The Founders Award
Richard B. Rosen, MD, ScD (hon), FACS, FASRS, FARVO, CRA, the Belinda B. and Gerald G. Pierce Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, is the recipient of the 2024 ASRS Founders Award.
Dr. Rosen is receiving the award for his major contributions to the advancement of vitreoretinal surgery, treatment, research, and patient care.
The Founders Award was first presented in 1997 to honor the efforts of the Society’s founders, Drs. Jerald A. Bovino, Roy A. Levit, and Allen Z. Verne, for their foresight, dedication, and leadership in establishing the Society as an open, democratic, worldwide organization dedicated to the advancement of vitreoretinal surgery and the study of vitreoretinal diseases.
Dr. Rosen is chief of retina at the Mount Sinai Health System, where he serves as retina fellowship director, vice chair, and director of ophthalmology research. He also is the surgeon director at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.
The University of Kent in Canterbury, United Kingdom, named Dr. Rosen an honorary professor in applied optics and awarded him an honorary doctorate in medical physics. He is also president of New York Eye and Ear Infirmary Ophthalmology Associates, PC.
Dr. Rosen’s research interests include new treatments for macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, innovations in diagnostic retinal imaging, and vitreoretinal surgical instrumentation. He helped pioneer multimodal en face optical coherence tomography/scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (OCT/SLO), and championed adaptive optics SLO imaging for clinical applications. Dr. Rosen also pioneered quantitative capillary density mapping for OCT angiography and is developing cellular imaging using clinical OCT along with robotic tools for vitreoretinal surgery.
He has authored more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals, as well as 30 book chapters and 6 books.
Dr. Rosen's Founders Lecture is entitled, "Jammin' in the Dark! Illuminating Subclinical Sickle Cell Activities Using Dynamic OCT Angiography and Adaptive Optics SLO”.
Award Criteria
The American Society of Retina Specialists presents its Founders Award to an individual who has made major contributions to the advancement of vitreoretinal surgery, treatment, research, surgical instrumentation, and patient care.
The award is made at the discretion of the ASRS Awards Committee. The Committee considers both the significance of the contributions made, as well as the individual’s foresight, dedication and leadership in the field of retina.
Click here to nominate before the January 3, 2025 deadline.
Founders Lecture Honorees
1997 Steve T. Charles, MD, FASRS
1998 Neil E. Kelly, MD and Robert T. Wendel, MD
1999 Eugene de Juan, Jr., MD
2000 Robert Machemer, MD
2001 J. Donald M. Gass, MD
2002 Harvey Lincoff, MD
2003 William S. Tasman, MD
2004 Manfred Spitznas, MD
2005 Stephen J. Ryan, MD
2006 Kirk H. Packo, MD, FACS, FASRS
2007 Philip J. Rosenfeld, MD, PhD
2008 Alexander J. Brucker, MD
2009 Emily Y. Chew, MD
2010 Joan W. Miller, MD
2011 William F. Mieler, MD
2012 David W. Parke, II, MD
2013 Trexler Topping, MD, FASRS
2014 Paul Sternberg, MD
2015 Richard F. Spaide, MD
2016 Carol L. Shields, MD, FASRS
2017 John T. Thompson, MD, FASRS
2018 Wiley A. Chambers II, MD
2019 Lawrence A. Yannuzzi, MD
2020 Carl D. Regillo, MD, FACS, FASRS
2021 Stanislao Rizzo, MD, FASRS
2022 Maria H. Berrocal, MD, FASRS
2023 Johanna M. Seddon, MD, ScM, FARVO, FASRS
2024 Richard B. Rosen, MD, ScD (hon), FACS, FASRS, FARVO, CRA