In Memoriam – Peter Gouras (1930–2021)

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of world class vision scientist Peter Gouras on 8 January 2021 in Baden-Baden, Germany at the age of 90. Born 1930 in Brooklyn, New York, N.Y. he received his B.A. degree in Biology in 1951 and his MD degree in 1955 at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. Peter joined the National Institutes of Health in 1959 and became chief of the Neurophysiology Section of the National Eye Institute in 1970. In 1978 he joined Columbia University in New York as Professor of Ophthalmology, where he continued working and publishing until 2019. He was married to Ute Keppler-Gouras; they raised two sons, Eckhart and Gunnar, and daughter Roswitha, all becoming highly successful professionals.

Peter’s passion for science was boundless, and his discoveries were innumerable. In 1958 he presented the first demonstration of optical changes (spreading depression) caused by neural activity; in 1960 he provided evidence that retinal horizontal cells are forming an electrical syncytium. For the next ten years a very fruitful era followed, together with John Armington and Ralf Gunkel, Ron Carr and Eliot Berson, resulting in a spectacular widespread recognition of the value of clinical application of electroretinography. Multiple discoveries ensued, pertaining to numerous retinal diseases published in top journals, including several articles in Science. From 1966 on, Peter focused on cellular electrophysiology, identifying the responses from parvo-, magno- and S-cone systems in primate retina, and describing rod and cone signals and the characteristics of processing chromatic information in the retinal circuitry, together with Günther Niemeyer, Helga Kolb, Ralph Nelson, Francisco de Monasterio, Ted Famiglietti, Eberhart Zrenner, David Tolhurst and Jürgen Krüger, among others, including work in isolated arterial perfused eyes and monkey striate cortex. In parallel he continued his clinical work, publishing a series of papers on electroretinography and electrooculography and their applications in hereditary and acquired retinal diseases. He discovered a unique form of retinal degeneration with supernormal rod responses and other progressive cone-rod degenerations – bridging  findings with non-invasive electrophysiology, achieved together with coworkers Dan Finkelstein, Cynthia MacKay, Suichi Yamamoto, Masamoto Saeki, Daniel Salchow  and Stephen Tsang. with cellular functions of neurons and retinal pigment epithelium, which he was studying in his lab in parallel, together with Mary Flood, Jim Haley, Hild Kjeldbye, Robert Lopez, Shonit Das and Bill Blaner. 

Later in his career he focused on a new field, transplantation of cultured human retinal cells for development of remedies for progressive retinal degeneration. Further outstanding discoveries were made in studying the genetic and biochemical mechanisms of retinal degeneration, together with Stephen Tsang, Debora Farber, Stephen Goff, Rando Allikmets, Janet Sparrow, Jana Zernant, Antje Biesemeyer, Martha Neuringer, and many others over the years.

I admired Peter enormously, for his infectious enthusiasm, his perseverance in seeking to understand especially serendipitous findings during the long hours and night shifts when recording from primate retina, his ability never to be victim of circumstances, his dedication to stay on track once he had set his mind to a goal, even if he knew that he probably never might reach it but that he might make interesting discoveries on the way. He always was very open speaking about his ideas, discussing and sharing know-how, knowledge and experience, not minding that others might continue to work on such ideas. At the same time he could fiercely criticize weak research or fight hypotheses that to his opinion led into a wrong direction.

I enjoyed very much the friendliness of Peter’s family when I had the privilege of living in their house in Bethesda for one and a half years, meeting the family members and the small kids almost daily. I was invited every few weeks to family dinners with guests, mostly high-ranking scientists. After 1.5 years at NIH I also had the chance to join him at Columbia University for week-long visits, working in the laboratory, again staying in the wonderful Gouras House in Riverdale.  I have collected unforgettable memories, speaking all day long about findings in the lab, discussing new publications and sketching out new experiments and developing hypotheses about observations we couldn’t understand initially. 

Peter was always an original thinker, often swimming against the established stream of thoughts which not always made him friends. In many ways I always saw in him a sort of Christopher Columbus, who knew that there must be something important beyond the horizon. Like Columbus, Peter wanted to know what there is – and it was he who was assembling a crew to join him, who didn’t give up when there were storms, who encouraged  his team to keep up their efforts, and who could read the little signs telling him that he was on the right path. Like Columbus, he might have arrived at places different from what he imagined when starting his journey, but he found instead places where new things were still to discover. Like Columbus, he easily left areas that he had charted already, coming back in a while, and he was on a lifelong journey of discovery until the last year of his life. He rather lived three lives, as physician caring for his patients, as neurophysiologist trying to understand the neural signals, and as cell biologist looking for structural and functional restoration.

We will miss him as a role model of a most dedicated original scientist, always full of joy, spreading his ideas and sharing his findings, and we will miss him as companion and friend. However, he will remain in our hearts and he will remain a legend in ophthalmological research.

