Ronald Krueger, M.D., the newly named McGaw Professor and Chair of the UNMC Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and director of the Stanley M. Truhlsen Eye Institute, was honored on Oct. 28 by the International Society of Refractive Surgery (ISRS) with the Jose I. Barraquer Lecture and Award, the most prominent award given in the field of refractive surgery.
Dr. Barraquer was an ophthalmologist who practiced in Bogota, Colombia. His pioneering investigations on corneal transplants and the surgical correction of refractive errors in the 1950s led him to be called “the father of modern refractive surgery.”
Dr. Krueger served as president of the ISRS in 2014-2015. The ISRS, which was founded nearly 30 years ago, is the largest global society dedicated specifically to refractive surgery. Its mission is to improve the quality of life of patients by improving their quality of vision.
Refractive surgery procedures are performed by ophthalmologists to reduce or eliminate an individual’s dependency on glasses or contact lenses. These procedures include laser vision corrections, such as LASIK, PRK and SMILE, as well as lens-based procedures such as ICL, lens replacement and cataract surgery.
For the past 20 years, Dr. Krueger has served as professor of ophthalmology in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, and as medical director of the Department of Refractive Surgery at the Cole Eye Institute of the Cleveland Clinic. The Cole Eye Institute has consistently ranked among the top 10 eye institutes in the U.S., while the Cleveland Clinic is the No. 2 ranked hospital in the country by U.S. News & World Report.
Dr. Krueger is expected to start at UNMC in April or May.