University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine Dean James
Armitage, M.D., has announced the recent appointment of two new department
chairs in the college.
Carl Camras, M.D., was named professor and chairman of the Department
of Ophthalmology, while Kevin Garvin, M.D. was named professor and chairman
of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.
A Chicago native, Dr. Camras joined the UNMC faculty in 1991 as professor
and vice chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and director of the
Glaucoma Service. Prior to joining UNMC, he spent seven years on the faculty
at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, N.Y., where he attained
the status of associate professor.
In 1975, Dr. Camras earned his undergraduate degree with honors in molecular
biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University in New Haven, Conn. After
receiving his medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians
and Surgeons in 1979, he completed a one-year internship at the Los Angeles
County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, a three-year ophthalmology residency
at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at the UCLA School of Medicine and a one-year
fellowship in glaucoma at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Dr. Camras has published more than 200 articles in scientific journals
in the field of glaucoma with special emphasis on glaucoma pharmacology.
In 1996, Dr. Camras gained worldwide attention when his research led to
the development of latanoprost, a new drug that has since become a standard
therapy for the treatment of glaucoma. In addition, Dr. Camras has designed
and patented a new and promising glaucoma drainage device.
He has been an honored guest lecturer in more than 25 states and 25
countries and has been included as one of the best physicians in the United
States in several magazines and books. A member of more than 25 medical
societies, Dr. Camras is the editor of the Basic Science in Clinical Glaucoma
Section of the Journal of Glaucoma.
Dr. Camras succeeds Michael Yablonski, M.D. as chairman who left UNMC
last year after serving as professor and chairman since 1990.
An Iowa native, Dr. Garvin was born in Sioux City and grew up in Akron,
Iowa. He joined the UNMC faculty in 1988 as an assistant professor in the
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. He was elevated to associate professor
in 1992 and to professor in 1997.
He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of South Dakota
in Vermillion in 1978 and his medical degree from the Medical College of
Wisconsin in Milwaukee in 1982. From 1982 to 1987, he completed his orthopaedic
internship and residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
in Little Rock. Following this, he did a two-year hip fellowship at the
Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, N.Y.
Under Dr. Garvins leadership, the departments research will focus
on three key areas biomedical engineering and minimally invasive surgery,
molecular biology and genetics, and cartilage regeneration and restoration.
In addition, he hopes to recruit new faculty in several specialty areas.
A specialist in hip and knee replacements, Dr. Garvin is an active researcher
who has received more than $1.4 million in grants, published more than
50 articles in scientific journals and written a dozen books or chapters
in text. He has twice been named to the Best Doctors in America book
for the Central Region, and he serves as associate editor of the Journal
of Bone and Joint Surgery, which is considered the premier orthopaedic
journal.
In 1995, Dr. Garvin was one of seven orthopaedic surgeons selected to
the ABC Club of Travelling Fellows. The club is made up of leading orthopaedic
surgeons in America, Britain and Canada (ABC), who travel to other countries
to enhance their orthopaedic knowledge. In addition, he has made scientific
presentations at more than 50 international, national, regional and local
meetings.
Active in several community organizations, Dr. Garvin serves on the
board of directors for the Nebraska Arthritis Foundation and as chairman
of its Scientific and Education Committee and vice chairman of its Executive
Committee. He also serves on the Tissue Advisory Committee of the American
Red Cross.
Dr. Garvin replaces James Neff, M.D. as chairman of UNMCs Department
of Orthopaedic Surgery. Dr. Neff served as professor and chairman since
1991. An internationally recognized orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Neff will
continue to serve on the faculty and maintain his busy surgical practice.