Eberhart Zrenner, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tübingen, Germany (former ISCEV President)

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2020-01-02 Results of our email ballot: President & 2022 Symposium

As detailed in this recent NewsExtra PDF, we had two eminent members serving as candidates for ISCEV President and two exciting offers for the 2022 ISCEV Symposium. The final vote was performed via email ballot; the results are very clear, and we would first like to thank those who were not elected this time for their dedicated efforts of giving us such great choices, helping to advance our society while keeping the “ISCEV family spirit” alive. The results were as follows:

ISCEV President beginning 2020:  Dr. Ruth Hamilton

Symposium site 2022:  Kyoto, Japan (organizer: Prof. Masayuki Horiguchi)

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In Memoriam – Geoffrey Bernard Arden (✝2018)

In 1948 the Institute of Ophthalmology was opened under the guidance of Sir Stewart Duke Elder in Judd Street in London. Formal research into the science of Ophthalmology was born in the UK and a number of bright young research scientists were gathered under this one roof but with the benefit of close communication with the surrounding clinical eye departments in London. Geoffrey Arden came to the Institute as a PhD student at this time obtaining his PhD in photochemistry and then went on to complete a medical degree. Geoffrey had an exceptionally enquiring mind and an enormous knowledge even of matters far removed from Ophthalmology. He spent some time studying under Ragnar Granit in Stockholm and KT Brown in San Francisco. After returning from the United States he returned to the Institute in London to become what was colloquially known as an “elderberry”, that is to say one of Sir Stewart Duke Elder’s prodigies. His background knowledge of electronics and his research experience in Stockholm and San Francisco no doubt concentrated his interest in the electrical changes in the eye and building on the work of Jules Francois in Belgium he developed the Electro-oculogram as a clinical test. His research facility at the institute became the first clinical electrophysiological department in the UK and he was appointed Professor and honorary consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital. Those attending ISCEV and other international meetings will remember his pioneering work on cortical evoked potentials and the pattern ERG and during informal evening discussions at the meetings he seemed just as at home discussing the wavelets of the ERG as Proust or Pepys diary. He will be remembered for his ability to put his finger on the answer to a research problem when all around were scratching their heads. His other research interest included the clinical testing of Achromatic and Colour Contrast Sensitivity, Diabetic Retinopathy and Macular Degeneration. Geoffrey was invited to give several named lectures both in the UK and abroad He was awarded the Doyne medal at the Oxford Ophthalmological congress in 1984 and the Mackenzie Medal in 1989. Even after retiring as Professor at the University of London he kept an active interest in his research and in an emeritus capacity he continued to collaborate with research workers in the US and Europe. He was appointed an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in 2008 and in 2010 an honorary research fellow at City University London. A recent paper published in Eye in 2010 developed the theory that impending Diabetic Retinopathy might be prevented by reducing the oxygen consumption of rods when asleep and preliminary results conformed this. The reduction in oxygen consumption was achieved by the subjects wearing an illuminated mask when asleep. In 2011 he delivered the Adachi Lecture at the Quebec meeting of ISCEV which turned out to be a tour de force, achieving a higher audience approval rating than any of the previous Adachi lectures. Geoffrey was an accomplished pianist and this was his favourite relaxation after a busy day. He died after a short illness on 19th March 2018 and leaves behind his wife Sheila whom he married in 1955 and his two children.

Nick Galloway

2016 – Honorary Member Eberhart Zrenner received the highly prestigeous “von Graefe Medal”

The German Ophthalmological Society (DOG) awarded the von Graefe Medal to our esteemed college, honorary member and former president Eberhart Zrenner. This award is only handed out every 10 years and the highest award by the DOG. It honours his lifelong achievements in ophthalmology and vision science. The award ceremony took place on 1 October 2016 in Berlin during the yearly DOG conference. Prof Helbig, president of the German Ophthalmological Society, called out the development of the retinal implant technology among Prof Zrenner's many achievements. In our society Prof Zrenner has been an ardent promotor for Standards, served as Secretary General and as President, and has received the Adachi Award. We are happy for him (and proud ourselves).  A detailed account of his many accomplishments earning him this reward can be found at Pro Retina (in German).

In Memoriam – Isabelle Ingster-Moati (✝2015)

Dr. Mathieu Robert tells us:

It is with my deepest regrets that I inform you, on behalf of her family, of Isabelle Ingster-Moati's death on Saturday, 31 January. She was a close colleague and taught me all I know about electrophysiology. As you know, she was very much involved in her clinical activities at Necker hospital for sick children and her teaching at University Paris Diderot. She held the Diplôme d'Université “Explorations de la fonction visuelle”, through which she formed a new generation of electrophysiologists in France and on the continent.

She fought her disease with strength and dignity, most of her collaborators being unaware of it, and carried on working until the very end. She gave us a fantastic lesson of life and she will be regretted by all those who knew her. I know she was very attached to the ISCEV community and read CEVnet everyday.

The funeral will be held on Wednesday, 4 February at 3:30 p.m., Bagneux Cemetery, close to Paris.

Contact: Her son Charles Moati, charles.moati@gmail.com

Our President addressed our membership as follows:

It is with deep sadness that I inform you of the death of Isabelle Ingster-Moati, an esteemed member, a dear friend and a special woman.

Isabelle passed away on Saturday January 31 after a brave fight against her illness. We remember her for her smile, her elegance, her dedication to the electrophysiology of the eye, and her passion for teaching our science to young people. Those who knew Isabelle more closely, know that she loved to sing in her work. She would say that song gave serenity to those who had to undergo to our procedures.

