Highlights: Awards & Honors

Awards & Honors

National Rankings

U.S. News & World Report ranked the Moran Eye Center 11th in the nation for providing excellent patient care. The ranking, released as part of the 2021-2022 Best Hospitals for Ophthalmology report, is based on voting results asking ophthalmologists across the nation where they would send patients with the most complex eye conditions.

“We’re grateful our peers recognize the Moran Eye Center is providing some of the best ophthalmic care the country has to offer,” says Moran CEO Randall J Olson, MD. "Our extensively-trained physicians provide comprehensive care in all of our field’s subspecialties. I couldn’t be prouder of this recognition of their skill and dedication.”

In other national rankings, Ophthalmology Times named Moran as the 11th Best Overall Program in the nation, 10th for residency education, and 11th for clinical care; physician website Doximity named Moran’s residency education program as 6th in the nation and 2nd in the West.

Excellence in Patient Care

The Moran Eye Center at Midvalley Health Center earned a 2021 Pinnacle of Excellence award from Press Ganey, a national company that works with more than 41,000 health care facilities to improve overall safety, quality, and patient experience.

The preeminent, competitive award recognizes Midvalley for achieving and sustaining superior patient experience performance over the last three years.

“These awards celebrate the work of every team member at these locations,” says Mari Ransco, senior director of patient experience at University of Utah Health. “It takes focus, leadership, and a commitment to fostering culture to achieve and sustain patient- and family-centered care.”

Midvalley Health Center

Randall J Olson, MD

Randall J Olson, MD

Randall J Olson, MD, Moran CEO and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, has been awarded the rank of Distinguished Professor by the University of Utah.

The distinction is reserved for faculty whose achievements exemplify the highest goals of scholarship as demonstrated by recognition accorded to them by peers with national and international stature and whose record includes evidence of a high dedication to teaching as demonstrated by recognition accorded to them by students or colleagues.

“Dr. Olson is truly an extraordinary physician, researcher, teacher, mentor, and leader known throughout our state, nation, and the world for his many contributions to visual science,” wrote Kathleen B. Digre, MD, in her nomination of Olson. “His remarkable achievements and their impact on the University of Utah, the state of Utah, and the field of ophthalmology are cause for recognition and celebration.”

Alan S. Crandall, MD

Alan S. Crandall, MD, receives an ASCRS Film Festival award in 2011.

The late Alan S. Crandall, MD, was honored posthumously with the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award at its 2021 virtual gathering.

Over the years, Crandall won multiple awards at the ASCRS Film Festival and probably gave more than 100 film and video instructional presentations, said Moran colleague Liliana Werner, MD, PhD.

“The ASCRS Film Festival is probably the best known and the most prestigious scientific film festival in the world regarding anterior segment surgery,” she notes.

“Many innovations in this area were first introduced to the ophthalmology community at this festival. It is an honor for any ophthalmologist to receive an ASCRS film festival award, and, as a former judge, I can attest that it is very competitive.”

2021 Power List of the Top 100 Women in Ophthalmology

Kathleen B. Digre, MD, Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD, and Liliana Werner, MD, PhD, were named to The Ophthalmologist magazine’s 2021 Power List of the Top 100 Women in Ophthalmology.

Each year the magazine compiles a list of the most influential people in ophthalmology. The 2021 issue showcased the powerful impact of leading female professionals in ophthalmic clinical practice, research, education, and industry.

Kathleen B. Digre, MD

Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD

Liliana Werner, MD, PhD

Leah Owen, MD, PhD

Leah Owen, MD, PhD

Leah Owen, MD, PhD, was among 28 elite, early-career vision scientists selected to present their research to Utah’s congressional delegation at the Seventh Annual Emerging Vision Scientist Day, a virtual event held in September 2021.

The National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research and the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research sponsored the event to show Congress the critical work investigators are doing early in their careers and advocate for federal research funding.

Owen’s work to prevent retinopathy of prematurity—a potentially blinding eye disease affecting premature babies—helped raise awareness about the lifelong impact of pediatric vision impairment, the costs of eye disease, and the need for continued federal funding support to minimize vision loss across the lifespan.

Brian C. Stagg, MD

Brian C. Stagg, MD

Brian C. Stagg, MD, received the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s 2021 Secretariat Award. The award recognizes extraordinary contributions to the academy and to ophthalmology.

The academy called him a valuable reviewer for Ophthalmology Glaucoma in the areas of cataract surgery and geriatric ophthalmology, his areas of specialization at Moran. Ranked among the Top 10 reviewers for the journal in 2020, he consistently provides rigorous critiques for author submissions.

Eileen Hwang, MD, PhD

Eileen Hwang, MD, PhD

Eileen Hwang, MD, PhD, received a highly competitive Knights Templar Eye Foundation (KTEF) Career-Starter Research grant of nearly $70,000 to investigate the role of the vitreous, a transparent gel that fills the eye, in Stickler syndrome.

The syndrome is a hereditary childhood disorder and a cause of retinal detachment in children and young adults. If left untreated, it can cause blindness.

Hwang’s laboratory investigates all aspects of the vitreous and wants to find out whether diseases may be prevented or treated by altering its biochemistry and structure.

Since 1956, KTEF has supported work to improve vision through research, education, and access to care. By focusing on research, the organization hopes to prevent vision loss first and foremost and to correct conditions early.

Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD

Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD

Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD, received the 2021 Suzanne Véronneau-Troutman Award from Women in Ophthalmology (WIO). The award recognizes the ophthalmologist who has done the most in the immediately preceding year to advance and enhance the position of women in ophthalmology.

