It is a very special privilege that the American Academy of Ophthalmology welcomes Stuart L. Fine, MD as a Guest of Honor at AAO 2015 in Las Vegas.
Stuart Fine was educated at the University of Maryland and its School of Medicine. After completing a residency at the University of Florida, he was an NIH Special Fellow in retinal diseases at The Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins under the mentorship of Dr. Arnall Patz. From 1973-1991, while on the faculty at Johns Hopkins, he served as Professor of Ophthalmology & Director of the Retinal Vascular Center and Director of Medical Student Education for Ophthalmology.
In 1991, Dr. Fine relocated from Johns Hopkins to the University of Pennsylvania to become the William F. Norris and George E. de Schweinitz Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Director of the Scheie Eye Institute. During his 19-year tenure as Chair, the faculty expanded threefold, research funding greatly increased (it is now one of the top funded centers in the world), and the number of endowed chairs increased. There was also comparable growth in the clinical practice as well as the educational programs.
During the course of his career, Dr. Fine has received a number of awards which have acknowledged his leadership in education, research, and patient care including the Edward Jackson Memorial Lecture and Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. As a clinical retina specialist, Dr. Fine has been named in “Best Doctors in America”.
Dr. Fine’s research has focused on leading National Eye Institute-supported multicenter clinical trials to evaluate treatments for retinal diseases and chaired are the Macula Photocoagulation Study (1979-1994), Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (1985-2005), Choroidal Neovascularization Prevention Trial (1994-1998), Complications of AMD Prevention Trial (1999-2007), and the AMD Radiotherapy Trial. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the NEI-sponsored Comparison of Age-related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials (CATT).
In January 2011, Dr. Fine became Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania. At present, he is Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology (part-time) at the University of Colorado Medical Center at Denver.
For his seminal contributions to ophthalmology practice and for his tireless mentoring of young ophthalmologists, it is with great pleasure that the American Academy of Ophthalmology recognize Dr. Stuart L. Fine as a Guest of Honor at AAO 2015.