Our condolences go to her family and her colleagues. Isabelle will be missed.

Prof A. Patrizia Tormene President ISCEV

2014 – Emiko Adachi awarded “Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon”

Our distinguished member and founder of the eponymous Award, Prof Emiko Adachi, was awarded “The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon”, directly handed to her by the Japanese Emperor. We stand proud and are honoured to have her among us.

Multifocal Monuments around the world

An electrophysiological traveller's guide, inaugurated by Colin Barber: [PDF]

2013 – Eberhart Zrenner now “Senior Professor” at University of Tübingen

Eberhart Zrenner, our member, former secratary & president and recipient of the Adachi Award, has received a “Senior Professorship” in Tübingen in April 2013. This means that he can pursue his research and patient care activities in Tübingen Forschungsinstitut für Augenheilkunde” for at least another five years.

Overview of the 2012 ISCEV survey of full-field electroretinography practice

It is a particular pleasure to contact you as your new Director of Standards and to thank everyone who completed our survey of ERG practice. We received an impressive 143 responses. As one respondent mentioned, it did take more than 5 minutes to complete, especially for those who took the time to add helpful comments.

The ERG survey was prepared as a co-operative effort with our outgoing Director of Standards, Michael Marmor, Ulrich Kellner and Ruth Hamilton. The data will inform the work of Prof Kellner and his ERG standards committee in preparation of the 2014 update of the ISCEV standard for full-field electroretinography. Below please find a brief synopsis of the survey results. The detailed replies are available as PDF.

If you have suggestions for the update of the ERG standard, please send them to Ulrich Kellner [kellneru@mac.com]. The committee will be in touch with ISCEV members for further input when the draft update is available.

Four of the five standard ERG tests are used routinely by >90% of labs

• 94-98% of respondents use the dark-adapted weak and standard flashes, the light-adapted single flash and the light-adapted flicker for routine clinical ERG testing.

ERG testing is less prevalent for standard oscillatory potentials and recommended dark-adapted strong flash ERGs

• 72% routinely record oscillatory potentials
  57% (79/139) routinely record the recommended strong (10 or 30) flash ERG. Of these 79 labs, 59 use 10 cds/m², 17 labs use 30 cds/m² (includes 3 labs that routinely record both) and six labs use other strong flash levels.

Non-standard (weaker or stronger) stimuli are used for some tests

• 3.5% record non-standard dark-adapted ERGs to a weak flash stimulus.
  5.1% record non-standard light-adapted single flash ERGs
  6.5% record non-standard dark-adapted single flash ERGs.
  6.5% use non-standard stimuli for dark-adapted strong flash ERGs
  8.8% use non-standard stimuli for light-adapted flicker ERGs
  10.7% record non-standard OPs.

Full-field ERG tests are reported as clinically valuable (routinely or occasionally) as follows

• 97.5% for light-adapted flicker ERGs
  94.9% for light-adapted (3.0) single flash ERGs
  94.5% for dark-adapted (3.0) ERG
  90.2% for dark-adapted (0.01) ERGs
  70% for dark-adapted OPs
  57.6% for recommended stronger flash ERGs (i.e. 70% of those who record this response)

A majority of respondents also record multifocal ERGs and pattern ERGs in their labs. The prevalence of other ERG tests (recorded often or sometimes)

• 94–98% of respondents use each of the dark-adapted weak and standard flashes
• Long-duration (on-off) ERGs: 62%
  A dark-adapted luminance-response series: 55%
  S-cone ERG: 48%
  A light-adapted luminance-response series (photopic hill): 41%
  Saturated a-wave for slope analysis: 29%
  Scotopic threshold response: 23%
  Double flash ERGs: 17%
  The early receptor potential: 8.1%
  Direct current ERGs: 4.8%
  ERGs with red and/or blue flash were mentioned in comments as additional or alternative stimuli.

Respondents report a range of calibration methods and frequencies and most, 94%, calibration their systems. Both adults and children are tested 89% of labs. The number of ERGs per year ranges from small units to very large clinical electrophysiology facilities (see figure).

Daphne L McCulloch, ISCEV Director of Standards

2013 – Honorary Doctorate conferred on Eberhart Zrenner, former ISCEV president

We are proud to report that our former President received this→Honorary Doctorate.

In Memoriam – Professor Harold Henkes (1918–2010)

Obituary

It is with deep sadness we announce that Professor Harold Henkes passed away on September 5 th, 2010 , not long after his wife, who died in December 2009.

Harold Henkes was born in Scheveningen in 1918. He studied medicine for his MD in Utrecht , where he also had his training in ophthalmology. In 1942, he obtained a PhD, based on histological and chemical research on vitamin C.

His continued career took place at the Rotterdam Eye Hospital , where he became Medical Director in 1961. The following year, he was appointed Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and in 1967 Professor of Ophthalmology in Rotterdam , where he was working successfully until his retirement in 1982.

