Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology Shady Awwad was honored with the Waring Medal for his research in the field of refractive surgery. Granted by the Journal of Refractive Surgery, the leading authority in this field, the medal honors one awardee a year for their significant contribution to the journal with a study that is deemed most impactful in the field.
Awwad was selected this year for his study Mitomycin C Application After Corneal Cross-linking for Keratoconus Increases Stromal Haze, published in February 2021. The study selected showed that Mitomycin C, an agent that typically is applied on the cornea at the end of laser eye surgery to prevent corneal scarring, paradoxically increases scarring when applied after corneal cross-linking, a procedure meant to stabilize weak corneas like in keratoconus. This study made use of AUB’s patented technique, using artificial intelligence to automatically detect and classify corneal haze and scarring using optical coherence tomography, and hence, making the comparison very objective and accurate.
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