Images Magazine Spring 2013 - Bascom Palmer Eye Institute

featureDiabetes Control and Complications Clinical Trial. Palmberg served for a decade on the monitoringcommittee for the trial, which found that tightly controlling blood sugar – guided by frequent homemonitoring by patients with diabetes – significantly lowered the risk of retinal and kidney damage.Later in the decade, Palmberg helped to clarify the relationship between the level of pressurein the eye and how well a glaucoma patient retains peripheral vision. In 1988, he helped writethe American Academy of Ophthalmology’s guide to glaucoma treatment and coined the term“target pressure” to represent the goal in halting or slowing glaucoma damage.Also in the 1980s, vitreoretinal specialist Janet L. Davis, M.D., M.A., focused on the treatmentand disease mechanisms of ocular inflammations and infections. She quickly became a leader in thefight to save sight in AIDS-related eye disease.After years of studying various aspects of the retina, William W. Culbertson, M.D., made akey discovery in 1993. He identified the herpes virus as a cause of acute retinal necrosis (ARN),a devastating infection that can affect the retina, vitreous and lead to optic neuropathy. Hisgroundbreaking discovery helped advance eye treatment for patients with ARN, including manyindividuals whose immune systems had been compromised by HIV/AIDS.Changing With the TimesFollowing Norton’s 1991 retirement, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute was led by three chairmen inthe 1990s: John G. Clarkson, M.D., (1991-1996), Richard K. Parrish II, M.D., (1996-1999) andRichard K. Forster, M.D., (interim chair 1999-2001). All three made contributions to the Institute’sresearch program while conducting their own clinical studies. “All of us were hired by Dr. Norton,who charged us with being the best ophthalmologists we could be,” said Clarkson, who led aninitiative to expand the institute’s reach beyond Miami by purchasing land in Palm Beach Gardensand opening Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at Palm Beach. “Today, our Institute’s atmosphereencourages exploration and innovation in ways that improve the patient’s welfare.”On being named chair, Parrish said, “How can we be even better stewards for our patients andstudents? We must make decisions in the best interest of our patients and acquire new medicalknowledge for society at large.” He was the editor for the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Atlas ofOphthalmology, a collaborative effort of the entire faculty published in 2000.1999Richard K. Forster,M.D.,known forhis expertiseon ocularinfectionsand externaldiseases, isnamed interimchairman ofthe Institute.1999Carol L.Karp, M.D.,pioneers the useof interferonfor treatment ofocular surfacesquamousneoplasia.2001Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D., M.B.A.,is appointed as chairman. A vitreoretinalspecialist, he isan expert inthe clinicalapplicationof lasers inophthalmology.15