Among her many professional activities, Hartnett serves as editor of Women’s Eye Health, a website written by and for women and produced in partnership with the National Eye Health Education Program and WIO. The site (w-e-h.org) offers helpful insights and detailed explanations of eye diseases and conditions that affect women in more significant numbers.

Hartnett is a Distinguished Professor and holds the Calvin S. and JeNeal N. Hatch Presidential Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. She is Director of Moran’s Pediatric Retina Center as well as principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health-funded laboratory that studies conditions including retinopathy of prematurity and age-related macular degeneration.

HIGHLIGHTS

Uveitis Fellows Forum

The Moran Eye Center hosted the 13th Annual Uveitis Fellows Forum on January 14, 2022, with 35 in attendance. Chaired by Moran’s Albert T. Vitale, MD, the American Uveitis Society event served as a robust career planning and mentoring conference. It included case presentations by uveitis fellows from institutions around the U.S. and a lively discussion of these cases by a roster of distinguished volunteer faculty. The group also spent hands-on study time in Moran’s wet lab. An educational grant from Bausch + Lomb supported the activity. Other generous Forum sponsors included Allergan Inc., Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and EyePoint Pharmaceuticals.

Uveitis Fellows Forum

Ophthalmology Fellowship for Underrepresented Minorities in Medicine

Moran now offers $1,000 scholarships for summer clinical and research rotations to rising second-year medical students (MS2) who identify as an underrepresented group in medicine as designated by the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). The academy defines the groups as Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and/or Native American (American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian).

The program aims to provide motivated second-year medical students with early exposure to ophthalmology with the ultimate goal of increasing diversity within the profession. During a four-week experience, students will work with full-time faculty preceptors and research mentors. They will also have direct patient care opportunities in clinical and surgical settings, all covering a broad range of comprehensive and/or subspecialty ophthalmology.

“We cannot underestimate the importance and impact of mentoring underrepresented students,” says Jeff Pettey, MD, MBA, residency program director and vice chair of education. “It’s our collective responsibility to help them tap into their talents at an early stage and make them aware of all the opportunities available.”

Application submissions are set March 1-31 and selected applicants will be notified by mid-April. More information at medicine.utah.edu/ophthalmology/education/residency/.

Translational Research Day

Michael Chiang, MD, director of the National Eye Institute (NEI), joined Moran’s Translational Research Day 2021 as the research keynote speaker.

He gave attendees an exclusive preview of the new NEI Strategic Plan “Eliminating Blindness & Improving Quality of Life” and presented “Artificial Intelligence in Eye Care: Promises and Challenges.”

The annual conference, co-chaired by Bryan W. Jones, PhD, and Leah Owen, MD, PhD, was held in-person and via Zoom. It featured 10 presentations on a wide range of work underway at Moran that will allow researchers to continue translating scientific discoveries into life-changing clinical interventions for patients.

Iqbal “Ike” K. Ahmed, MD, FRCSC, who directs Moran’s Alan S. Crandall Center for Glaucoma Innovation, delivered the clinical keynote speech: “Surgical Enhancement of Outflow in Glaucoma: From Bench to Bedside and Opportunities Ahead."

Other Moran scientific presenters were:

‣ Paul Bernstein, MD, PhD: “Lutein and Zeaxanthin for Ocular Health: They’re Not Just for AMD Anymore”

‣ Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD: “Erythropoietin Signaling Pathway Involved in Retinal Neural Regeneration after Vascular Occlusion: Implications in ROP and Diabetic Retinopathy”

‣ Christopher Rudzitis: “Therapeutic Potentials of Mechano-gated Ion Channels in the Treatment of Ocular Hypertension and Glaucoma”

‣ Steffen Schmitz-Valckenberg, MD: “Monitoring Early Features of Atrophy in Age-Related Macular Degeneration”

‣ Brian Stagg, MD: “Clinical Decision Support for Glaucoma”

‣ Frans Vinberg, PhD: “Ex Vivo Physiology of the Human Macula: A New Model to Study Human Central Vision”

‣ Haibo Wang, MD, PhD: “Phenotypic change in Choroidal Endothelial Cells and Senescence in RPE: Implications in AMD”

‣ Moussa Zouache, PhD: “Age-Related Macular Degeneration: From Genetics to Mechanisms”

Michael Chiang, MD, director of the National Eye Institute (NEI)

Moran Eye Center Shares Cataract Outcomes Data

The Moran Eye Center is routinely recognized for its exceptional care and has been ranked among the best eye centers in the nation as surgeons complete more than 9,000 procedures each year.

In 2021, the institution launched an effort led by Vice-Chair of Quality and Value Judith E. A. Warner, MD, to share patient outcome information that details the quality of care patients receive. The initial data sets provide information on patient outcomes from cataract surgery, the most commonly performed surgery. Moran will continue to expand these data sets in the future.

“We are committed to transparency, and hope this new data assists physicians, patients, and the public,” says Moran CEO Randall J Olson, MD.

Moran reviews and verifies the reports, comparing them with independent data points to look for patterns. These data points include equipment or supplies the surgeons have used in surgical cases with complications.

Moran’s rigorous data monitoring program includes digitally recording every surgery and documenting every case. Surgeons must report if there was or was not a complication to ensure comprehensive tracking.

“Improving patient outcomes, safety, or other operational issues requires an understanding of the processes involved,” says Warner. “Measuring processes to establish baseline data can, at times, be challenging. Yet since I joined Moran’s Quality Improvement Committee in 1994, I have seen our institution rise to meet these challenges.”

Judith E.A. Warner, MD

Read more about the quality improvement program in the 2021 Clinical Focus at issuu.com/moraneyecenter/docs/clinical_focus-outcomes-2021or visit moraneyecenter.org for a new patient outcomes website in early 2022.