Callahan FACS Endowment Fund Established
The IRRF has partnered with the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) to establish the Alston Callahan, MD, FACS Endowment Fund in support of ophthalmic education and cultural exchange. In addition to founding the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the IRRF, Dr. Callahan was a pioneer in ophthalmic plastic surgery and a lifelong member of the AAO. Established in honor of Dr. Callahan, income from the endowment will support the AAO’s Rotary Club Host Project and its goal to provide ophthalmologists in developing countries with educational and cultural opportunities in the United States. The knowledge, skills and techniques these physicians obtain during their visit directly affect the quality of eye care they provide to patients within their community once they return home.
The Rotary Club Host Project, a partnership between Rotary Clubs and the AAO, came about in an effort to reduce the incidence and prevalence of avoidable blindness. The World Health Organization estimates that 37 million people are blind, and another 124 million have severe impairment, with 90% of those affected living in economically developing nations. More disturbing is that 75% of the blindness and visual impairment is unnecessary; it is either curable or could have been prevented. Somewhere in the world, someone goes blind every 5 seconds and a child goes blind every minute.
The IRRF became involved with the Rotary Club Host Project in the fall of 2009 with a donation to sponsor, Youfegan Mathurin, MD from the Central African Republic, one of six ophthalmologists who traveled to the United States to share in professional, educational, cultural and social experiences within a local community, followed by attendance at the 2009 Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Pan American Association of Ophthalmology in San Francisco, California.
During the meeting, guest ophthalmologists were provided many educational opportunities, as well as the occasion to develop relationships with colleagues and representatives of ophthalmic industry, and to make contact with eye care service organizations.
The Alston Callahan, MD, FACS Endowment Fund Established
6/17/10
(From left: Rotarian Host and Project Chair, Kenneth Tuck, MD; IRRF President, Michael Callahan, MD; Youfegan Mathurin, MD, sponsored by the Roanoke, VA Rotary Club and the IRRF; IRRF Executive Director, Sandra Blackwood.)
Visiting Ophthalmologists came from Pakistan, Tanzania, Central African Republic, Iraq, Papua New Guinea, and Nigeria, and were joined by sponsors and hosts at the International Welcome Luncheon held in San Francisco, California.