Please join us in congratulating our colleagues on these many wonderful achievements!

J. Fernando Arevalo, MD, PhD, FACS: Dr. Arevalo was awarded the WOC Gonin Medal Lecture 2026 by the Jules Gonin Ophthalmic Hospital and the International Council of Ophthalmology, awarded every four years for outstanding contributions to ophthalmology, making him the 4th Wilmer faculty member and first from Latin America to receive it. He was also the Invited Guest of Honor of the Florida Society of Ophthalmology's Masters in Ophthalmology 2026, where he delivered the J. Donald Gass Award Lecture, recognizing significant contributions to vitreoretinal disease.

Thomas W. Gardner, MD, MS: Dr. Gardner was selected to be an Honorary Member of the Club Jules Gonin in 2026 after many years of regular membership.

Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD: Dr. Hartnett delivered this year's lecture as the Distinguished Alumna for Albany Medical College on April 24, 2026. The last ophthalmologist honored as a distinguished alum at Albany Medical College graduated in 1901. She also received the Distinguished Research Achievement Award from Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology in June 2026.

Ula V. Jurkunas, MD: Dr. Jurkunas was featured in National Geographic as principal investigator of a multi-institution Phase I/II clinical trial of cultivated limbal stem cells.

Jennifer I. Lim, MD: Dr. Lim was inducted as an Honorary Member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), a prestigious medical honor society founded in 1908 that recognizes physician scientists for their contributions to biomedical research. She also completed the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program in April 2026, after which she was named Inaugural Faculty Medical Director of the Clinical Trials Unit at UIC College of Medicine, and delivered the Morton F. Goldberg, MD Lecture at UIC in June 2026.

David Sarraf, MD: Dr. Sarraf delivered the Paul Henkind Award Lecture at the 49th Macula Society Meeting, held at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, CA, in February 2026.

Joel S. Schuman, MD, FACS: Dr. Schuman was named the 2027 recipient of the RPB David F. Weeks Award for Outstanding Vision Research, presented jointly by Research to Prevent Blindness and AUPO. He will deliver a lecture at the AUPO 2027 Annual Meeting in Indian Wells, California.

Richard F. Spaide, MD: Dr. Spaide served as a Keynote Speaker for the German Ophthalmology Society, the Japanese Vitreoretinal Society, the French Ophthalmology Society, and the Japanese Myopia Society. He will also deliver the Schepens Award and Lecture at the 2026 American Academy of Ophthalmology Meeting in New Orleans.

M. Edward Wilson, Jr., MD: Dr. Wilson received the Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian honor awarded by the governor of South Carolina. It was presented on May 4, 2026. The award recognizes people for a lifetime of extraordinary service, achievement, and contributions of statewide or national significance.

Edward J. Wladis, MD: Dr. Wladis was elected president of the medical staff of Albany Medical Center and is the first ophthalmologist to serve in that position. He was also named membership director of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.