The ASOPRS Foundation is excited to support ACE Global’s Oculofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship Committee to bring to fruition a first-of-its-kind fellowship training program in Honduras. This program will train Honduran oculofacial surgeons to serve as a steadily growing resource for the people of Honduras, where there is a demonstrated need for this specialty. The first-ever Fellow, Nicolle Andrea Ruiz Rodriguez, MD, is training now and is dedicated to improving patients' lives in Honduras.

Honduras faces a significant shortage of oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgery providers, which has a profound impact on the health of its citizens, especially the poor. According to the World Health Organization, there are only 0.2 oculofacial plastic surgeons per 1 million people in Honduras. This limited access to specialized care leads to delayed diagnoses, inadequate treatment, and increased rates of preventable blindness. Honduras has one of the highest poverty rates in Latin America, making it difficult for many patients to afford the medical care they desperately need.

2023 Dale Meyer Rising Star, in my own words. 

                When I started my ophthalmology residency, I didn’t know much about the field of oculoplastic surgery. Working with Dr. David Tse in the clinic and operating room opened my eyes to a unique side of ophthalmology. I found myself drawn to complex cases requiring multidisciplinary care, and I felt inspired by the life-saving care we often provided. I was fortunate to care for a patient with lacrimal gland adenoid cystic carcinoma (LGACC) who had received trimodal therapy. This inspired my research into obtaining intraoperative margin clearance in tumor removal, which remains the highest risk factor for mortality.

Why I Give...Patrick Flaharty's Story

When I attended the 50^th anniversary of ASOPRS in San Francisco a few years back, it dawned on me that I had been a member of ASOPRS for more than half its existence. Over the years, I have built many great friendships with ASOPRS colleagues and watched the organization grow with the addition of many outstanding new members. As a cosmetically oriented physician, I’ve enjoyed and learned from my colleagues in the other core disciplines, but in the final analysis, I am most closely allied with my ASOPRS colleagues. We have the same core training, come from the same family tree, and need to nurture the continued growth of that tree for the next generation of ASOPRS physicians. Donating to the ASOPRS Foundation is one easy way to give back to the organization that has supported us over all these years and to help strengthen that organization to have an even greater impact on the world in the years to come. 

"I encourage you to donate to the foundation; it makes a difference!" ~ J. Fezza

ASOPRS and the Foundation have always been like a family to me. There are so many incredibly talented, smart, and inspirational members, and I truly enjoy my interactions. More importantly, ASOPRS has been a platform for meeting old friends and making new ones. ASOPRS has been the gold standard for oculofacial plastic surgery and most advances in our field have been championed by ASOPRS members. I feel ASOPRS and ASOPRS Foundation are truly one and strive to educate physicians, set excellence in patient care, and provide a space for innovation in our field.

The Foundation has grown in the past decades to emerge as an outstanding charitable organization. It supports mission work in foreign countries training of foreign physicians in places where care is difficult, and it creates a platform and support for new research. In the past 20 years, the Foundation has provided unyielding philanthropic assistance, and its impact can be felt globally.

ASOPRS Foundation 2022 Michael J. Hawes Lecture was presented by John Siebert, MD, entitled Changes in Cutaneous Gene Expression after Microvascular Free Tissue Transfer in Parry-Romberg Syndrome.  

Meet Edith Reshef, MD - 2022 Bart Frueh Award Winner for her presentation entitled “Reduction in Extraocular Muscle Cross-sectional Area Following Teprotumumab for Thyroid Eye Disease.” 

Dr. Reshef attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before receiving her medical degree from Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She completed her ophthalmology residency at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School, where she subsequently completed an ASOPRS fellowship in Orbit and Oculofacial Plastic and Reconstructive surgery. She received a Heed Fellowship Award from the Society of Heed Fellows during her fellowship training. Dr. Reshef is joining the Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School faculty to develop a pediatric oculoplastic surgery program.

ASOPRS Foundation Michael J. Hawes Lecture Honoree
Daniel P. Schaefer, MD, FACS
by Kathleen F. Archer, MD

It was my distinct honor to present Dr. Daniel P. Schaefer as this year's honoree for the ASOPRS Foundation Michael J. Hawes Lecture. Dr. Schaefer has been a member of ASOPRS since 1988. He immediately became active within ASOPRS and has remained so.