Of his research interests, retinal electrophysiology was the most prominent one. He was one of the founding fathers of the International Society for Clinical Electroretinography (ISCERG), which was established at a meeting organized by Henkes during the International Congress of Ophthalmology in Brussels in 1958. Among others, the Board included Professor Gösta Karpe, Sweden , as President and Dr. Harold Henkes as Secretary General.

Professor Henkes succeeded Professor Karpe as President of ISCERG at the Bad Nauheim Symposium in 1973, a position he held until the Budapest Symposium in 1983, when Professor Sven Erik Nilsson, Sweden , succeeded him. The same year, he was awarded an Honorary Membership of the Society. Under Professor Henkes’ precidency, at the Symposium in Ghent in 1977, the name of the Society was changed into the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision (ISCEV) to reflect the broadened field of research of the Society members. Harold Henke’s enthusiastic leadership of ISCEV was greatly appreciated by all members.

Harold Henkes was a Board member of several other Societies, such as the European Ophthalmological Society, where he was first Treasurer and then President. He was a member of Royal Dutch Academy of Science. Furthermore, he was awarded the prestigious ophthalmological von Helmholtz Price. The German Ophthalmological Society made him Honorary Member.

Professor Henkes published a large number of scientific papers in international journals, not only on electroretinography but also on other ophthalmological problems, e.g. on circulatory disturbances of the retina. From 1970 to 1986 he was Editor-in-Chief of Documenta Ophthalmologica, which later became the official journal of ISCEV. Furthermore, he published several important books on the history of ophthalmology.

One of his important interests besides ophthalmology was glass. He created a very large private collection of antique and valuable glass, which he showed to his friends through photos attached to Christmas cards. This collection was finally donated to a museum. He also published books on glass, e.g.”Glass without gloss” in 1994, on utility glass from five centuries, 1300-1800.

In addition to his scientific achievements, Harold Henkes was a wonderful person, always kind and helpful. He was my gentle mentor when I succeeded him as President of ISCEV. His great experience and knowledge were most valuable. We all miss him very much and remember him as a man with a passionate interest in clinical electrophysiology of vision.

I want to thank Professor Van Rij and Dr. Frans Hiddema, Rotterdam , for providing the photograph and valuable information on Professor Henkes’ career.

Sven Erik G. Nilsson, MD, PhD
Professor of Ophthalmology, Emeritus, Former President of ISCEV, Linkoping University , Sweden

2010 – Elections

Congratulations to Prof Shuishi Yamamoto, our new vice-president for Asia and Oceania, and to Dr Mineo Kondo who returns for a second term as Board member-at large. Both were elected unopposed by the ISCEV members present at the annual membership meeting on 06 November, 2010 to serve on the ISCEV Board of Directors

THE XLXI ANNUAL ISCEV SYMPOSIUM will be held in Chonqing, China, proposed dates of 13-17 October, 2013.

Daphne McCulloch & David Keating

2010 – The 6th Emiko Adachi Award

The 2010 Emiko Adachi award for long and meritorious service to ISCEV was announced at the XLVIII Symposium Banquet: Congratulations and thank you to Prof Geoffrey Arden winner of the 2010 Emiko Adachi Award for contributions to science and for years of dedicated service to our Society. We look forward to the Award Lecture next year at our Symposium in Québec, Canada.

Daphne McCulloch

The 2010 DODT Award

The 2010 Eberhard Dodt Memorial Award for an outstanding presentation at the ISCEV Symposium by a young scientist was awarded to X Y George Kong of Melborne, Australia for his presentation, “Mitochondrial impairment results in increased susceptibility to injury in retinal neurons”. The Awards Committee also commended Alison Foulis (Glasgow, Scotland) and Shiying Li (Chongqing, China)

Daphne McCulloch

2010 – Graham Holder: Alcon Award

Professor Graham Holder recieved the prestigous Alcon Award at the ARVO meeting in 2010. A Scientific Selection Committee awards this prize to a small number of outstanding contributors to ophthalmic research throughout the world and honors them both in a symposium that elite members of the eye research community attend (in this case, ARVO) and with an unrestricted research grant. Congratulations to Professor Holder.

Further details of this award available from the Alcon site →Alcon Award

2010 – Anne Fulton honoured at Harvard

I am pleased to report that Dr. Anne Fulton has been promoted to Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. This is a well-deserved and hard-earned recognition of Dr. Fulton's continuing contributions to research, teaching, and clinical care.

In the entire history of the Longwood medical area teaching hospitals, there have only been 3 full professors of ophthalmology (Drs. Lois Smith, Elizabeth Engle, and Robert D'Amato.) Dr. Fulton's work in understanding retinal physiology in children is unparalleled in the world, and the level of clinical expertise she and her team offer her patients is equally peerless. Congratulations Dr. Fulton!

David G. Hunter, MD, PhD

In Memoriam – Matthew L Severns (1953–2010)

We have lost another friend – Matthew L. Severns who died shortly after surgery on April 13th 2010. As both a scientist and as a representative of specialist manufacturing, he was an invaluable member of ISCEV working parties and committees and left a legacy of science, innovation and education to the field of clinical electrophysiology of vision. His close colleague and friend, Mary Johnson has prepared the attached obituary and Jonathan S Lyon M.D., has given this tribute to his wonderful character:

For me Matt was my scientific and statistical guide, collaborator, verifier, and encourager. When I had an intuition about proposing a method or solving a problem, I would turn to him to seek either confirmation or a very gentle rebuttal, usually after an elegant and exacting interpretation of the data. Matt expressed an excitement and enthusiasm about data: to see what it had to offer, to make sense of it, and to do this with integrity and honesty. That's the way he approached everything with optimism and caring.

