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May 28, 2006
Dr. Schepens, 'father of modern retinal surgery,' dies
Ophthalmology Times May 1, 2006
The late Charles L. Schepens, MD, was well-known by ophthalmologists worldwide as the father of modern retinal surgery after having discovered a way to re-attach retinas and restore vision to nearly 90% of patients, and having invented the binocular indirect ophthalmoscope.Dr. Schepens died March 28. He was 94.As founder of the Schepens Eye Research Institute and the Schepens Retina Associates Foundation in Boston, Dr. Schepens was a clinical professor of ophthalmology, emeritus, at Harvard Medical School. He was named one of three laureates by the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2003. In 1999, he was voted one of the 10 most influential ophthalmologists of the 20th century by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.Dr. Schepens was born in Mouscron, Belgium, the son of a general practitioner. He was in postdoctoral training and a captain in the Belgian Air Force medical corps at the start of World War II. After twice being arrested by the Gestapo for helping to smuggle documents and maps out of Belgium, he fled with his family to France and assumed the name Jacques Perot. Beneath the cover of the working lumber mill, he helped workers escape over the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain until the Gestapo learned of the mill's real purpose. Dr. Schepens fled to London, where he was joined 9 months later by his wife and children.It was in London, in 1945, that he developed the binocular indirect ophthalmoscope, a stereoscopic viewing system and light source that allowed him to examine the entire retina, including the periphery, in three dimensions. According to the Smithsonian Institution, which has a prototype in its collection, he built the instrument with bits of metal he gathered on the streets of London during the German blitz.Dr. Schepens immigrated to the United States in 1947 to pursue eye research at the Howe Laboratory of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, and he formed the retina service—the first of its kind—at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary 2 years later.In 1950, he founded the Retina Foundation, which focused on re-attaching detached retinas and related conditions. The Retina Foundation evolved into the Schepens Eye Research Institute—which became the largest independent eye research facility in the nation—and the Schepens Retina Associates Foundation, which is dedicated to clinical eye research, teaching, and patient care.
Posted by mehdi khanlari at May 28, 2006 10:32 PM