The $1 million endowment from Dr. John Graether, right, is expected to draw talented eye doctors from around the nation with a passion for pediatric eye care,
After five decades as a pioneering ophthalmologist and medical innovator, Dr. John Graether is passing the torch to a new generation with a $1 million endowment to train pediatric ophthalmology fellows at the UCI Health Gavin Herbert Eye Institute.
Under the guidance of Graether's longtime protege, UCI Health pediatric eye specialist Dr. Donny Suh, the Irene and John Graether, MD, Endowed Vision Fellowship will support ophthalmologists for a year of training to perform delicate pediatric eye surgeries, ranging from treating preemies with detached retinas to teens and adults with crossed eyes, known as strabismus.
"This distinctive specialty beautifully intertwines the precision of ophthalmology with the compassion of pediatrics;' says Suh, director of pediatric eye services at UCI Health. He is also a professor and chief of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus at the UC Irvine School of Medicine and the eye institute.
Attracting top talent
The endowment, which provides funding in perpetuity, will help attract the most talented eye doctors from around the world to train and treat patients at UC! Medical Center, the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute and Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), says Graether.
The 94-year-old cataract specialist is best known for developing several commonly used surgical tools, including the Graether collar button iris retractor. It led to a group of narrow-necked tools for smooth and gentle manipulation of the iris.
He also was the first to document continuous circular capsulotomy with serial photographs of the technique. His successful 1981 lens implant in Iowa Gov. Robert D. Ray helped to establish the value and safety of what was then a very controversial operation.
Vision vital for kids' development
Suh and Graether share the belief that good eyesight is critical in childhood, when vision problems can interfere with normal developmental processes, from honing fine motor skills to learning to read and write.
Graether also has seen Suh's capacity to lead and inspire.
"Donny Suh's dynamism is so well received;' he says."He gets people enthusiastic about pediatric ophthalmology and has the unusual ability to attract the highest quality candidates. There's absolutely no doubt that his talent has enlivened the entire specialty."
Spurring innovation
Graether has admired Suh's passion and energy since 2000, when the young doctor first joined him at Iowa's largest ophthalmology practice, Wolfe Eye Clinic, to launch its first pediatric ophthalmology practice. There, the two developed a shared passion for patient care and medical innovation.
Suh would eventually develop several ophthalmic tools, including the Suh muscle hook for strabismus surgery and a precision syringe that allows doctors to deliver eye injections to infants more easily. Even after Suh left Iowa to pursue academic medicine, the two physicians have remained close colleagues and friends.
Graether believes the fellowship program will not only produce world-class clinicians but also physicians who will follow in their footsteps and develop innovations that improve vision care.
Together, he says, they aim to brighten the future for aspiring pediatric ophthalmologists and the children they will serve.
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