Matt, we will miss you.

Our thoughts are with his wife, Amy Lindsey and the three children.

Michael Bach, President of ISCEV

Obituary: Matthew L Severns PDF

 

In Memoriam – William Woodson Dawson (1933–2010)

Our dear colleague and role-model, Prof William Woodson Dawson died on March 11th, 2010 after a valient fight with disease, lovingly supported by Judyth. Bill's dedication to ISCEV throughout his 39 years of membership was truly overwhelming. As a superb scientist he was always ready to support, mentor and contribute. And more: he organized two International ISCEV symposia, invented the “DTL” electrode, served on the ISCEV Board of Directors and was recognized by the Emiko Adachi Award for outstanding service and elected as an Honorary Member of ISCEV.

I am proud that I could call him an admired personal friend. I will sadly miss him but also gladly will always remember him.

Michael Bach, President of ISCEV

The University of Florida has a tribute to Dr William Dawson.

Obituary: Dr William Woodson Dawson PDF

In Memoriam – Angelika M Shamshinova (1937–2009)

On October 4th 2009 a dear friend to all of us, Professor Angelika Shamshinova, passed away.

Obituary: Professor Angelika M Shamshinova [PDF]

2009 – The 5th Emiko Adachi Award

The 2009 Emiko Adachi award for long and meritorious service to ISCEV was announced at the XLVII Symposium Banquet: Congratulations and thank you to Prof Yozo Miyake winner of the 2009 Emiko Adachi Award for contributions to science and for years of dedicated service to our Society. We look forward to the Award Lecture next year at our Symposium in Perth, Australia.

Daphne McCulloch

The 2009 DODT Award

The 2009 Eberhard Dodt Memorial Award for an outstanding presentation at the ISCEV Symposium by a young scientist was awarded to Dr Charlotte Polochek (Freiburg, Germany) for her presentation, “Give and take: the geneticist needs the electrophysiologist but we need the geneticist too”. In addition, the Awards panel commended Audrey-Anne Éthier, Caroline Jacques, Tobias Röck and Lucia Ziccardi for their excellent presentations.

Daphne McCulloch

 

In Memoriam – Vaegan (1943–2008)

Sadly our dear friend Vaegan has passed away. He was the most colourful person of ISCEV, full of life, he was radiant and liked controversies accompanied with deep empathy and warmth.

Our heart reaches out to Liz, they had just become engaged and he was a very happy man.

Vaegan was a dedicated physiologist and clinical electrophysiologist. He has been with ISCEV since 1982, served on the Board, on standards committees and he organised our Sydney symposium of which I have the best memories.

Vaegan, we will not forget you.

Michael Bach, President of ISCEV

 

2008 – Carole Panton honoured as Scobee Lecturer

Carole Panton was honoured at the The American Association of Certified Orthoptists Meeting in conjunction with The American Academy of Ophthalmology in November 2008. In the Scobee lecture, one of three named lectures in international orthoptics, Carole described with eloquence and expertise state of the art electrophysiological testing and the unique collaboration between orthoptics, electrophysiology and ophthalmology. I am honoured to be part of a team working with Carole Panton.

Carol Westall

2008 – The 4th Emiko Adachi Award

The 2008 Emiko Adachi award for long and meritorious service to ISCEV was announced at the XLVI Symposium Banquet: Congratulations and thank you to Congratulations to Prof Günter Niemeyer winner of the 2008 Emiko Adachi Award for contributions to science and for years of dedicated service to our Society. We look forward to the Award Lecture next year at our Symposium in Italy.

Daphne McCulloch

The 2008 DODT Award

The 2008 Eberhard Dodt Memorial Award for an outstanding presentation at the ISCEV Symposium by a young scientist was awarded to Dr Xunda Luo (Houston, Texas USA) for his presentation, “Retinal pathway origins of the pattern ERG (PERG)”. The Awards panel also recognised Drs Charlotte Poloschek (Freiburg, Germany) and James D Akula (Boston, USA) for highly commended presentations.

Daphne L McCulloch

2007 – The 3rd Emiko Adachi Award

The 2007 Emiko Adachi award for long and meritorious service to ISCEV was announced at the XLV Symposium Banquet: Congratulations and thank you to Professor William Dawson. In addition to Prof Dawson’s many contributions to clinical electrophysiology of vision in humans and in animal models,
He has an impressive record of service to ISCEV; he co-hosted the XXV International Symposium of ISCEV with Prof Biersdorf in Sarasota Florida, in 1987 and hosted the XLII Symposium in Puerto Rico (USA) in 2004. Prof Dawson has served on the ISCEV Board of directors as member-at-large (1995-1998) and as Vice President for the Americas (1999-2002). We look forward to the Emiko Adachi Award Lecture at the XLVI Symposium in Morgantown, WV, USA, July, 2008.

