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Carl Camras, M.D. |
UNMC will serve as the host institution for the symposium, which has been held in 17 different Midwest cities over the years. This marks the first time Omaha has ever hosted the symposium. Nearly 130 ophthalmologists and optometrists have registered for the symposium. The UNMC Center for Continuing Education handled all the arrangements for the symposium.
“This is quite an honor for UNMC to host this symposium,” said Carl Camras, M.D., professor and chairman of the UNMC Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. “The best glaucoma experts in the world will be here. We are bringing in 18 speakers who are internationally renowned for their expertise in glaucoma. Many are department chairmen and head glaucoma programs at their institutions.”
The symposium will provide clinicians and researchers the scientific foundation, clinical information and strategies to better understand and manage the disease, he said. It will include five named lectureships featuring glaucoma experts from such prestigious institutions as Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, the University of California, San Francisco, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
The symposium is being combined with the 16th Annual Gifford/Truhlsen Alumni and Residents Day, which honors two of the most significant families in ophthalmology in Omaha history.
Harold Gifford, Sr., M.D., and his son, Harold Gifford, Jr., M.D., were chairmen of the UNMC Department of Ophthalmology from 1898-1924 and from 1964-1970, respectively. Sanford Gifford, M.D., older brother of Harold, Jr., was a prominent researcher in the early years of the department and went on to serve as chairman of the department of ophthalmology at Northwestern University.
Stanley Truhlsen, M.D., was a longtime volunteer faculty member for the UNMC Department of Ophthalmology and served as interim department chairman from 1989-1990. He has received Distinguished Alumnus Awards from both UNMC and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and served as president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 1983.
Dr. Truhlsen’s donation created the Truhlsen Eye Research Laboratories in the Durham Research Center, and he also was one of the major donors on the Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education, which will open this summer.
Glaucoma is an eye disease causing gradual peripheral vision degradation. It is somewhat more common in diabetics, and both diabetes and diabetic retinopathy might be risk factors for glaucoma. It is a leading cause of blindness affecting more than 2 million people in the United States.
With early diagnosis and treatment, vision loss can be limited or prevented. New technologies have allowed for earlier diagnoses, and medical therapies have improved the prognosis of the disease. Innovations in surgical management have provided an opportunity to more safely and effectively control more advanced cases.
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The drug, marketed under the trade name of Xalatan, was created using prostaglandins, a type of hormone found in virtually all tissues and organs. They are lipid mediators, which are synthesized from fatty acids and serve a variety of important functions in the body.
Since Xalatan was created, two additional glaucoma drugs using prostaglandins — Travatan and Lumigan — have reached the market place, Dr. Camras said. With annual sales exceeding $2 billion, the three glaucoma drugs are by far the most lucrative ophthalmic pharmaceutical products ever, he said.
Dr. Camras continues to do research on glaucoma. He and his daughter, Lucinda, have been working with Carol Toris, Ph.D., professor in the UNMC Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and with other colleagues. The Camrases have been conducting research on glaucoma drainage devices. They will make a presentation on these devices at the symposium. Lucinda Camras will begin her first year of graduate school in August at Duke University studying biomedical engineering.