Hadassah eye doctor wins research award
‘It was clear one of the most important things I would do was develop ophthalmology dept.’
Prof. Jacob Peer, an ophthalmologist from Hadassah-University Medical Center, has become the first Israeli to win the prestigious Joanne G. Angle Award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO).
Peer, head of the Onco-Ophthalmology department at Hadassah, won the award earlier this month from ARVO, the largest eye and vision research organization in the world which includes nearly 11,000 researchers from over 75 countries.
The Joanne G. Angle award founded in 2012 is named after the organization’s late executive director. The ARVO website describes it as “the highest service honor bestowed by ARVO to a volunteer professional.”
The prize recognizes leaders who “have made significant, continuous contributions to ARVO in support of its mission. The recipient will show obvious personal involvement in and commitment to ARVO, as well as contributions to the vision research community.”
Peer has been involved with ARVO since 1983 and knew Angle personally.
He said he has “always seen importance in ophthalmology research” and that when he was appointed director of the ophthalmology department at Hadassah, “it was clear to me that one of the most important things I would do was develop the research in the ophthalmology department. And I really did. Today, the basic and clinical research in Hadassah’s eye system is a leader in the country and I am proud of that.”