude of ways a non-invasive camera, the fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscope, can be used not only to detect eye diseases but also to identify a person’s risk for disease. It’s also notable that our Vice Chair of Education Jeff Pettey, MD, and Associate Program Director of Education Rachel G. Simpson, MD, are revamping an already strong curriculum to emphasize interactive learning.

Last but not least, Moran’s Global Outreach Division efforts in Utah are reaching new heights as we emphasize helping even more of our local underserved populations. It’s 2020, and it is our goal to make sure our patients—now and in the future—have the vision they need to accomplish their dreams.

Sincerely,

Randall J Olson, MD

Professor and Chair, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences CEO, John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah

2019-2020 MORAN ADVISORY COUNCIL

TONI BLOOMBERG

La Jolla, California

WILLIAM “BILL” CHILD

Salt Lake City, Utah

ALAN S. CRANDALL, MD

John A. Moran Eye Center

THOMAS “TIM” DEE III

Salt Lake City, Utah

CHRISTENA HUNTSMAN DURHAM

Salt Lake City, Utah

SPENCER F. ECCLES

Salt Lake City, Utah

CHRISTINE A. FAIRCLOUGH

Salt Lake City, Utah

WAYNE A. IMBRESCIA

John A. Moran Eye Center

CLAUDIA S. LUTTRELL

Salt Lake City, Utah

JOHN A. MORAN

Palm Beach, Florida

RANDALL J OLSON, MD

John A. Moran Eye Center

LYNN WARD

John A. Moran Eye Center

JOHN E. WARNOCK, PhD

Los Altos, California

NORM A. ZABRISKIE, MD

John A. Moran Eye Center