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Lecture Presents New Perspectives on Asians and Glaucoma
Los Angeles – “Asians and Glaucoma: A Different Spectrum of the Disease” was the topic for The Terasaki Lecture, hosted by Hisako and Paul I. Terasaki, PhD at The Terasaki Foundation in Los Angeles, CA. Forty honored guests attended the talk given last month by Shan Lin, MD, Associate Professor of Glaucoma Service at the University of California, San Francisco. The Lecture was co-sponsored by The Terasaki Lecture Host Committee and Glaucoma Research Foundation, the nation’s oldest and most experienced non-profit dedicated to innovative research to find a cure for glaucoma.
“New research by Dr. Lin’s team in San Francisco, as well as other researchers, is giving us a better understanding of the impact glaucoma is having among Asian Americans,” said Thomas M. Brunner, GRF President and CEO.
Dr. Lin reported that East Asians experience the highest rate of blindness in the world from primary angle closure glaucoma, one of the two most common forms of the disease. He noted that a more rare form known as normal tension glaucoma is most prevalent among Japanese, including Japanese Americans.
The Terasaki Lecture Host Committee Chair, Los Angeles philanthropist Robert Drabkin, described the event as “another step forward in forging a new circle of champions in Southern California around the Glaucoma Research Foundation’s cause.” He expressed his gratitude to the many area friends and supporters who helped to set the stage for the Terasaki Lecture. In particular, he cited support from the Honorary Host Committee.
The Terasaki Lecture Host Committee
The Terasaki Lecture Host Committee members included Hisako and Paul I. Terasaki, PhD, Patricia Crosby, Michael Drabkin and Delta Wright, John Hetherington, MD, Vee Motto, Craig Palmer, Michael Penn Sr., Patricia and Michael Peyser, Janice Ruck, and Art Takahara.
Honorary Host Committee members for the event were Joseph Caprioli, MD, Anne Coleman, MD, PhD, Bartly Mondino, MD, and Bradley R. Straatsma, MD, JD representing Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA; Carmen A. Puliafito, MD, MBA, Dean of the Keck School of Medicine at USC; and Stephen Ryan, MD and Rohit Varma, MD representing Doheny Eye Institute, USC.