Daphne McCulloch

The 2007 DODT Award

The 2007 Eberhard Dodt Memorial Award for an outstanding presentation at ISCEV Symposium by a young scientist was awarded at the XLV Symposium in Hyderabad, India to Dr Maja Sustar (Slovenia) for her presentation, “The photopic negative response of the flash ERG to broadband and monochromatic stimuli in glaucoma and controls’. The ISCEV Awards panel and also recognised Drs Kaoru Fujinami (Japan), Timothy Lai (Hong Kong) and Bijoy Nair (India) for their highly commended presentations.

Daphne L McCulloch

2006 – The 2nd Emiko Adachi Award

The 2006 Emiko Adachi award for long and meritorious service to ISCEV was announced at the XLIV Symposium Banquet: Congratulations and thank you to Professor Eberhart Zrenner. Although Prof Zrenner has had a long and varied career in ophthalmic research, his contributions to our society are remarkable. He has served on the ISCEV Board of directors for 17 years, in three important capacities: Treasurer 1983-1986, Secretary General 1986-1991, and president 1992-1996. We look forward to the Emiko Adachi Award Lecture at the XLIV Symposium in Hyderabad, India, August 2007.

Daphne McCulloch

The 2006 DODT Award

The 2006 Eberhard Dodt Memorial Award for an outstanding presentation at ISCEV Symposium by a young scientist was awarded to Dr Daniel Barthelmes for his presentation at the XLIV Symposium in Fontevraud France, “Detecting visual field constriction in patients with retinitis pigmentosa using quantitative OCT analysis”. The adjudicators awards panel and also recognised Drs Guylene Le Muer and Naouki Tanimoto for their highly commended presentations.

Daphne L McCulloch

Elections 2006

IT IS OUR PLEASURE TO ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS OF THE 2006 ISCEV ELECTIONS:

Two new members of the ISCEV Board of Officers from January 2007 are:

Member-at-Large	Dr Mineo Kondo (Nagoya, Japan)
Member-at-Large	Dr Carol Westall (Toronto, Canada)

THE XLVII ANNUAL ISCEV SYMPOSIUM will be held in Padova, Italy, proposed dates of 5-9 July, 2009 hosted by Dr A Patrizia Tormene.

Congratulations to our new officers and thank you to all of the candidates who offered to work for the benefit of our society.

Daphne McCulloch & David Keating

Drug Development and Clinical Trials – Special Symposium at ISCEV 2005 (Loch Lomond, Scotland)

Electroretinography: The FDA's Viewpoint by Wiley A Chambers Download Powerpoint presentation

Board Nominations 2006

This year we have three ISCEV Board positions open for election or re-election. In addition, all members can nominate a candidate for the Emiko Adachi Award for outstanding service to ISCEV.

For the Emiko Adachi Award simply send me the name of your nominee by e-mail (or by any other means). The final selection for this award will be by the Adachi Award committee.

Download award details

Please consider and nominate suitable candidates for the ISCEV board:

Vice President for Asia and Oceania (Dr. Atsuchi Mizota has served one four-year term and he is eligible and willing to stand for re-election)

Member-at-Large - no geographical constraint (Dr Vaegan has served one four-year term and he is eligible and willing to stand for re-election)

Member-at-Large - no geographical constraint (Open position vacated by Dr. Graham Holder who was elected Director of Education)

Nominations for the above Board positions should be sent to me by an ISCEV member as the nominator. Please mention another member to second the nomination and also confirm the consent of the person nominated that he/she will stand for election.

At the membership meeting in Fontevraud on 15 June, we will reduce the list
of nominees to two for position The final selection will be by a postal
vote of all members.

Finally, in 2006 we will select the location for the XLVII ISCEV Symposium in 2009. We have two generous invitations: from Padova, Italy (Dr A Patrizia Tormene) and from Slovenia (Prof Marko Hawlina and Dr Jelka Brecelj). Please let me know if you are considering inviting ISCEV for a future symposium.

Daphne McCulloch

Elections 2005

IT IS MY PLEASURE TO ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS OF THE 2005 ISCEV ELECTIONS:

Two new members of the ISCEV Board of Officers from January 2006 ARE:

Prof Laura Frishman; Editor-in-Chief, Documenta Ophthalmologica Prof Marko Hawlina; Board Member-at-Large

THE XLVI ANNUAL ISCEV SYMPOSIUM will be held in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA 11-16 July, 2008 hosted by our out going Editor-in-Chief, Prof J Vernon Odom.

Congratulations to our new officers and thank you to all of the candidates who offered to work for the benefit of our society.

Daphne McCulloch

2005 – Symposium in honour of Prof Zrenner's 60th Birthday

On November 4th and 5th, 2005, a very successful symposium on the Function and Dysfunction of Vision was held in Tübingen in honour of Professor Zrenner's 60th Birthday. Many ISCEV members were among the delegates including four former and current ISCEV Presidents, three Secretaries-General and three former Treasurers. Remarkably, in Prof Zrenner's busy career, he has held all of the above ISCEV Board positions! Our four presidents (Prof SE Nilson, Prof E Zrenner, Prof Y Miyake and Prof M Bach) are shown in this unique picture which was taken by Prof C Barber.

