VRMNY News
The Retina Society 41st Annual Scientific Meeting
The 2008 Recipient of tje J. Donald Gass Award — Lawrence A. Yannuzzi, M.D.
October 1, 2008 | By Donald J. D’Amico, MD
The fortuitous combination of rare medical talent and insight, remarkable energy, and a singularly captivating podium presence have made Dr. Lawrence A. Yannuzzi one of the most widely known and honored retinal experts in the field. He is most famous for his fluorescein angiography and case presentation session, in which he easily holds sway over an audience of any size or composition. This influence is easily explained, and utterly deserved, by noting his qualifications:
- a several decades–long career of hard work and scholarship, teasing out the fine details of retinal diseases with colleagues and trainees in his extremely busy practice,
- his early adoption of, innovation in, and critical evaluation of every retinal diagnostic modality in use today,
- his ready wit and personal warmth, and
- his complete familiarity with the members of the audience, including first names, foibles, strengths, and specific contributions to the understanding of retinal disease
In short, there is simply no contest when he approaches the microphone, and one is guaranteed to learn a great deal and enjoy the process as well.
A graduate of Harvard College, then Boston University Medical School (which later honored him as a distinguished alumnus), he completed his internship in Boston, and moved (taking Julie, a Cambridge beauty, as his bride) to New York for his residency in Ophthalmology at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. Although he is widely known as a medical retina specialist, his first article (published the year after his graduation in the Archives of Ophthalmology with David Sudarsky) was on a surgical theme: “Cyromarcation line and pigment migration after retinal cryosurgery”, and one may speculate on the later developments in retinal surgery had he kept it as a focus. His second article in the following year was prophetic: “A classification for abnormal fundus fluorescence”, in which he presented a theme that he would refine and advance uninterruptedly for more than three and a half decades. Dr. Yannuzzi (to our benefit) clearly enjoyed his experience as a medical author, because he followed shortly with the first monograph and then several books on fluorescein angiography. His CV would grow (at present) to 12 books, 263 peer-reviewed articles, 166 book chapters, and innumerable lectures and presentations. He developed, and remains highly active in, one of the largest and most-scientifically productive practices in the world. He continues his research and teaching contributions unabated, and his participation is pivotal to the groups responsible for studying and developing many of the innovations in treatment for macular degeneration and related diseases.
The Retina Society is deeply honored to have Lawrence A. Yannuzzi as the third recipient of the J. Donald M. Gass Award.