Richard B. Rosen, MD.

NEW YORK—The American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) announced that it has honored Richard B. Rosen, MD, ScD (hon), FACS, FASRS, FARVO, CRA, the Belinda Bingham Pierce and Gerald G. Pierce distinguished professor of ophthalmology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, with the Founders Award for 2024. He received the award at the 42nd ASRS Annual Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, during a special ceremony on July 19, 2024. The ASRS Founders Award recognizes Dr. Rosen’s contributions to the advancement of vitreoretinal surgery, treatment, research and patient care, and his dedication to the field of ophthalmology. He is the first ophthalmologist from Mount Sinai to receive this annual award, the announcement shared.

“I am most grateful to the nominating committee and leadership of the ASRS for this honor. I have been a member of the society since completing my retina fellowship in 1991 under the preceptorship of Dr. Thomas Muldoon and Dr. Joseph Walsh at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (NYEE)," said Dr. Rosen. "It’s particularly gratifying to me since Dr. Muldoon was the faculty advisor to the founders, Jerry Bovino, Roy Levit, and Allen Verne, and encouraged them to create the Vitreous Society, which eventually grew into the ASRS. Their contribution of including the wider community of retinal specialists within our country and beyond has expanded access to education, the latest treatment techniques, and professional camaraderie, which has had immense benefits for our patients, our trainees and our profession."

Dr. Rosen also serves as the surgeon-director, chief of retina services, vice chair of research, and director of retina fellowships at NYEE. There, he has created an ocular imaging center that uses novel technologies to explore the vascular basis of retinal diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and retinal trauma, the announcement stated. It also examines the retina at a cellular level, which the group notes can lead to earlier detection and treatment of a range of blinding eye conditions.

 
At ASRS, Dr. Rosen’s founders lecture focused on using dynamic OCT angiography and quad-fusion adaptive optics to identify subclinical sickle cell activity, undetectable with traditional clinical examination, in order to appreciate earlier disease and subtle treatment effects as they appear in individual patients, the group stated.