Daphne McCulloch

2005 – The 1st Emiko Adachi Award

The first award  for long and meritorious service to ISCEV was announced at the XLIII Symposium Banquet:  Congratulations and thank you to Professor Colin Barber. This is truly a fitting honour for our longest-standing Secretary-General who has done so much to shape the substance and character of ISCEV. We look forward to the first Emiko Adachi Award Lecture at the XLIV Symposium in Fontevraud, France, June 2006.

Daphne McCulloch & David Keating

The 2005 DODT Award

In this 10th year, Mrs. Elke Dodt, supporter and widow of Prof. Dodt, was in attendance to present the 2005 Eberhard Dodt Award to an outstanding young scientist at the ISCEV Symposium.

Congratulations to
Dr Ruth Hamilton of Glasgow who presented her paper based on her recently completed PhD research “The electroretinogram in preterm infants”.

On the strength of the scientific presentations, the Awards Panel selected two highly commendedyoung scientists, Dr. Gil Ben-Shlomo for his presentation, “COP-1 treatment preserves inner retinal function, evidenced by pattern electroretinography, in the rat ocular hypertension model” and Dr. Pedro Gonzalez, for his presentation “The assessment of neuro-retinal toxicity in patients with epilepsy on Vigabtrin”.

 
Congratulations, to our honoured young scientists.

Daphne McCulloch & David Keating

Election Results

August 2005: finalised at the 2005 membership meeting in Glasgow. The votes were counted, checked and verified by another Board member, as required by the Bye-Laws. The results are as follows:

Treasurer	Prof Ulrich Kellner (Berlin) elected for his second term
Director of Education	Dr Graham E Holder (London) held this post as member at large

Congratulations to our returning ISCEV Board Officers !

Daphne McCulloch & David Keating

2005 – Professor Miyake honoured

After his retirement as Professor of Ophthalmology at Nagoya University, former ISCEV president Yozo Miyake was promoted to the Director of National Institute of Sensory Organs in Japan this year. Prof. Myiake's great contributions to our society for more than twenty years are well known to ISCEV members. A major success resulting from ingenious use of the focal ERG has lead to a number of relevant insights into retinal diseases. We are very proud of his promotion to the highest position in Japanese Ophthalmologic Society, and express our sincerest congratulations.

Dr Mineo Kondo & Prof Michael Bach

2005 – Board nominations

Elections for the following positions are due in 2005. Preliminary elections took place at the membership meeting on 27 August during the LXIII ISCEV Symposium in Glasgow. (Postal vote for final selections will follow).

Editor of Documenta Ophthalmologica (Prof. Odom has served 2 terms and is not eligible for re-election)

Director of Education new board position (Dr. Graham Holder, Director of Education, will complete two terms as member-at-large at the end of 2005 )

Member at Large no geographical constraint (vacated by Dr. Mitch Brigell who was elected Director of Standards)

Treasurer (Prof. Kellner has served one term and is eligible for a second term)

To nominate someone, write to the Secretary-General specifying the Board Position, the name of the proposed candidate, the name of a seconder for the nomination and the signed consent of the candidate. Candidates letters may be sent separately. They should state that they are willing to stand for the position and, if elected, they are willing to fulfil the duties of the office.

Daphne McCulloch & David Keating

Election Results

November 2004: The full results of the latest ISCEV elections that took place in Puerto Rico are shown below. The votes were counted, checked and verified by another Board member, as required by the Bye-Laws. The results are as follows:

Secretary General	Prof Daphne McCulloch (Glasgow)
Vice-president (Europe and Africa)	Prof Colin Barber (Nottingham)
Director of International Communications	Dr David Keating (Glasgow)
Director of Standards	Dr Mitch Brigell (Ann Arbor)
Member-at-Large	Prof Masayuki Horiguchi (Toyoake City)
Member-at-Large	Prof Pierre Lachapelle (Montreal)

Thank you for your participation.

Colin Barber & David Keating

Emiko Adachi's Award

The award, in the value of $3000, is provided through a generous endowment from Emiko Adachi upon retirement from her position as Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Chiba University, Japan. Hers was a long and glorious career with many honours, culminating in official recognition from the Japanese government. Despite all of this, she remained extraordinarily proud of her long membership of ISCEV, and her outstanding record of sevice to our society. The award is given annually to someone who, to some degree, has matched this record of service to ISCEV.

Nomination deadline is extended to Friday 6th May , 2005. Full details of the nomination process is available here as a pdf document.

Emiko Adachi Award details (PDF)

David Keating & Daphne McCulloch

The 2004 DODT Award

The winner of the 2004 Dodt Award was Dr Chi Luu. Professor Eberhart Zrenner , President of the Society for the Advancement of Neuro-ophthalmological Sciences, which administers the award on behalf of ISCEV presented the prize.

Dr Luu presented a most interesting poster describing a study which has contributed to the understanding of myopia on the one hand and the action of myopia on the electroretinogram on the other. The full text of Professer Zrenner's speech will be in the Newsletter. Unfortunately Frau Dodt was not able to be present at the award ceremony, but she sent a letter via Prof Zrenner which is reproduced in ISCEV News Extra.

Congratulations to Dr Chi Luu.

Colin Barber & David Keating

Election Results

February 2004: The results of the latest ISCEV elections have been counted and have been checked and verified by another Board member (Prof. Yozo Miyake), as required by the Bye-laws. The results are as follows:

• PRESIDENT:   Michael Bach is elected
• MEMBER-AT-LARGE:   A. Patrizia Tormene is elected

Thank you for your participation!

Colin Barber & Michael Bach

ISCEV member Emiko Adachi-Usami honoured

Prof. Emiko Adachi-Usami received the “Medal with Purple Ribbon” from the Japanese goverment. She received this award on account of her tremendous contributions to Retinitis Pigmentosa Society as well as her electrophysiological works in ophthalmology.

Our warmest felicitations, Dr. Adachi-Usami!

Michael Bach

ISCEV member John Robson elected as Fellow of the Royal Society

The Royal Society, the UK national academy of science, has elected our colleague John Robson as Fellow. John Robson has contributed with many sophisticated investigations to our society. He is also a most knowledgeable co-author of the new calibration guidelines which will appear shortly in Documenta Ophthalmologica (2003, volume 107, issue 1). We are proud to have him as ISCEV member and feel that this is prestigious award is well deserved.

Congratulations, John!

Michael Bach

Former ISCEV president Eberhart Zrenner received Order of Merit

On Saturday, 22 November 2002, Eberhart Zrenner was awarded  the “Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande”, the “Order of Merit” of the Federal Republic of Germany. He was honoured for his long-standing commitment to research in the field of Retinal Degenerations and for his efforts  as chairman of Pro Retina’s scientific committee on behalf of the patient self-help organization “Pro Retina Deutschland”.

The medal was conferred by Regierungspräsident Hubert Wicker  in lieu of President Johannes Rau during a festive ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of the founding of the German Retinitis Pigmentosa Association. Eberhart Zrenner has been an active member of ISCEV for many years and successfully served as president. We are very proud of him!

News on Documenta Ophthalmologica

Since Peter Butler took over the management of our Journal at Kluwer, many aspects are improving:

• Starting November 2002, all ISCEV members have on-line access to our Journal
   
• Starting January 2003, our journal will have a new format, a new cover (see picture) and more pages. So the current backlog will be quickly disposed of.
  Now we should all make good use of our journal by submitting good work!

Colin Barber & Michael Bach  

Election Results

April 2002: The results of the latest ISCEV elections have been counted and have been checked and verified by another Board member, as required by the Bye-laws. The results are as follows:

• SECRETARY (ASIA/AUSTRALIA):   Atsushi Mizota is elected
• MEMBER-AT-LARGE:   Mitch Brigell is elected
• 2004 SYMPOSIUM LOCATION:   Puerto Rico is chosen

Thank you for your participation!

Colin Barber & Michael Bach

Documenta Ophthalmologica, special issue
“The rise and fall of vision: from pediatric to geriatric electrophysiology”

You will recall that one of the topic of this year's ISCEV Symposium was: “The rise and fall of vision: from pediatric to geriatric electrophysiology”. Following the Symposium, the Editorial Board of Documenta Ophthalmologica (our Journal) has agreed to a special issue that would include significant papers on these topics.

Those interested in contributing (human or animal studies) to this special issue of Documenta must take the following deadlines into consideration:
Statement of intent to submit: January 1, 2002
Receipt of final manuscript: April 1, 2002

We would appreciate if you consider submitting a manuscript to this special issue following the detailed instructions of Documenta Ophthalmologica. The paper would then, of course, be peer-reviewed.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact either of us at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely yours,

Pierre Lachapelle,   pierre.lachapelle@staff.mcgill.ca
and
Jelka Brecelj,   jelka.brecelj@kclj.si

Documenta Ophthalmologica, special issue
“Genetic Diseases and Animal Models”

A special issue of Documenta Ophthalmologica is planned that will be dedicated to the topic of 'Genetic Diseases and Animal Models'. As you may remember, this was a major theme of the ISCEV meeting held recently in Orford, Quebec. We hope that ISCEV members will consider submitting a manuscript to this special issue. If so, please bear in mind the following deadlines:

Statement of intent to submit -- January 1, 2002
Receipt of final manuscript -- April 1, 2002

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact either of us at your earliest convenience.

Pierre Lachapelle, 514-412-4480 x23890, pierre.lachapelle@staff.mcgill.ca
or
Neal Peachey, 216-445-1942, peachen@ccf.org

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NEWS RELEASE

Thursday, January 11, 2001

Paul A. Sieving MD PhD, Named Director, National Eye Institute

Ruth L. Kirschstein, M.D., acting director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced the appointment of Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., as director of the National Eye Institute (NEI). Dr. Sieving is currently the Paul R. Lichter Professor of Ophthalmic Genetics and director, Center for Retinal and Macular Degeneration, at the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, Ann Arbor. He will join the NEI in late spring.

Paul has been a very active member of ISCEV for many years. We are very proud of him and wish him a happy & successful office there.

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